Staff of defunct New Nigerian Newspapers cry out over 8years unpaid entitlements

Staff of the now defunct New Nigerian Newspapers which was owned by governments of 19 northern states, have cried out over their unpaid entitlements, accumulated salaries and other benefits spanning over 100 months.

The workers who made their grievances known in a statement on Thursday, cried out to Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, who is the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), to compel the forum to pay them their emoluments as many of their members have died while waiting in vain.

In the statement jointly signed by executive members of all the in-house unions of the company namely Friday Idoko, Funmi Aderinto, Usman Nasidi and Emmanuel Bello, on behalf of the affected workers who are in their hundreds, the staff decried the slow pace of the process, which was initiated in 2017 to sell off assets of the company in order to pay off salary arrears and benefits of staff members.

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Part of the statement seen by Ripples Nigeria reads:

“The Joint Workers’ Union of New Nigerian Newspapers, in its congress held on October 25, 2022, is appealing to the Chairman of Northern State Governors Forum (NSGF), Simon Lalong, to expedite action on settlement of workers’ entitlements.

“The Joint Union comprising members of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Union Workers (NUPPPROW), New Nigerian Chapel, expressed worries over workers’ plights due to non-payment of salaries for 100 months, which has resulted to depression and deaths of over 103 staff members.

“We are appealing to Lalong to use his office to put smiles on our faces, as well as our families by ordering prompt payment of our entitlements from available resources realised from sales of company’s assets.

“We have been through a lot of hardship; many of our compatriots have been ejected by their landlords, many could no longer pay their children’s school fees, many have died due to one form of ailment or the other as a result of economic bottlenecks.”

The statement also revealed that huge amount of money had been realised from sales of the company’s assets, and as such, urge the Plateau State Governor to “promptly order the disbursement of funds to settle salaries of the company’s workers to alleviate their hardship.”

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