Exploitation and slavery are words mostly associated with labour disputes in some private organisations in Nigeria and some other countries around the world.
In the case of Vision Media Services Limited, owners of Vision FM and Farin Wata TV, while some former and current staff of the organisation have not held back in the usage of these words, the organisation has countered them with its own allegations.
Six months ago, in Kano, 13 management staff of Vision FM raised a major eyebrow and resigned their services from the station.
In the notice of disengagement signed by the 13 management staff led by the Station General Manager, Adamu Ladan, addressed to the Group General Manager of the station in Abuja, the staff said their appointments had been on probation since they were engaged in January, 2019, though it was supposed to last for six months as indicated in their appointment letters.
The staff said despite several reminders that their appointments should be normalised, nothing was done.
According to the letter, the affected management staff appealed to the station to pay their outstanding salaries and claims before their exit from the organisation.
The management staff who jointly signed the letter were Isyaku Maje Turaki, Assistant General Manager; Muhammad Garba, Manager Admin and Finance; Aliyu Abubakar Getso, Manager News and Current Affairs; Ahmed Rufa’i Bello, Asst Manager News and Current Affairs and Lami S. Murtala, Head of Women Programmes.
Others are Ashiru Shehu Kachako, Head of Religious Unit; Lami Shema, Principal Producer, Cpt Abdullahi Adamu Bakoji (Rtd), Chief Security Officer (CSO); Mustapha Khamis, Religious Unit; Sadiq Muhammad Kiyawa, News Producer; Musa Zangina Adam, Religious Unit; and Samira Adnan.
A former staff of Farin Wata TV in Abuja, who did not want to be mentioned, told our reporter that he left because during the COVID-19 pandemic his salary was reduced to 40 per cent.
He said, “I was being paid N80,000 monthly. During the COVID-19 pandemic they said they could only pay me 40 per cent. After four to six months of being in Abuja, I couldn’t survive and I left.”
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that on November 19, 2021, some staff wrote to the Corruption Trackers Initiative, Kaduna, requesting an intervention over rights violation at Vision Media Services.
The letter reads in part: “Nigeria is one of the developing countries today that is in the forefront of the new media advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). But unfortunately, some media owners nowadays who feel they have attained some level of height in their world use the opportunity to discomfort their staff, specifically by compromising the ethical practice of the job, as well using dictatorial and draconian approaches in the day to day running of the stations.
“This piece intends to send a petition to all media regulatory bodies and labour unions to come into the matter and checkmate the excesses of the management of Vision Media Services/Prime Vision Network Ltd, owners of Vision FM stations in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Gombe, Sokoto and Kebbi states, and also Farin Wata Digital Television station.
“From all indications, the owners of the company, who also practice journalism, are targeting their poor employees, victimising them, and getting away with it.
“This is so because they are operating the company without any operating manual or guidelines and therefore the Chairman, Umar Faruq Musa, has become like a demigod, so much so that, even his co-owners can’t change his decisions no matter how irrational they may be.”
The letter further reads: “Similarly, the crisis also hit the General Manager Vision FM Kaduna, Alhaji Yakubu Lere, who was fired in a dismissal letter issued to him without a fair hearing.”
Yakubu Lere’s case against Umar Faruq Musa is now before a high court in Kaduna for fundamental human rights enforcement in which he is demanding N20m as compensation for involving the police despite being aware of a substantive suit filed by him (Lere).
A junior staff of Vision FM who spoke anonymously lamented poor working conditions in terms of pay and welfare, describing the situation as pure slavery and extortion.
He said, “Most of the staff are working without any legal agreement or appointment letter to show that he or she is a staff of vision. It was less than a month ago when the issue was raised that they printed appointment letters, and still the N10,000 they pay monthly sometimes does not come till after 40 days.
“Secondly, the workload is something else. How do you expect someone that is receiving N10,000 after 40 to 45 days to be doing four people’s jobs efficiently? And we are doing it but it is not easy. We are the foot soldiers and are the ones suffering.
“For example, you will work as a reporter, come back to read news bulletin and still be the on-air personality and duty continuity announcer. That is pure slavery.”
Another aggrieved staff who recently quit Farin Wata TV said the management frustrated them by violating their initial agreement to be paying for their accommodation.
He said, “After two years of reaching the agreement, they said they could not continue to pay for it except the company would loan us the money and be deducting from our monthly pay; which was also cut down to 40 per cent.
“Secondly, I was suspended over an offence I did not commit which led to my voluntary resignation. They usually suspend staff at month end to escape paying the person. And even when I resigned, I could not get my outstanding salaries.”
Management reacts
Responding to the allegations and issues raised against it, the management of Vision Media Services, through one of its General Managers, Austyn Agabi, said it was shocked to hear the allegations levelled against it over some irregularities by some staff members, denying the reported court cases instituted against the management.
He said, “To put the record straight, Vision is not in any court case with any of its staff except the former GM of Vision FM, Kaduna, Yakubu Lere, who was dismissed for over mismanagement of funds and gross misconduct; and another who absconded with company property.
“What the organisation knows is that the former management team in Kano who resigned en masse some months ago wrote through a lawyer demanding outstanding salaries, but not a court case as the public is being made to believe.
“Meanwhile, it is important to state that an audit team is dispatched to go round all the seven stations belonging to Vision Media Services Limited to look at their records following petitions of financial misconduct, lack of due process and fraud. The audit team established and exposed frauds, mismanagement of funds and revenue leakages.
“Based on the findings and report of the audit team, some general managers of some of the radio stations were either dismissed, suspended infinitely or currently facing panels of enquiry; depending on the level of mismanagement cases established against them.
“Vision Kano is not immuned to investigation as the former general manager was about to be dismissed along with two other senior management staff for various offences ranging from financial mismanagement, revenue leakages and misappropriation of funds, lack of productivity and abuse of office from incompetence established against them from the audit report. “However, they pleaded for an opportunity to resign honourably.
“After their plea to resign was generously obliged them, they went on to mobilise a total number of 13 other staff members to join them in the resignation spree through coercion, blackmail, lies and threats of being sacked if they failed to resign.
“On the outstanding salaries that their lawyer raised, the management of Vision immediately set up a panel which requested the said staff to appear for verification in order to establish those with genuine claims and then deal accordingly. Surprisingly, all affected staff came forward except the former general manager who has not honoured the invitation till date after been contacted severally.”
He further said, “It should be noted that some of the 13 staff that were deceived to join the mass resignation have made contact with the new management team and have either been reinstated or plans are underway to reinstate them.
“Finally, the company has called on all aggrieved members of staff to appear before the various verification panels instead of going around media houses to blackmail management or distort facts in order to win the sympathy of the public.”
