In a recent essay, I reflected on whether membership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) is the only pathway to practicing journalism in Nigeria. The debate remains unsettled: thousands of Nigerians report, investigate, publish, and broadcast daily without carrying the NUJ card. Does that make them any less journalists? And what happens when such practitioners face threats, harassment, or arrest?
A recent case in Katsina provides a striking answer. On 7 September 2025, Leadership Hausa Online published an investigative report alleging ₦30 million fraud involving a local councillor in Bindawa Local Government. Its editor, Zuhair Ali Ibrahim, a young journalist working outside the NUJ structure, was promptly arrested after the councillor petitioned the police. He was transported from Zaria to Katsina and remanded in custody.
Ordinarily, one might expect the NUJ to rally behind him. But in this case, it was not the NUJ that stood tallest. It was the Citizens’ Coalition Against Corruption (CCAC), a civil society organisation. CCAC issued a strongly worded petition to Governor Dikko Radda, condemning the criminalisation of journalism, warning against the abuse of state machinery, and calling for Ibrahim’s immediate release.
Their intervention was remarkable for two reasons. First, it affirmed that press freedom is not the exclusive preserve of NUJ members. Journalism, in its essence, is about informing the public responsibly — not about belonging to a union. Second, it showed that civil society groups are increasingly stepping into the gap, defending journalists who work online, freelance, or outside conventional media organisations.
In fact, this mirrors global best practice. In many democracies, the strongest defenders of press freedom are not only professional guilds but also watchdog NGOs, human rights groups, and advocacy organisations. Think of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) or Reporters Without Borders (RSF) — both non-union bodies that have successfully defended journalists of all shades across the world.
The Katsina case demonstrates the same reality: that while the NUJ remains important, the wider ecosystem of democracy relies on multiple voices defending press freedom. When a councillor tries to silence an investigative report through police action, or when an online journalist is detained simply for doing his work, the Constitution itself guarantees protection — and groups like CCAC are ready to stand up.
But there is also an important lesson for the NUJ itself. Social media has created an entire generation of non-NUJ practitioners who are shaping public discourse every day. Bloggers, online publishers, and citizen reporters are not going away. Instead of leaving them outside, the NUJ could reflect on ways to accommodate and professionalise them — even if that means amending its constitution to broaden membership criteria. By opening its doors wider, the NUJ would not only strengthen its own relevance but also help raise standards and ethics across the expanding landscape of Nigerian journalism.
In the end, the message is clear: journalism is not a crime. Whether or not one carries an NUJ card, society benefits when facts are investigated, wrongdoings exposed, and the powerful held accountable. That is why both unions and civil society must continue to work side by side — and why the NUJ, in particular, may need to evolve to reflect today’s media realities.
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