Members of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers (NUPPPPROW), Delta Printing and Publishing Company Limited (DPPCL) Chapel, have appealed passionately to Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa to appoint a substantive General Manager for the company from the retinue of eminently qualified members of staff in DPPCL.
The appeal was contained in a press release issued at the end of an emergency Joint Congress of the two unions held yesterday at the newsroom of DPPCL, which was presided over by the State Chairman of the NUJ, Comrade Mike Ikeogwu.
According to the release which was jointly signed by the State Chairman of the NUJ, Comrade Mike Ikeogwu; and his NUPPPPROW counterpart, Comrade Ikechukwu Onyiah; The NUJ Chairman, Pointer Chapel, Comrade Sunday Egede; his NUPPPPROW counterpart, Comrade Samson Duvwode as well as the Secretaries of the two unions, Comrade Christian Eze (NUJ) and Comrade Fidelis Asuelimen (NUPPPPROW), the appeal was necessitated by the impending retirement of the incumbent General Manager of the company, Mr. Bosah Iwobi.
“We wish to passionately appeal that the position of a General Manager for DPPCL should not be advertised but be filled by appointment as it is done in other MDAs in the state. We are of the view that His Excellency as a listening Leader and father to all, be considerate in making a choice on who succeed the outgoing General Manager as we have stated in series of letters sent to Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah.”
“To deny us the opportunity of having a General Manager appointed from among us would amount to triple tragedy as we can neither become Permanent Secretary nor Head of Service in our career progression,” members of the Joint Unions added in the release.
The release further stated that the new management structure for DPPCL, Asaba, as approved by the Delta State Executive Council, No BC 12 (2007) 13 of 17th May, 2007, gave the approval that the General Manager of the organization will be by promotion of a suitably qualified Assistant General Manager, pointing out that it was their hope that this order of SEC be applied in the current situation.
Members of the Joint Unions stated that it was an incontrovertible and universally acclaimed fact that competence and performance were the critical twin factors that drive and sustain seamless operational mechanism of reputable media organisations anywhere in the world.
They, therefore, reiterated their appeal that the Governor should use his good offices to appoint any of the suitably qualified officers to the position of a substantive General Manager of DPPCL in line with civil service rules without making it a public recruitment exercise “as we are deeply convinced that there are many capable hands within the system that can add more value to The Pointer in terms of improved and sustained editorial content and managerial efficiency.”
While saying that the appointment of a substantive General Manager from within The Pointer staff would stimulate career growth and efficiency vis-à-vis workers index of productivity, they disclosed that there was no in-house fighting among members of staff as being rumoured by enemies of the organization, adding that they are working as members of one indivisible family.
