COUP D’ETAT INSIDE INDEPENDENT NEWS PAPERS
BY ABDULMUMNI ADEKU.
It may look like there is peace but there is a silent war
inside The Independent Group of Newspapers which is at the moment almost
destroying the very tripod the company stands upon.
In an exclusive investigations by Paedia Express Multimdia during the launch of The
Niche Newspapers on Sunday,it was discovered that current Chief Executive
officer,Mr Ted Iwere is perhaps biting more than he can chew as he has arrogated more powers to
himself than even he will be willing to publicly admit.
An impeccable source told Paedia express exclusively that the
urge to hold unto power at all cost has seen Mr Iwere frustrate,sack,instigate,
all those he considered that were remotely interested in his position thus
currently putting the company at the receiving ends.
The source told this reporter that Mr Iwere was introduced
to the management as somebody who will be serving the company as the chief
executive officer in an acting capacity only for the same man to make a volte
face couple of weeks later and insist that he was the de-facto head.
The source went down memory lane and recalled that Mr Iwere engineered
the posting of Mr James Akpandem who was the previous head of the company and
made him to be designated as the
Managing Editor as at then and not the chief executive officer aside from making
sure that Mr Ikechi Amaechi who was the Editor of the Daily Edition of the
newspaper group to be transferred to
another role instead of steeping into the vacant position of the Chief
Executive officer.
The source:”He had a bitter row with Ikechi ameachi who
should have stepped into replace James Akpandem ,the previous Managing editor
,he asked that Amaechi be moved to the role of Editorial Board Chairman and
that latter resisted this seriously”
“Ameachi was an extremely enterprising editor and had a lot
of contacts which helped the company’s progress but because of the way he was treated he resigned
in protest and a lot of our staff followed him in the process, Several business
opportunities we should have had stopped when Amaechi left”
The source revealed to Paedia Express Multimedia that Mr ted
Iwere was currently ruling at the Independent Newspaper Group by military fiat
as eh has refuses to call up any form of board meeting as at press time.
He explained the publisher of the newspaper, Chief James
Onanefe Ibori,Former Governor Of Delta state who was now cooling of in a British
Prison was not happy at recent development in the company and as such has
stopped funding them and were it not the special business contract the brand
has with Sports Day Newspapers who they print for they could have closed shop.
He lamented that with the precarious situation in the firm they
could close down if the sport newspaper company move there business away to
another company.
The source speaks again:”Late Abel Ubeku left the board in annoyance
as he questioned the capacity of Iwere to manage the business”
“Uduaghan whose father trained Ibori has distanced himself
from us probably because he wants to be in good standing with Mr President “
“Our greatest supporters among the Governors are Mr Rotimi
Ameachi of Rivers State and Mr Theodore Orji of Abia state as we have made
several millions of naira in official patronage from the two states as far as I know very well”
The source explained that Mr Iwere has incurred a lot of
debt presently for the publisher as those that would have helped to build the
brand have been witch haunted out of the company by the gate keeper from Delta
state.
Once upon a time,Chief Onanefe James Ibori,Former Governor
of Delta state had decided to compensate his old school teacher who was a
career reporter and when he started his newspaper business he decided to use Mr
Iwere as a front but the cozy relationship
may hit heavy weather soon as the latter has messed up things.
He is said to be paid a princely sum of over a million naira
monthly as salary as the Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Newspapers
in Lagos,Nigeria which is in line with industry standards.
In a related issue,Mr Ikechukwu Ameachi ,Chief Executive
Officer of The Niche Newspapers on Sunday, Published by Acclaim Communications Limited
,Lagos in his address at the launch of the new brand recently said that the new
newspaper will change a lot of public perception about reportage of news.
He explained that he was gladdened that 17 months after the
company started to publish its contents they have been able to create a brand that can
stand the test of time.
Professor Anya o.Anya
said that he was happy that Mr Amaechi had been able to translate his
wave making ability as a thorough bred news manager to starting his own
business now.
HIS Words:”The Niche Newspapers as of today is the best
newspaper in Nigeria on offer given the level of products on offer”
In a related issue, Mr Hakeem Bello, Senior Special Adviser
on Media to the Lagos State Governor
said that in line with the current efforts of all government in all tiers to
create wealth the establishment of the new business was a step in the right
direction.
The President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr Femi
Adeshina said that it was in the interest of all the stakeholders in our
society to ensure that The Niche survives the market heat.
The National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance,
Chief Victor Umeh predicted that the product will soon become a daily soon
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