By PETER NOSAKHARE, Kaduna

Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), National Presidential Aspirant, Garba Muhammad Project (GMP), Thursday expressed his sympathy to the victims of the flood disaster in Borno and called on the relevant agencies and government to as a matter of urgency attend to the needs of the families of the affected.

Speaking with newsmen, Muhammad expressed his desire to work with government and relevant agencies to see how succour can get to the people affected and their families.

?It?s my wish and desire to work with CSOs, government and other willing bodies to help bring comfort to the families and people affected by the flood.?

On his aspirations as national president of NUJ, he promised to make the profession more professional, attractive and to make the welfare and security of members a priority.

?For me, the profession has been bastardized by quacks, people see Journalists now as beggars. This is not the reason I joined the profession. In the past, journalists were respected and honored, that isn?t happening today.?

According to him, ?there are media houses paying members stipends, some owe salaries of over three years and this body is supposed to be a union to defend its members.

?When elected I intend with the support of my cabinet, bring a sense of belonging to our esteemed members. After all, we are the fourth estate of the realm.

?We shall at the same time look into the revenue source of the union with a view to carrying out an all-inclusive reform and transparency and accountability of funds including national and international opportunities available to the union.

?We want our esteemed members to understand this simple fact that it is not how long one claims to be in position of leadership, but how much impact he has attracted to our great Union. We are in no way a liability, going by our tract records of achievement in the positions we have held and currently holding.?

Continuing, he said: ?Under my leadership, we shall call for the review of the FOI Act to include the protection and safety of practitioners.

?This review will no doubt address the lacuna in the law that has not protected practitioners from vulnerability to attack and intimidation in the cause of carrying out their constitutional responsibilities.

?We will also address the inability of the leadership to put strong enforcement of the pension laws and full utilization of the vast land at the National Secretariat.

?How we intend to carry out these reforms, among others; including the tracking mechanism shall be explained to our esteemed members at the appropriate time.?

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