RATTAWU Cautions On Oronsaye Panel Report

The Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers Union of Nigeria (RATTAWU) on Tuesday advised the Federal Government to consult widely before merging some of its media organisations.

President of RATTAWU, Mr Yemisi Bamigbose, who gave the advice, said that any attempt to merge the parastatal agencies would be counterproductive.

While submitting its report to the President on Monday, the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government parastatal agencies and commissions recommended the merging of NTA, FRCN and VON.

“If you want to merge, there will be no room for promotion, development and expansion,  everywhere would be stagnated, and above all, workers are likely to lose their jobs’’.

“Such merger will never allow anything to move up, it will worsen the situation of the organisations involved. Why merge such big organisations that can stand on their own in the first place,’’ Bamigbose asked.

According to him, the three organisations are big enough to stand on their own because they play different roles.

Bamigbose said “the role of VON is to broadcast events happening in Nigeria to the outside world, while NTA has its own audience and duties, and FRCN is to reach out to everyone in the country’’.

“Therefore, our position is that government should look at the report critically, study and digest it very well before making a final pronouncement on it’’.

Bamgbose recalled government’s promised to provide jobs for the unemployed, and said that the merger of parastatal agencies would render many Nigerians jobless.

Mr Olaitan Olakunle, the National President, Senior Civil Servants Association of Nigeria (SCSAN), said the association would like to go through the report before committing on it.

“We cannot react now until we get the details of the report and know what is at stake; the issue cuts across agencies and different people are affected, so we have to speak with one voice.

“I will reach out to my other colleagues to get their thinking and then we can come out with a common position,’’ Olakunle said.