As Nigeria marks 65 years of independence, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has urged leaders across the political spectrum to confront the nation’s enduring divisions with renewed commitment to justice, fairness, and equity.
In return, and at another event, the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has tasked journalists to tackle fake news and the misinformation of the public in the media industry.
NUJ said the principles of justice, fairness, and equity, if sincerely applied, hold the key to addressing the country’s deep-seated contradictions and securing a future of peace, unity, and development.
In a statement jointly signed by its National President, Yahaya Alhassan, and National Secretary, Achike Chude, the NUJ noted that while Nigeria’s attainment of self-rule in 1960 was achieved without the bloodshed that characterised independence struggles in other parts of Africa, the path to freedom was nevertheless fraught with sacrifices, intimidation, and the resilience of pan-Nigerian nationalists.
“The various constitutional conferences undertaken by prominent Nigerians in the lead-up to independence were manifestations of determined efforts to rid the country of foreign invaders who had forcefully taken our territorial spaces uninvited,” the NUJ said.
However, the NUJ lamented that sixty-five years later, the vision of independence had remained largely unfulfilled. The Union argued that the failure of successive governments to deliver on the promise of democracy and nationhood has left most Nigerians poor, insecure, and vulnerable.
The union described Nigeria as “beleaguered but beloved,” a nation richly endowed with human and natural resources, yet persistently undermined by leadership deficiencies and institutional decay.
On the other hand, Zulum charged journalists to take a decisive and a leading role to combat the spread of disinformation, misinformation and fake news in the Global Digital Space (GDTS).
Zulum gave the charge yesterday at the 2025 Triennial Delegates Conference of the State chapter of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Musa Usman International Conference Centre, Maiduguri. He warned that the proliferation of manipulated information and weaponised content, when unchecked by journalists, posed a significant threat to national security, peaceful coexistence, and sustainable economic growth and development of the country.
He noted that NUJ, an umbrella body of journalists, had always been at the forefront of promoting the ideals of journalism practice in an era the governor described as “information overload, characterised by disinformation and misinforming members of the general public.
