Muhammad Kabir KANO With the spread of COVID- 19 in the country and the hazards faced by Nigerian journalists, a former President of the Nigeria Unioun of Journalists (NUJ) and Commissioner for Information in Kano State,
Muhammad Garba, has advocated for contributory health scheme among journalists. Speaking at a colloquium organised by Kano Council of the NUJ for the late Managing Director of state-owned Radio Kano,
Umar Saidu Tudunwada, Garba said working journalists should have a contributory health scheme that would help them in time of need. Late Tudunwada died exactly one year ago in an auto crash along the Zaria-Kano Road while coming back from Kaduna with his wife.
According to Garba, “If journalists can initiate a a monthly contribution among themselves, it will help them a lot, especially when one of them is sick, or when someone dies.
“From that contribution, the hospital expenses can be settled, and for those that lost one of their immediate family members, that contribution can be used to support such persons.
“When I was the National President of the NUJ, we did our best to introduce health insurance for journalists, but after we left, the initiative was abandoned.