A senior lecturer in the department of mass communication at Bayero University Kano (BUK), and an Associate Professor, Sule Ya’u Sule has lamented the poor remunerations for practicing journalists in Nigeria.
Speaking at the launching for an endowment fund to assist journalists in Kano State, Sule Ya’u recalled the recent embarrassing discovery he made in regard to salary of an average journalist in the country.
He said that he was part of an interview panel for the recruitment of journalists, and that in the process, he discovered that the take-home pay of the highest paid journalist so far “was nothing to write home about.”
He said that in some cases, hardworking journalists are either not paid their pitiable salaries by their employers or are owed an upward of 10 month salaries.
Sule Ya’u regretted that journalists who raise people, especially politicians from none entity to high public pedestal through their reportage are mostly left in poverty and on the same spot.
He noted that the worse is a situation in most cases, in which most people they so elevated are the same that would turn round to downgrade or even spite them.
The senior lecturer then commended the Kano Correspondents’ Chapel of the NUJ for coming up with an idea of floating an endowment fund.
He appealed to the friends of journalists both in government and private sector to contribute immensely to the fund.
This came as the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabiru Yusuf was believed to have earmarked about N100 million in the 2026 budget towards assisting journalists across the country.
His spokesperson, Mustapha Muhammad, at an award night ceremony by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Tahir Guest Palace in Kano on Sunday, December 28, said that the governor has always been the friend of media and journalists, adding that beyond friendship he is always thinking about their wellbeing and welfare.
Alhaji Mustapha Muhammad promised members of the Kano Correspondents Chapel in particular and all the journalists operating in the state of the concern of the governor for smooth operating environment to practice their trade.
He said that the governor appreciates the positive roles members of the chapel have been playing in his continued efforts to develop the state.
At the endowment fund launch, a business tycoon, Alhaji Abdulsalam Abdúlkarim Zaura donated N2 million while a member of the House of Representatives, Barrister Muhammed Bello, former Kano State Commissioner of information, Garba Muhammed, Chief Executive of Amasco, Alhaji Ibrahim Mustapha, Alhaji Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, Ambassador Usman Hassan, Hon Kabiru Alhassan Rurum donated one million naira each.
