*Billionaire businessman owing one-year salary
*Workers, NUJ head for court
By Oladimeji Abitogun
The flagship of billionaire Jimoh Ibrahim’s collapsing media empire, National Mirror Newspaper, has been rested.
The newspaper, a daily, had only been publishing occasionally since January, this year before it was finally closed down by Ibrahim, who, according to inside sources, called it “a drain pipe.”
The over 100 staff members of the paper have now been thrown into the labour market despite that they are being owed one-year salary.
Only last year, Ibrahim shut another of his newspaper outfits-Newswatch Times, having accummulated arrears of unpaid salaries for upwards of 10 months. After closing the paper, he, following serious pressure, paid 60 per cent of the salary owed, only to those who endured hardship to the end, by not resigning their appointments in the face of hunger.
The magazine arm of Newswatch Times is also long dead.
Newswatch Times was so re-christened after Jimoh failed in his legal battle against the original owners of Newswatch magazine, who had spotted roquery in the manner he acquired the magazine from them.
The owners-Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade, had complained that they were short-changed by Ibrahim while the latter was acquiring the magazine, prompting an order of a Federal High Court withdrawing the franchise from Ibrahim.
National Mirror was last published on February 24, this year, to mark the 50th birthday of Jimoh Ibrahim.
Ibrahim reportedly ordered the purchase of a N300 million limousine car as self-gift on the occasion of his birthday but the posh car was not cleared early enough at the port, thus it could not not arrive for the needed glidding.
However, the limousine was finally cleared three weeks ago and Jimoh cruised it to the National Mirror premises, to confront the numbness of workers who had not been paid for 12 months.
Two years ago, Ibrahim had brought in one Mr. Sunday Olajide, a former editorial manager of Tribune Newspaper, Ibadan, to come and do a turn-around job in National Mirror.
“At the period, Mrs. Kafilat Ogbara, the Mirror Managing Director was doing a great job as she cleared unpaid salaries of four months within three months of her arrival.
“But Jimoh himself threw spanners into the wheel of progress when he brought in Olajide as Deputy MD and in no time removed Ogbara to make Olajide a substantive MD.
“Twice, Ibrahim had bailed out Olajide by helping him to pay up accummulated salaries until the whole scenario got worse and the MD found it hard to pay salaries for one year.
“In fact, the bad situation in no time streamed to affect the paper as it was not being produced regularly, despite that the publisher provided a printing press and newsprint,” a senior editorial staff member, who craved anonymity, revealed.
Another source said Ogbara might have been eased out because of her high level of fidelity, as she would not act like some women in the employ of the super rich, who would opt for “body submission”, to sustain their job.
Yet others differed, saying Ibrahim asked her to go because of her overt involvement in politics, having been nominated into so many committees in the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
It was gathered that Jimoh Ibrahim two weeks ago, sauntered into the National Mirror newsroom and asked that all operations be suspended and that the staff should proceed home to enable him re-organise the paper.
He promised to take his decisions in May this year. But an embattled Olajide, it was learnt, had asked his loyalists among the staff to still conduct skeletal services. According to sources, he assured them that he would find a way of appealing to Ibrahim to rescind his decision.
Meanwhile, the aggrieved members of staff of National Mirror have secured the services of legal luminary, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, to help them drag Ibrahim to court for the non-payment of their one-year salary. Falana, it was learnt, had offered to handle the case as pro bono (free of charge) in sympathy with the plight of the workers.
In the same vein, an Onitsha, Anambra State-based lawyer, whose name could not be ascertained at press time, has reportedly offered to handle the workers’ brief as well.
The lawyers, it was gathered, have now asked the affected workers to submit photocopies of their appointment letters, preparatory to filing a suit against Ibrahim.
Also, it was gathered over the weekend that the national body of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, is considering a legal action against Ibrahim, if a letter it wrote to the billionaire regarding the unpaid salaries of journalists in his employ, is not honoured.
Speaking with sharpedgenews.com, a senior editorial staff member who preferred anonymity, said, “This is a battle of our lives. How can someone fail to pay us for one year, having diverted the profits of our sweat, only to buy a N300 million limousine car? That is wickedness.”
All efforts to reach Jimoh Ibrahim proved abortive, as he failed to pick severall calls made to his mobile phone.