NUJ Politics: Akinreti Replies Critics

The Lagos Council Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Dr Qasim Akinreti, has given further accounts of his stewardship to correct alleged wrong impressions being spread by his rivals.

In a statement titled Moment of Truth, Akinreti’s campaign team listed some of his achievements and explained why his rivals are not happy.

Here is the statement in full:

MOMENT OF TRUTH

The following is part of Akinreti’s stewardship as Chairman, Lagos State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists between September 29, 2017 and now.

1. Akinreti did not divert Union’s money into his private accounts.
2. Unlike his predecessors, he is not the only one receiving alerts on payments into NUJ’S accounts and withdrawals from the Union’s accounts. Both the Secretary and Treasurer also receive alerts simultaneously with the Chairman; as insisted and arranged by him on assumption of office.
3. He doesn’t keep Union’s money with him or in his office.
4. Akinreti does not handle sharing of money or gifts to EXCO members or the NUJ. He delegates such responsibility to other officers, including the Secretary, Odifa, at all times, but only vets and approves or adjusts any formular brought to him, in agreement with others.
5. Akinreti has been the only Chairman ever to organise a formal Easter celebration at NUJ Secretariat, with pastors invited to direct the absolute Christian affair, despite being a Muslim. So, how is he applying religious sentiments?
6. Akinreti is the only NUJ Chairman ever to pay dividends on the Union’s property, Light-House on Victoria-Island, to members, through their various Chapels.
7. Akinreti, as matter of presonal policy refused to raise or support any candidate against the Union’s Assistant Secretary, Mr. Philip Nwosu of The Sun Newspapers, despite their differences, because he respects cultural and ethnic diversity in management of public affairs, including that of NUJ.
8. Akinreti is not a man who would be beclouded by prejudices or sentiments to raise or support any candidate against the NUJ Council Treasurer, Mrs. Iyabo Ogunjuyigbe; saying she has been a great partner in probity, accountability and transparency in the management of Union’s funds and his efforts to remedy an incalculable damage done to NUJ’s image before now, and therefore prays for her return despite their differences.
9. Out of respect for Beijing Conference for affirmative action of at least one-third of public opportunities for women, Akinreti emphatically argues that the Vice-chairman, Mrs. Abiola Beckley, must not be challenged from his camp despite differences they have had in their ending tenure. His ambition is to have no less than four women in the Union’s eleven-member EXCO.
10. Akinreti can never be rightly termed to be suffering lack, as a Director in Voice of Nigeria, which is the best remunerating media organisation in Nigeria’s public sector, and with a wife who is a General Manager of a strategic federal agency in Nigeria, and well groomed children doing well in their respectable professional practices including Medicine, Engineering and Mass-communication.
11. Akinreti cannot be rightly stated to be reliant on NUJ leadership for survival with his hard earned string of academic and professional laurels, including a PhD, M.Phil, M.A, B.Ed, PGD (Journalism), as well as A-Level certificate; all from highly reputable institutions in Nigeria and other parts of the world. All these are aside fellowship awards from globally renowned institutions in United States, United Kingdom and Asia.
12. Akinreti, who has been lecturing in reputable tertiary institutions of learning including Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University and Nigerian Institute of Journalism for about one and a half decade, can never be rightly said to be dependent on NUJ for survival.
13. Akinreti, who had traversed virtually all the continents of the world very well before he became Lagos NUJ Chairman three years ago, cannot sincerely be accused of depending on the Union for exposure or connections, when he has not even been able to travel abroad more than twice since he assumed leadership of NUJ in Lagos three years ago.
14. Akinreti, who secretly discovered one hundred plots of land that were not known to members and not included in handover notes to him but announced it, cannot be rightly accused of greed or being fraudulent, as he refused to have cashed in on the opportunity of making over N70 million because a plot of land goes for over seven hundred thousand naira there now.
15. While a budget is allocated to the Office of the Union’s Secretary, Mr. Alfred Odifa, who has also enjoyed an upward review of his monthly allowance, Akinreti does not have a vote or imprest, otherwise known as running-cost, for his office as Chairman of NUJ.
16. Akinreti has been the only NUJ Chairman that raises voucher and seeks approval of paltry sums of money as low as two thousand naira or three from Secretary and Treasurer for fuel, to go out with official bus of the Union in his image-laundry and revenue generation drive for the Union, and ensures the driver presents receipt for every fuel expenditure, even of such little amounts of money.
17. If Akinreti were greedy, tight-fisted or not carrying his EXCO mates along in Union activities as being falsely claimed, how come or why would he entrust the State Council Secretary, Mr. Alfred Adebayo Odifa, with a large sum of two million naira to distribute in appreciation to some top officials on his behalf, as Akinreti was directed by the NUJ Congress? Time has come for Odifa to explain how he spent the money or what he did with it, or who and who did he give how much. There is a need for detractors and other concerned people to investigate if Akinreti ever held such money or any other that belongs to the NUJ.
18. It is on record that no Chapel in NUJ has benefited up to twenty percent of what Lagos Information Chapel has obtained under Akinreti’s leadership. If this is in doubt, records will be reeled out appropriately.
19. Akinreti has facilitated funds for no less than five expensive surgeries for members, in vigorous pursuit of members’ welfare. The beneficiaries are available and willing to appear before TV cameras, to confirm this claim, with evidence.
20. Several members have had their PhD or Master’s degree and other academic or professional pursuits supported by NUJ under Akinreti. This is unprecedented in the annals of NUJ history. The beneficiaries are available, and cannot deny this.
21. Several NUJ State Council Chairmen across Nigeria have made phone calls to Akinreti, in appreciation of his cry for palliative assistance to journalists, as a result of the damning economic effects of Covid-19 and consequent response from sympathetic organisations. Even those who condemned Akinreti’s distress call and are now attacking him have been the greatest beneficiaries of those gifts. They never rejected partaking in the benefits, when they came.
22. For whoever is not aware, those being vilified as members of Akinreti’s so-called kitchen-cabinet have been facilitators of several of what NUJ is now proud of.
    (a) One of them ensured all necessary documents and documentation of ownership of NUJ’s Ladi Lawal Press Centre were obtained for legal protection, after Akinreti’s predecessor(s) had misplaced those vital documents or taken them away for reasons only known to the culprits.
    (b) Another person amongst them single handedly repainted the Press Centre, to give it necessary facelift befitting look, before the decision to remodel the NUJ State Council Secretariat.
    (c) Another one facilitated a donation of nine laptops to the Union, with one big apple i-pad personally to the NUJ Chairman, apart from top level connections and financial benefits being facilitated for the Union by same person, who single handedly ensured the NUJ secured accommodation in its present temporary office and personally facilitated furnishing of the Chairman and Secretary’s offices and the Administration office.
    (d) A promise of direct access road to Abaren land by government was also facilitated by yet another member of the so-called kitchen-cabinet.
    (d) The NUJ’s ongoing Community Radio project at Badagry, which is expected to provide employment for some of our members, is also being facilitated by another so-called kitchen-cabinet member.

