Following the impending exit of the current General Manager of Delta Printing and Publishing Company Ltd. (DPPCL), Mr. Bosah Iwobi, on November 9, 2018 the only burning issue on staffers of the company is on who succeeds him (Iwobi).
Mr. Iwobi, assumed duties as General Manager following an INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ADVERTISEMENT titled “VACANCY FOR THE POST OF A GENERAL MANAGER IN THE DELTA STATE PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED (DPPCL), published in The Pointer of Wednesday December 3, 2003, which was signed by then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Mr. Gift Nikoro, on behalf of the then Honourable Commissioner, Mr. Magnus Onyibe.
The said GM was neither a civil servant nor a political appointee, a rare “Blessing” that saw him as the longest serving GM for about fifteen years. The reason for this aberration is better imagined than explained.
The said advertisement, under the sub-title: QUALIFICATION AND METHOD OF APPLICATION, stated expressly that “interested persons from within and outside the company, who must possess a first Degree from a recognized University……” Not only that the outgoing GM has HND, the claim that the said HND Certificate got burnt and as such could not be traced is questionable. However, that is a subject for another day.
THE BATTLE FOR IWOBI’S SUCCESSOR
Following the formal announcement of Iwobi’s exit by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, during a Ministerial Press Briefing at the Ministry’s Conference Hall on Monday 17th September, 2018 and also based on the hint he gave in answer to a question on the out-going GM’s likely successor coming from within the company, a lot of issues have been thrown up and the staff of the company are very curious to know what will be the outcome of Ukah’s statements which also indicated that such a successor from within must be “interested persons” from within the company, who must possess a First Degree from a recognized University in Arts, Social Sciences, Business Administration, Law, Mass Communication or Journalism, from Grade Level 15 upwards and must have handled managerial position in Editorial and Marketing departments”.
The controversy surrounding the choice of Mr. Iwobi, an “outsider”, as General Manager, caused not a little uproar among the Staff of DPPCL for so many reasons. Not only was there wide spread condemnation of his choice as against other qualified and experienced persons from within the company’s hierarchy, but the issue of his HND Certificate allegedly obtained from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu that has no originals clearly violated the qualification requirements of the said advertisement.
THE LIKELY SUCCESSOR
Anyone who finally emerges as the next General Manager of DPPCL, must to all intents and purposes, possess the following as made clear by a Ministry of Information Memo with reference No. INFS/7/2/TI/64 dated 7th June 2007 signed by one A.O Osanekwu for Permanent Secretary.
In the letter addressed to the General Manager, Delta Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd, Asaba and titled: NEW MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE FOR THE DELTA PRINTING AND PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED, ASABA, it is stated inter alia:” I am directed to convey the approval of the Delta State Executive Council on New Management Structure for the Delta Printing and Publishing Company Limited vide conclusion No. EC. 12 (2007) 13 of 17th May 2007.
2. Accordingly, I am further directed to inform you that Council has approved that Assistant General Manager (SGL 14) be advanced to Assistant General Manager (SGL. 15) as indicated in the attached Organogram and scheme of service. This is however with the proviso that such officers should possess A MINIMUM QUALIFICATION OF FIRST DEGREE FROM A RECOGNISED UNIVERSITY (CAPITAL LETTER MINE).
THE HND BAR
As if to put the lid and foreclose any possibility of HND holders becoming General Manager, an internal Circular letter with ref DPPCL/06/VOL. III/180 dated 11th November, 2015 and signed by then AGM Admin, Jackson Amererhoro for General Manager. Headlined
HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA CERTIFICATE,
It says as follows:
I am directed to refer to the above mentioned subject and to inform all members of staff that the bar for the holders of the Higher National Diploma in the service is Salary Grade Level 14.
2. Any officer who falls under this category MUST acquire any of the qualifications specified for appointment to any higher grade to facilitate his/her eligibility for transfer promotion to the grade.
3. Consequently, all members of staff who have HND from recognized institutions should endeavour to develop themselves and acquire Higher Degree to enhance their eligibility for promotion beyond Salary Grade Level 14.
INFORMATION
From the grapevine, there are strong feelers that “the powers that be” and “orders from above” are bent on circumventing these gazetted criteria in place of selecting the next General Manager to replace Iwobi. It is highly believed that one individual who flaunts a questionable HND Certificate from the Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State, is being highly favoured based on ethnic considerations by the “powers that be”/ “orders from above”.
This same individual who is yet to produce the originals of the flaunted HND Certificate from Federal Poly, Oko, is also said to be receiving the backing of the functioning Permanent Secretary of the Supervisory Ministry , and will do the bidding of “the orders from above” in spite of public statements that the selection process will be transparent.
SOLUTION, GOING FORWARD
As already canvassed, the successor to the outgoing DPPCL GM, must be a university graduate, a professional Journalist and picked from within the company’s hierarchy, in order to avoid the lingering disharmony and tension that Mr. Iwobi’s tour of duty represented. Such an individual with administrative capacity, should be able to move the company to the next level and be a product of a transparent process devoid of any ethnic primordial considerations as is being feared in some quarters.
THE HOS, BAYOKO’S POSITION
Surprisingly, issues bordering on public service matters ought to be domiciled with the office of the Head of Service. But this sort has not seen the light of day. For example, there was a directive that one Emma Okekpolo be given the headship of DPPCL’s Accounts department. Even when it has been directed vide the official letters to this effect from the HOS, the Board of Directors is yet to implement. On the HND Bar issue as it relates to DPPCL, the board too has not complied with the directive. As the number one Public Servant in the State, he is expected to be fair and firm to avoid any disharmony and preserve the respect and sanctity of his office.
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