The Imo State Government has suspended a senior journalist, Vivian Ottih, for demanding for payment of the three months unpaid salary of herself and her co-workers through her facebook page.
Ottih, who is the chairperson of National Association of Women Journalists(NAWOJ) in the state, got the wrath of the management of Orient FM, a radio station owned by the state government, following the post considered an “embarrassment” to the government.
The suspended journalist, a lawyer and a senior editor with the radio station, had on May 4, posted a message on Facebook, appealing to Governor Hope Uzodinma’s media aide, Modestus Nwamkpa, to make a case to the governor on behalf of the workers in the government-owned radio and television stations who were yet to get their February, March, and April salaries.
In the post, she described zodinma as a “humble” and “performing” governor, who may not have been aware of the travails of the workers
She also declared that she was personally hard-hit by the situation because she just had a baby weeks earlier, and in a subsequent post on May 7, thanked the Commissioner for Information in the state, Declan Emelumba for intervening on behalf of the unpaid workers. “God bless you, Sir,” she wrote.
However, contrary to her expectation in reference to her request, she was on May 8, queried by the Imo Broadcasting Corporation, which charged that her attitude caused serious embarrassment to the government.
“I am directed to let you know that this your attitude caused serious embarrassment to Imo State Government thereby ridiculing the government in the eyes of the public with the sole aim of sabotaging the government,” the query signed by acting general manager of the station, S.O Osuchukwu, said.
She equally responded to the query, but it was considered as unsatisfactory by the authorities. She was thereafter suspended indefinitely from her job.
The nursing mother was again on May 15, queried by the state government accusing her of posting the previous query on social media, while the Commissioner of Information said the government was not responsible for the delay in payment of the salary.
The commissioner argued that the management of the Imo Broadcasting Corporation “refused” to submit the workers’ BVN and bank account details as directed by the government.
He stated that the government wanted to pay workers’ salary centrally in order to eliminate “ghost workers”, instead of allowing the various establishments to collect money from the state government to pay their staff as was done in the past.
Emelumba posited that the journalist could have used other channels of communication instead of taking the issue to Facebook, and also defended why the government did not sanction the corporation for delaying to send the bank details of their workers as requested by the government, adding, “If we did it as you would expect, people would accuse the government of being insensitive,”.
The commissioner said he sent out a statement last week giving the parastatals a deadline to comply with the government directive, stressing that,“IBC has complied anyway; I think they are about getting their salary if they have not gotten it.”
The Nigeria Association of Women Journalist, (NAWOJ), South East zone, has expressed dissatisfaction over the suspension of Ottih.
The body in a statement issued by its South East Zonal Vice President, Chibita Edozie, in Enugu, urged Imo state Governor, Hope Uzodimma to intervene in the situation and cause the Imo Broadcasting Corporation(IBC) management to reverse the suspension.
“The South East zone of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, received with shock, the suspension of Mrs Vivian Ottih, the Chairperson of Imo State NAWOJ, by the management of Imo Broadcasting Corporation.
“More regrettably, the suspension is labour-related, based on her innocuous Facebook post on the three- month outstanding salaries of workers in the Station. Apart from the ill-timing of the suspension, which came shortly after Mrs Ottih gave birth, her claim on the outstanding wages has not been disputed by her Station’s management.
“We find the action of her indefinite suspension as hasty, high-handed and against all known labour laws. We are persuaded to think that this action does not have the blessings of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Chief Hope Uzodinma because he won’t sanction such high-handed action.
‘This is against the backdrop of the fact that this action would be an embarrassment to the National Chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who, apart from being very close to His Excellency Hope Uzodinma, fought all his labour years, for what Mrs Ottih is being victimised’.