Now, would anyone in Akinreti’s shoes dispense with such associates or close friends facilitating achievements for him, to the general benefit of members and the Union; more so when the EXCO members cannot in any way claim to have done so much or better for our collective advancement?
(e) Despite all these support for Akinreti, the EXCO and NUJ by the so-called kitchen-cabinet of the Chairman, none of them was allocated an inch of land at Abaren, Mowe, but members of the EXCO were all given with documents of entitlement. Can anyone come out and say this claim is not true?
(f) In spite of the magnitude of support or assistance being given to Akinreti and members of his EXCO, no member of the Chairman’s so-called kitchen-cabinet has ever received a yard of clothing gift from him, in the name of NUJ support, but he has several times approved funds to buy ceremonial aso-ebi for private social engagements for all eleven members of the NUJ EXCO, including that of the wedding of the Council Treasurer’s daughter which cost our Union a whopping one hundred and forty-seven thousand naira. He also approves other benefits, both financial and non-financial, to whoever amongst them brought invitation to him or the Council. Do members of Akinreti’s so-called kitchen-cabinet benefit same? Whoever has a proof should not hesitate to make it public.

22. It is important and instructive to assert that the NUJ State Council Secretary, Alfred Odifa, who goes about disparaging Akinreti, claiming that he is being alienated and not being carried along, while crying that he has not “eaten” anything in three years of Akinreti’s leadership, is a major contractor to the Union. Odifa, who must have produced more than fifty giant greeting cards for the NUJ at a rate of twenty thousand naira each, must have generated over one million naira from that alone.
    (b) This is apart from being the contractor who collected a sum of twelve thousand naira each for more than thirty plaques of award to distinguished journalists; thereby raking into his private pockets a sum of more than three hundred and sixty thousand naira.
    (c) The same Odifa had his expensive phone replaced by the Union, courtesy of Akinreti’s decision and approval.
    (d) Odifa also got necessary financial support of the NUJ, courtesy of Akinreti’s authorisation, when a building collapsed on his University student son at Ile-Ife.
    (e) Odifa was also given due financial support and release of the NUJ bus to be taken away to Delta State for his in-law’s funeral for four days, courtesy of Akinreti’s approval.
    (f) The same Akinreti, who Odifa is undermining and by-passing to make direct official communication with without any recourse to the Chairman or opportunity to know, released same bus for him for four days, with authorisation of financial assistance to a man who compulsively lies against him.
23. It is on record that those accusing Akinreti of being a lone ranger are, again, being economical with the truth, because one of them has a relation taking care of NUJ property’s insurance.
24. They have been lying about that Akinreti awarded the remodelling of NUJ Secretariat to his Muslim brothers, but refused to make it known there was an open bid for the project, and that the contractors are experts handling very big projects for Lagos State government or that they were the ones who built the Maryland Shopping Mall of Shoprite and GT Bank’s buildings across the country.

The important question now is “do those vilifying or attacking Akinreti asking him to open the vault or ’till’ of Lagos NUJ to them for easy access to help themselves? Those threatening black power and African magic, and raining curses, are very well-tainted fellows involved in terrible land scandals or fraud, who became angry because Akinreti refused to heed their unceasing demands for money sharing and beer. Two of them have records or documents of their fraud available.

LAGOS JOURNALISTS, VOTE AKINRETI FOR SECOND TERM AS CHAIRMAN. DON’T BE DECEIVED BY SELF-SERVING PEOPLE