Verification opens fresh wounds for NNN pensioners

The commencement of verification of New Nigerian Newspaper pensioners by the Pension Transitional Administration Directorate (PTAD) has opened new wounds rather than bring hope to the former workers, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered. Recounting their plight to newsmen, the pensioners appealed to the Northern state governors to take concrete steps towards reviving the company.  The […]

The commencement of verification of New Nigerian Newspaper pensioners by the Pension Transitional Administration Directorate (PTAD) has opened new wounds rather than bring hope to the former workers, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered.

Recounting their plight to newsmen, the pensioners appealed to the Northern state governors to take concrete steps towards reviving the company. 

The Chairman, New Nigerian Newspapers (NNN) Pensioners Union, Idih Sule, vowed not to withdraw a court case against the company and the Federal Government until the last kobo of the N8.8 billion owed them is paid.

He said that the union resolved not to withdraw the law suit, which since instituted, has prevented present owners of the company from restructuring it. 

Sule said that the amount approved for payment of arrears is a meagre N2.1 billion, far from the actual arrears of N8.8 billion as at December 2016. 

“We have lost up to 200 pensioners and up to this moment, so people are still bed ridden. It was a pathetic sight to behold as some came here for verification in ambulances and they think we can just collect what they want us to collect and keep quiet after putting in our youth into the company,” Sule said. 

Commenting on the verification exercise, he said, “We do not believe that the government is sincere about paying us, but we are only waiting and would believe only when we receive alerts and go to the ATM and succeed in cashing our money which we have been expecting for the past 24 years.” 

He added, “Initially, the money owed to us was pegged at N2.1 billion but a committee set up by Northern governors which was headed by the Kaduna State Secretary to the State Government, reviewed it and it was discovered to be N8.8 billion from January 2000 to December 2016.”

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of NNN, Alhaji Tukur Abdulrahman, hailed the Federal Government as well as the Pension Transitional Administration Directorate (PTAD) for the professionalism employed in the course of verification. 

He further commended President Muhammadu Buhari for being proactive in addressing issues that affect elders in the society, by ensuring that their pensions were paid promptly. 

He also poured encomiums on the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) for their contributions at ensuring that NNN pensioners are given their entitlements. 

“We want to equally thank all the NNN pensioners for their patience and endurance. We solemnly pray that the verification will translate to the end of suffering of NNN pensioners,” he added. 

During its hey days, NNN was a force in the newspaper business. It had large number of experienced employees. 

Many chief executives and prominent columnists in the present newspaper industry were at one-time staff of NNN. Unfortunately, the company is currently struggling to survive through its online platform.

The newspaper with its head office along Ahmadu Bello Way, Kaduna, was established by the then government of the Northern Region on October 23, 1964, while the first copies were issued on January 1, 1966. Its initial name was Northern Nigerian Newspapers Limited but after states were created out of the regions in 1964, it was changed to New Nigerian Newspapers Limited. 

In March, 1973, the company set up the southern plant in Lagos printing simultaneously in Kaduna and Lagos. 

When the Northern Region was divided into six states through the creation of 12 states by the Federal Government in July 1967, the ownership and management of the company was transferred to the Northern states, managed by the Interim Common Services Agency (ICSA). Then later the company was fully taken over by the Federal Government in August 1975 and placed under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Information. 

It was handed back to the Northern states in 2006. Hence, it is currently owned and controlled by the 19 northern states.