NUJ President, Odusile, Elected Federation of African Journalists President

NUJ President, Odusile, Elected Federation of African Journalists President

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) the African regional association of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) at its fourth congress held in Abuja from April 29 to 30, 2016, has elected Abdulwaheed Odusile of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as the new FAJ President.

The congress the theme ‘The Political Change and the Safety of Working Journalists in Africa’ brought together 34 delegates from 22 journalists unions and associations across the continent to deliberate on issues affecting journalists and the media in Africa.

The congress was also to take stock of the Federation’s achievements and challenges over the past three years as well as to elect a new leadership that will run the affairs of the Federation for the next three years.

Acting in accordance with Article 9.2 of the FAJ Constitution, the delegates at the congress elected nine union representatives from all the regions of the continent to serve in the Steering Committee. 

In relation to FAJ procedures, the elected members of the Steering Committee consequently elected Odusile of the NUJ as the new FAJ President; Maria Luisa Rogerio Carvalho of  Sindicato dos Journalistas Angolanos (SJA) was elected as the Vice President, while Zeid Debbon of the Syndicat National des Journalists Tunisiens (SNJT) was also elevated.

Other elected members of the FAJ Steering Committee are Stephen Ouma Bwire of the Uganda Journalists Union (UJU); Foster Dongozi of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ); Ibrahima Ndiaye of the Syndicat des Professionnels de l’Information de la Communication – Senegal (SYNPICS); Alexandre Niyungeko of the Union Burundaise des Journalistes (UBJ); Denis Nkwebo of the Syndicat Nationale des Journalistes du Cameroon (SNJC), and Moussa Traore of the Union Nationale des Journalistes de Cote d’ Ivoire (UNJCI).

In the same vein, three reserves were also  elected for the Steering Committee, namely, Eduardo Constantino of  the Sindicato Nacional de Jornalistas of Mozambique; Abdullai Camara of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) and Franck Kpochere of the Union des Professionnels des medias du Benin (UPMB).

The delegates at the congress also unanimously elected five female journalists leaders into the Pan-African Gender Council.  The elected female leaders are Angela Chishimaba of the Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ); Marion Obam Vivivan of SNJC; Particia Ajdisseku of the Union des Journalists Independents du Togo (UJIT); Aisha Ahmed Youssouf of the Association des Journalistes Djiboutiens (AJD) and Fatimah Abdulkareem of the NUJ.

On its programmes for the next three years, FAJ outlined the safety of journalists and the campaign against impunity as a top priority, while also focusing its attention on gender equality in the media and unions.