By Peter Usman:
Employees of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN in Ibadan and Akure, South West of the country Nigeria, on Monday embarked on a peaceful protest within their premises to express their grievances at the organisation’s dwindling operations.
The staff of FRCN in Ibadan, came out in black outfits to register their grievances as some of the workers demanded replacement of obsolete equipment and operational vehicles.
Others complaints of nonpayment of outstanding allowances and also demanded expansion of manning levels to enhance promotion of staff, regular training for optimum performance as well as improved staff welfare.
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalist, NUJ, FRCN Ibadan Chapter, Mr. Nofiu Busari explained that the reason for the peaceful protest was to draw attention of the management to the poor state of facilities in the organisation’s stations across the country.
Busari, who stated that the protest which was being held simultaneously across all FRCN stations in the country, said that workers will no longer tolerate a situation where staff use their personal funds to facilitate the running of FRCN.
According to him, “We want the Federal Government to hearken to our plea. Our facilities are over 16 years old. No doubt, salaries are being paid as at when due but we want to justify what we are being paid for.” He stated.
Chairman of the state council of the NUJ in Oyo State, Mr. Adewunmi Faniran also called on the government to urgently intervene in addressing the challenges bedeviling the organisation.
He said, “We are operating in a competitive environment but with little or no facilities to aid production. We have equipment here in Ibadan that had been in use since the 80s and 90s”
“We want the government without delay to look into our needs and I must emphasise that this protest is not targeted at anyone but for the benefits of members of staff” he said.
In the same Vain, FRCN staff in Akure, Ondo state also embarked on a peaceful protest as a result of the poor working conditions and obsolete equipment.
Chairman of FRCN Akure Chapel, Mr. John Ebiofini, said no improvement had been made on the equipment at the station since 16 years ago, adding that the equipment at the station could not cover the nooks and crannies of the state.
He said, “Today, due to deplorable condition of our outdated equipment, we cannot boast of covering Ondo State where we are located. We should be ashamed of ourselves being a Federal Government establishment that is supposed to set the pace for state and private broadcasting houses to follow suit,” he said.
https://www.africaprimenews.com/2018/07/04/news/nigeria-coalition-of-ngos-tasks-media-on-free-fair-reports-on-conflicts/