CHAIRMAN Nigeria Union of Journalists Nasarawa State chapter, Comrade Dogo Shamma, has cautioned politicians to stop taking journalists for granted.
Comrade Shamma, who stated this in an interview with Nigerian Tribune in Lafia, noted that politicians used a journalist to get what they want, thereafter turn their back against them.
He said” Journalists are supposed to be respected, honoured and highly paid, because of the risk involved in the profession.
“It is unfortunate that politicians are turning into violence, making things more difficult for the common man.
“They used journalists to get what they want and turn their back to them. I want to make this clarion call that no politician should take journalist for granted.
“It is very true that journalists are open to hazard, and they suppose to be appreciated by the society, but the reverse is the case, as many people see it as a thankless profession where all – work-and- no benefits,”.
The state chairman further said that press supposed to have risk allowance like medical Doctors practitioners, because the risk involved but nothing for them.
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“You can imagine that there is a crisis, and how do you manage to know about it? Even the government hardly go there, but journalist risks his life to go in and report exactly what happened.
“You can only seat in your parlour, bedroom reading newspapers or watching and listening to your TV set or radio of what is happening.
“Frankly, we are being underpaid, that is why the need of the NUJ welfare was called at the national level. And at the moment, a bill is being sponsored at the National Assembly on the welfare of journalists just like other professional bodies.
“We believed a journalist should be given a take-up pay, a kind of scale that they would be paid because they have been harassed and sometimes killed even in the course of doing their job,” he reiterated.