Yenagoa—Staff of the three parastatals designated to occupy the newly commissioned media complex located at Azikoro road in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State are protesting against an alleged plan by the supervising Ministry of Information to join in the occupation of the building.
Leadership newspaper reports that already, staff of the state media houses, the Bayelsa State Corporation known as Radio Bayelsa, Niger Delta Television and State Newspaper Corporation known as New Waves, are grumbling over the decision by the Commissioner for Information, Hon. Ayiba Duba, to move staff of the ministry into the newly commissioned Ernest Ikoli Media Centre.
The media house, according to the Bayelsa State Government is meant to accommodate the three media outfits of the State.
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It will be recalled that Governor Douye Diri, during the inauguration of the building on the 14th of February, 2022 didn’t state if the over 900 staff of the Ministry of Information would join an estimated 2,500 staff of the three media outfits.
Some staff of the media outfits had expressed fears of overcrowding, heavy use of facilities within the media complex, and the alleged overbearing attitude of the Commissioner of Information.
They also claimed that the unreceptive attitude of workers of the three media houses is based on the inappropriate nature of overcrowding in a broadcast complex.
Others posited that, out of the thirty-six states in the country including the Federal Capital Territory (FTC), no media outfit houses both the supervising Ministry of Information and parastatals.
“As a political appointee, it will not be appropriate for the commissioner’s office to be domiciled in the broadcast environment considering the kind of visitors he might be receiving especially during the period of electioneering,” a staff who craved anonymity stated.
They also stressed the need for Diri to inaugurate a board to oversee its affairs based on the law establishing the media house.
