Emmanuel Thomas
November 13, 2015 – The embattled management of Independent Newspapers Limited (IN), publishers of Daily Independent Newspapers, has embarked on mass sack of workers for protesting over 24 month salary arrears and other emoluments.
One of those affected told our reporter that the management has commenced issuance of sack letters to all the workers, starting with gatemen who have been non-partisan in the ongoing impasse between management and other staff.
We gathered that the Mr. Ted Iwere led management has issued termination letters to all the security operatives in addition to cheques to pay them off. We gathered that the sack of the security men was just the beginning of the mass sack which is intended to dislodge all the staff who are agitating for their salaries and other emoluments and usher in fresh blood.
“He has issued us letters even with cheques, they are prepared to sack everybody and pay them off”, one of those affected told our reporter. Some of the security operatives were paid as low as N100,000 as pay off, while others received up to N200,000 depending on how long they have been engaged by the company.
Staff of the newspaper were led on daily protest by the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers (NUPPPPROW) in early October, forcing management to shut the premises. The newspaper has been out of print since then.
INL was set up in 2001 by former governor of Delta State Chief James Onanaefe Ibori, with the late Doyin Mahmoud as founding Managing Director while Mr. Ted Iwere was Executive Editor. Mr. Greg Oshotse was its founding Editor. We gathered that board room politics later led to the exit of Mahmoud, paving way for Iwere to emerge as Managing Director.
Iwere, we gathered succeeded in leading the newspaper on the part of profitability and it emerged Newspaper of the Year under him.
Internal revolution however led him out of the newspaper only for him to return in 2014 as MD and allegedly embarked on revenge mission during which all existing editors were shown the way out.
The exercise however affected the fortune of the newspaper, leading to loss of readership and drastic reduction in circulation to an unimaginable proportion.
“In the middle of this, the Iwere-led management embarked on massive reorganization, turning the newsroom to a marvel and the best in Nigeria. Reorganization was still in progress when the staff embark on protest to press home their demand for payment of 24 month salary arrears”, a source told our reporter.
