New Nigerian staff remain hopeful as company raises N1bn from liquidated assets

Two years after the 19 Northern Governors gave directives for the disposal of properties owned by the New Nigerian Newspapers Ltd, publishers of New Nigerian Newspapers and Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo, retired and existing staff of the company say they remain hopeful that their entitlements would be paid soon. 

With about N1 billion in its kitty, Northern Nigeria’s foremost newspaper company—the New Nigerian Newspapers, could well be on its way to settling the entitlements of its dozens of staff, eagerly waiting to smile to the bank. Some of the properties of the New Nigerian Newspapers Limited (NNN), publishers of New Nigerian newspapers, and Gaskiya Ta fi Kwabo were constructed under the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, in 1966. 

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The newspaper subsequently became one of the most respected newspaper organizations in the country even though it later faced decades of challenges that crippled its operations and eventually led to its collapse. In the last eight years, the company had stopped production but still makes appearances online. Its array of retirees and those still keeping the paper online have told tales of hardship and disenchantment at the apparent neglect of the company and its antecedent impact on their lives.  

In 2021, our correspondent, who visited the headquarters of the defunct newspaper in Kaduna, gathered that the few workers still in service were still wallowing in poverty as they often spend months without salaries. Most times, they were paid half or quarter salaries. Daily Trust correspondent returned to the company’s premises located along Ahmadu Bello Way in Kaduna last week and reports that the situation has not changed. 

A staff who met our correspondent within the deserted premises said they were living in hardship and are barely able to support their families. The staff who pleaded to remain anonymous said: “We are in a critical situation. Feeding ourselves and our family is difficult and some of us barely eat once a day.”

“My children have dropped out of school because I cannot afford their school fees. I am having issues with my wife because I cannot care for her as I should,” he said angrily. The middle-aged man however said what has kept him going is the hope that he will one day reap the benefits of the 25 years he has invested in the company through his entitlements.

“We are pleading with the northern governors to fulfil their promises and settle our entitlements before the commencement of the 2023 general elections. Campaigns have already started and our families deserve to live better lives,” he said.

In 2006, the 19 Northern State Governors had taken over the company from the Federal Government after a botched attempt to sell it to a private individual. Our correspondent reports that in 2020, faced with accumulated entitlements from the number of retirees and existing workers, the northern governors gave directives for the disposal of the company’s properties across the country. The Kaduna State Secretary to the State Government, Balarabe Abbas, was appointed Chairman of the Company’s Resuscitation Committee for the payment of the worker’s entitlements after the company’s assets, comprising staff quarters, some uncompleted story buildings in Kaduna, as well as assets in Lagos and Abuja, are disposed of. Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the aim of the disposal was to raise money to settle workers’ entitlements.

However, two years since the decision was taken, ex and existing staff of the company say they are disappointed that after the sales of the company’s properties and processes for payments completed, they are yet to be paid. Some of the staff claimed all necessary reports on payment of workers’ entitlements have been submitted to the committee which is yet to communicate with them.

“We don’t know the reason for the delay in the commencement of the payment,” said one of the staff angrily. “We keep hearing next month, next month since last year but we are yet to be paid.  Now, we are hearing that the money will be paid before the end of September, although it is not official,” he said.

An editorial staff of the company said: “Most of the properties have been sold and the reason for the selling was to raise funds to pay us. We are praying hard and seeking God’s intervention on this matter,” he said.

On his part, the Chairman, National Union of Printing Publications and Paper Product Workers, of the New Nigeria Newspaper, Comrade Friday Sule Idoko, said the Kaduna State SSG who is the chairman of the resuscitation committee for the payment of entitlements has assured them that they will get their entitlements. According to Comrade Idoko, the workers have remained patient even though he described the process as slow.

“Although there is hardship, but we believe they will do something positive this time around because all the right signs are on ground. Some of the properties have been sold, some are yet to be sold but we are hopeful that this time, we will be paid,” he said.

Though the chairman of the resuscitation committee, Lawal Balarabe, had ignored phone calls and text messages sent to him on the next step after the sale of the properties, the Managing Director of the company, Yusuf Musa, said he recently made a presentation at the last northern governors meeting in Abuja on the progress made so far and confirmed that money has been raised from the sales of properties. 

Musa told Daily Trust on Sunday that at the governor’s meeting, he had listed three prayers to help address the challenges of the company. “It includes tackling the increasing liabilities of the company arising from the accumulation of workers’ salaries. The management thinks that all the workers should be retired in principle and salaries suspended while those whose services are still required can be re-engaged later,” he said.

He said there was the need to retain only five staff to be led by the Managing Director for administration purposes towards the resuscitation of the organization. “The third prayer is to approve the payment of a certain percentage of all the workers’ liabilities, depending on the resources accrued from the sales of the properties so far.”

He also said there is the need to settle all liabilities the company owed its other partners amounting to over N25 million in other to avoid further threats of litigations. “The money raised so far is over N1bn but our expectation was over N2bn,” he said.

The Managing Director said some of the properties were yet to be bided for while some bided were yet to be fully paid due to economic reasons and likely inflations in the country.

Asked when the workers will be paid, the MD said: “That is what we are pursuing at the moment. Recently we had three visits to the northern governor’s secretariat on this matter. You know we cannot say when, specifically, the payment will be made but all the necessary follow-ups have been made and we will continue until our demands are achieved,” he said.

He commended the chairman of the resuscitation committee, Balarabe Abbas, for his tireless efforts to settle the matter, adding that the money raised from the sale of the properties is in the confers of New Capital Properties Limited which is the disposing agent.