That appointment of VON’s new DG

The 10-year, two-term tenure of Abubakar Jijiwa ended last month. Unlike the usual long wait for substantive appointment by the President, this one was done, apparently, on the orders of the president’s wife. It is on record that Malam Usman Magawata’s tenure as DG of NTA ended early in 2013, but a substantive successor, in the […]

The 10-year, two-term tenure of Abubakar Jijiwa ended last month. Unlike the usual long wait for substantive appointment by the President, this one was done, apparently, on the orders of the president’s wife.
 It is on record that Malam Usman Magawata’s tenure as DG of NTA ended early in 2013, but a substantive successor, in the person of Sola Omole, a professional broadcaster was appointed in September 2014. Also, it took the Jonathan administration almost two years to appoint Malam Ladan Salihu as substantive DG of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) after the tenure of Mr Yusuf Nuhu ended. At the moment all the geo-political zones are represented on a media or media-relatively parastatal, except the North-West.  For instance, NTA is headed by Mr Sola Omole from South West, the south east controls National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) with Mr Mba as DG, The South-South has Mr Ima Niboro as MD/CEO of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), while the North Central has Mr Mike Omeiri as DG National Orientation Agency (NOA) and also Coordinator National Information Centre. The zone also heads National Film Corporation and Film and Video Censors Board. The North-East has FRCN with Ladan Salihu as DG.
In the spirit of fairness and federal charac-ter, the North-West should have produced the new Director General of VON. But it seems Mrs Jonathan’s animus towards the North, as demonstrated in her recent disparaging outbursts regarding northerners giving birth to children they cannot cater for and leaving them to roam the streets, influenced the appointment of her kinsman as VON’s DG.
The appointment was made, three days after Mr Jijiwa bowed out as DG VON, without the knowledge of Chief Eden Duke, the supervising minister of information. At the moment there was a lot of dissatisfaction among VON staff on the grounds that Mr Worlu is not a professional Journalist or had worked in any media organizations except being a speech writer to late first lady, Mrs Stella Obasanjo from 1999 to 2003.  
There is some restiveness among industrial unions of broadcasting over this irregular appointment; a possible showdown with the government could be in the offing over the issue.

Najume Talle, Abuja