EMCAN Rebirth: From Members’ Discontent to a New Promise of Welfare, Opportunity and Service

By Aviashima Toom, Abuja 

For years, the Environmental Media Correspondents Association of Nigeria (EMCAN) was expected to serve as a professional home for journalists reporting on the environment—a platform where members could find support, strengthen their professional capacity, access opportunities and collectively advance the cause of environmental journalism in Nigeria.

But beneath the identity and activities of the association, a growing sense of discontent had emerged among some members.

Questions were raised about transparency, accountability, communication, elections, congresses, access to opportunities and, perhaps most importantly, the welfare of members.

For critics of the former leadership, an association established to improve the professional and welfare conditions of environmental correspondents had, over the years, become too concentrated around a small circle, leaving many members wondering what tangible benefits their membership provided.

After about eight years under the former leadership, concerns about the absence of a clearly defined and institutionalised welfare package became particularly pronounced among some members. The expectation was that an association created to better the professional and personal circumstances of its members should have mechanisms capable of supporting them in times of need.

Members expected an organisation that would stand by them during emergencies,  and other difficult circumstances, while also creating opportunities for professional growth and improved livelihoods.

Yet, according to concerns expressed by members during the period leading to the recent election, welfare support was neither sufficiently structured nor equitably accessible. For some, the association had gradually lost sight of the fundamental question of what membership should mean in practical terms.

An association, after all, derives its strength from its members. When members begin to feel that they are only important when their presence or professional identity is required, confidence in the institution inevitably begins to weaken.

It was against this backdrop that Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah emerged as Chairman of EMCAN, campaigning on a message that went beyond a change of personalities. Her central promise was clear: “An EMCAN for All.”

In her manifesto, Adah openly acknowledged concerns expressed by members about openness, accountability, communication, access to information, regular elections and congresses, opportunities for members and the extent to which members were carried along in matters concerning their association.

She did not describe those concerns as agitation to be suppressed or ignored. Instead, she described them as the concerns of members who care about EMCAN and want to see it become stronger, more democratic, transparent and inclusive.

That acknowledgement has raised expectations about what the new administration will do differently.

For many members, one of the most important tests will be welfare.

An association of professionals cannot be sustained indefinitely on meetings, titles and institutional engagements alone. Members need to feel that the organisation stands with them—not only when their services are required, but also when they need support.

The new leadership therefore has an opportunity to establish a sustainable welfare framework that is transparent, clearly defined and accessible to every eligible member, rather than leaving welfare to personal discretion or informal arrangements.

Such a framework could provide structured assistance for members facing emergencies, bereavement and other difficult circumstances, while also creating avenues for professional support and development.

The objective should not be to turn EMCAN into a financial institution, but to create a system where members know what support is available, who qualifies, how it is funded and how decisions are made.

That would represent a major departure from a system in which members may be uncertain about what tangible welfare benefits come with belonging to the association.

But welfare is only one part of the opportunity before the new administration.

Adah's manifesto also places strong emphasis on professional opportunities, training, workshops, professional exchanges and partnerships aimed at strengthening members' capacity in climate reporting, investigative journalism, data journalism, multimedia storytelling and other emerging areas of environmental reporting.

This could become one of the most valuable investments EMCAN makes in its members.

Environmental journalism is changing rapidly. Climate change, carbon markets, biodiversity, energy transition, pollution, environmental justice and environmental data now require correspondents to possess skills that go beyond traditional reporting.

For EMCAN members, therefore, the future must be about more than simply belonging to an association. It must be about what that membership enables them to achieve.

If the new leadership succeeds in securing meaningful partnerships and opportunities, members could gain access to training, field reporting, fellowships, collaborative investigations, professional exchanges and platforms that can improve both their journalism and career prospects.

In that sense, the fortune of the new EMCAN may not only be measured in direct financial benefits. It could be measured in access, skills, visibility, professional networks and opportunities.

Perhaps the most important principle articulated by the new Chairman is that EMCAN must become bigger than any individual.

In her acceptance speech, Adah stated plainly: “The Chairman does not own EMCAN. The members own EMCAN.”

That statement could become the defining test of her administration.

For an association to survive leadership transitions, its systems must be stronger than the personalities occupying its offices. Elections must be regular.

 Financial processes must be transparent. Information must reach members. Congresses must provide meaningful opportunities for participation. Welfare policies must be documented. Opportunities must be distributed fairly, and decisions affecting members must be subjected to appropriate institutional processes.

That is the difference between an association built around individuals and one built around institutions.

Adah has also chosen a conciliatory approach towards the past, acknowledging the pioneering role of the former Chairman and those who helped establish and steer EMCAN during its formative years.

Her message appears to be that renewal does not require the destruction of the past. Rather, the new administration intends to inherit the foundation, acknowledge what worked, confront what needs improvement and build a stronger institution.

That approach may be important in healing divisions arising from the election and ensuring that the association moves forward as one professional family.

The election is over. The real work has begun.

Members who voted for change will now expect evidence that the change they demanded is real. Those who supported the former leadership will equally expect to remain valued members of the association.

The new Chairman's pledge of reconciliation, inclusion and consultation therefore carries a responsibility to ensure that “An EMCAN for All” becomes more than a campaign slogan.

Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah has inherited an EMCAN with challenges, but also with enormous possibilities.

If her administration can establish a transparent welfare structure, expand access to professional opportunities, institutionalise regular congresses and elections, improve communication, strengthen training and ensure equitable access to partnerships and programmes, her tenure could mark a significant turning point in the history of the association.

For members, that would represent more than a change of Chairman.

It would change the meaning of membership itself.

The fundamental question is no longer simply who leads EMCAN.

The bigger question is: What does EMCAN do for its members?

The answer will determine whether the current transition becomes merely another change of leadership or the beginning of a genuine institutional rebirth.

For now, the new administration has made its promise: an EMCAN that listens, an EMCAN that supports its members, an EMCAN that creates opportunities and an EMCAN that belongs to all.

The task ahead is to turn those promises into policies, programmes and measurable benefits.

That is where the real rebirth of EMCAN will begin.