Comrade Shokunbi, Ex-Chairman Ogun NUJ, Challenges Successor Wale Olanrewaju For Demarketing Iwe Iroyin Press Centre
A former Chairman of the Ogun State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has challenged claims attributed to Comrade Wale Olanrewaju, about the condition of the union’s secretariat before his administration, describing the remarks as inaccurate, uncivilized and unfair to past leaders.
The former Chairman, Comrade Wole Shokunbi, was reacting to Olanrewaju’s address during the visit of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate in Ogun State, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, to the NUJ Secretariat at Iwe Iroyin Press Centre, Abeokuta, on Friday, September 25, 2026.
Adeola’s visit was part of his engagement with journalists ahead of the 2027 governorship election, during which he unveiled his proposed nine-point development agenda for Ogun State.
The former Chairman, in a statement made available to journalists, alleged that Olanrewaju had portrayed the secretariat he inherited as being in a state of disrepair and lacking relevant records, while suggesting that previous administrations achieved little.
According to him, such an account failed to reflect the historical development of Iwe Iroyin Press Centre and the contributions of successive NUJ administrations.
He said that when he became Chairman in 2012, after serving two terms as state Secretary, the union inherited a functional secretariat with three members of staff, a hall constructed for the Council by the administration of former Governor Olusegun Osoba, CON and a guest house built by the administration of former Governor Gbenga Daniel, also for Iwe Irohin Press Centre.
He also listed existing structures, including the Chairman’s office adjoining the Olusegun Osoba Hall, the Secretary’s office, library, newsroom and the Iwe Iroyin newspaper production office.
He traced the history of the secretariat to the union’s earlier premises at Ibara Housing Estate, known as Dele Giwa Press Centre, before its relocation to Oke-Ilewo in the 1990s under the former NUJ Chairman, Comrade Demola Badejo, who later retired as Permanent Secretary in the Ogun State Civil Service.
He further credited former NUJ Chairman, Comrade Niyi Ogungbola, with the tarring of the premises and construction of the main gate.
The former Chairman said his administration did not merely inherit the facilities but also maintained and expanded them.
He recalled that the administration inherited a Toyota bus donated to Ogun NUJ by the administration of former Governor Ibikunle Amosun in 2012 under the chairmanship of Comrade Tunde Sodeke.
He said his administration subsequently undertook several interventions, including the replacement of makeshift structures occupied by tenants with containers, construction of a perimeter fence and maintenance of existing facilitiSecretary so listed several initiatives which, according to him, were undertaken during his periods as secretary and Chairman.
Among them were the introduction of customised union files; regular publication of *Iwe Iroyin* newspaper with support from OPIC; established the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ) Ogun State campus for members without journalism education; facilitatted employment opportunities for wives and relatives of members in TRACE (48 slots), NSCDC (10 slots), FMC,, Abeokuta (10 slots), and NIPOST (5 slots); and the establishment of a journalists’ estate at Kobape behind the new government estate as well as the facilitation of 10 slots each of NECO for three years from the former Speaker, House of Representatives between 2009 to 2011.
He also cited international training programmes in Ghana and South Africa in 2014 for 10 days each, as well as professional training and workshops supported by organisations including DFID, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, the Public Relations Department of the United States Embassy in Lagos and the Nigeria Press Council from the National secretariat of NUJ.
Other initiatives, he said, included facilitation of Hajj and Jerusalem slots for members and the creation of a newsroom equipped with a television, DSTV and standby generating set for journalists in the state.
He said his administration also maintained the union’s staff structure, recruited additional workers and ensured regular payment of salaries, annual leave and related allowances.
But the Olarenwaju-led NUJ has since been without administrative staff in the Council.
The former Chairman particularly disputed the claim that Olanrewaju inherited a secretariat without records.
He alleged that Olarenwaju while converting the building that housed the Secretary’s office, newsroom and library to his office, official documents, journals, books and bounded newspapers including library furniture were hauled out and discarded.
He listed files relating to approvals, incoming and outgoing correspondences, payment vouchers, ledger books and awards received by the union among materials he alleged were affected.
The former Chairman also questioned the assertion that Olanrewaju met the secretariat without chairs.
He recalled that during his tenure as Chairman of the NUJ Information Chapel in 2004, he facilitated donations of plastic chairs from then Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola, NUJ Patron and Fellow, who donated 24 dozen; the Bureau of Lands and Survey, donated 10 dozen; and the office of the Deputy Governor, also donated 12 dozen.
During the brief tenure of the late Comrade Soji Amosun, Senator Lekan Mustapha, NUJ Patron and the current Director- General Presidential / Governorship Campaign Committee, Ogun state, who was among the signatories in the Senator Adeola’s entourage donated another 10 dozen of green plastic chairs. And the hall was regularly hired.
He further cited a N500,000 donation facilitated by Comrade Dayo Rufai from Senator Lekan Mustapha, which, he said, was used partly to purchase a generating set and additional chairs.
He therefore asked whether the chairs had disappeared before the current administration assumed office or whether they were among items removed when Olarenwaju took over.
The former chairman also questioned Olanrewaju’s claim of having executed 26 projects at the secretariat.
He said the assertion appeared difficult to reconcile with the alleged description of the press centre as the worst NUJ secretariat in Nigeria, which Senator Adeola, the APC governorship candidate acknowledged while addressing the journalists.
According to him, the current chairman should publicly itemise the 26 projects and explain their direct benefits to NUJ members.
“Is it the library at the building shared by the secretary of the Council that he dismantled, or the newsroom created for members that was converted to his office?” he asked, while also referencing training programmes, welfare interventions and other facilities allegedly established by previous administrations.
Comrade Shokunbi also alleged that commercialisation of facilities at Iwe Iroyin had increased the financial burden on members, claiming that spaces were being rented at substantially higher rates than the figures he said applied under previous administrations. To this extent, members could not afford to buy food or table water because of high costs of things at Iwe Irohin Press Centre.
The former Chairman also recalled that Senator Adeola’s relationship with Ogun NUJ predated his emergence as the APC Governorship Candidate.
Comrade Shokunbi said his first contact with the Senator dated back to 2012, when Adeola assisted Ogun NUJ during the union’s National Delegates Conference in Abuja.
He further recalled meeting Adeola in his Ikeja constituency in June 2015, arguing that the Senator had supported the journalism community over the years.
It should be recalled that Senator Adeola presented his nine-point *ITESIWAJU* agenda, covering areas including infrastructure, education, healthcare, security, agriculture, job creation, industrialisation and urban development during his visit to Ogun NUJ Iwe Irohin Press Centre on September 25. He also pledged to work with journalists as partners in governance if elected.
The former Chairman said the NUJ should ultimately be about improving the welfare and professional development of journalists rather than providing comfort and privilege to its leaders.
He cited the establishment of a trust fund during his tenure through which members and their families facing difficulties, including educational challenges involving themselves or their children, could receive assistance.
He urged Wale Olanrewaju to concentrate on the achievements of his own administration instead of disparaging his predecessors.
“Leadership is not bought but earned. You can’t give what you don’t have,” he said.
He advised Olanrewaju to do his best for the union and allow future generations of journalists to assess the various administrations on the basis of their records.
