The roles of journalists in national development lie in their capacity and capability to inform, teach, persuade, sensitise and mobilise people through information dissemination.

THEY are also to chart a course for the public in line with the agenda setting theory, thereby creating in people’s minds government’s programmes and policies. These roles among others placed on media practitioners the responsibility to be above board in their activities.

Recent events in the state council of the union which has been embroiled in fratricidal war like crisis calls for concern. For a council that has been known for peace and intellectual vibrancy, its recent war of attrition calls for a rethink and thorough introspection by journalists and their veterans.

Today, the union has become factionalised into warring camps and laughing stock among serious minded professionals who see members as incapable of minding their crisis without external interlopers.

It will not be wrong to describe the Ondo State Council of NUJ as a house of commotion and squabbles where journalists by their fraternal calling can no longer drink from the same chalice.

What the union now witnesses is a peace of the grave yard presiding the last election which was also deadlocked. The election stated for November 14  failed to hold due to the antics of some unpatriotic forces within the union.

Many reasons were adduced for this unfortunate incident. A school of thought was of the opinion that some forces within the union having realised that it may not win the election resorted to arm twisting by not allowing the election to take place.

ANOTHER group believed that the list of members of chapels loyal to some chairmanship candidates were doctored and must be tinkered with before election would hold.

THE national body of the union has responded and constituted a three-man committee to look at the list with a view to determining authentic members of the union. The committee include Mr. Kayode Akinsola from Osun State as its chairman, members include, Wole Shokunbi, Ogun and Bamigbola Gbolagunte,  Secretary.

WE commend the national president Mr. Chris Iziguzo for his forthrightness and matured handling of the NUJ affairs in Ondo council. He has demonstrated his impartiality by constituting a fact finding committee having no relationship with all the contending forces within the union.

THE unending wranglings within the council have shown that the union and its members who are in the habit of settling others crises cannot rise beyond primordial sentiment and put its house in order.

IT is quite unfortunate that the union has opened its doors to all manners of quacks for a very long time. This has made charlatans to find their way into the union, thereby giving it a bad name.

WE therefore welcome this new move by the national body and recommend that it should not end in Ondo State. This is the time to weed those who have no business in the NUJ.

DOING this will go a long way in making NUJ take its rightful place among other bodies like the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, NMA, ICAN among others.

WE also canvass for a comprehensive compendium of members that would be reviewed every five years. This will assist in curbing activities of those giving the union bad names.

THE HOPE welcomes Kayode Akinsola and his members to Ondo State. We charge them to be above board and carry out their duties with the fear of God.

WE place it on Mr. Akinsola that he is not new to this kind of assignment. He has executed same in Osun state in 2016 without blemish. His exploits in Osun, we suspect must have earned him this new assignment.

THEREFORE, we wish to inform the committee that they are at the threshold of history. They should do everything that would make the union move forward.

We call on the leaders of the union to assist the committee to save the union from the present quagmire by being forthright and not being used by anybody .

THE constitution is sacrosanct. It is the basis and the pillar which NUJ rests upon. We thus appeal that they should be on the side of the constitution. Anything contrary should not be accommodated by the committee.