The management of Holy Rosary College, in the Rivers State
capital, Port Harcourt, has commiserated with the management and staff of the
Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, publishers of The Tide.

Group of Newspapers over the fire which razed a section of
its corporate headquarters last July.

Making the feelings of the college known during a courtesy
visit to the corporation last Wednesday, Vice President, Mrs Ruth Osazuwa, said
the management and students of the college received the news of the unfortunate
inferno with great shock and were pained by the huge losses incurred.

Osazuwa, who led a delegation of the teachers and students
to see things for themselves, regretted that they could not come earlier
because the ill-fated fire incident occurred shortly before the college closed
for the long holidays.

She regretted that the fire had affected not just the
psyche, efficiency and productivity of individual workers who did not only
loose office space but also valuable items, added that the impact of the
incident was a serious setback.

The vice president said that as a strong partner, the
college has always appreciated the support and cooperation extended to the
college by the corporation, and expressed the commitment of the college to
strengthen this collaboration with a view to achieve set objectives.

Osazuwa also commended the Governor Chibuike Amaechi-Ied
administration for swiftly intervening to reroof and renovate the corporate
head office building of the corporation, noting that the bold initiative would
give staff of the courage and zeal to put in their best for the state.

Responding while conducting the delegation round the scene
of the inferno, the General Manager, RSNC, Celestine Ogolo, said the fire razed
a section of the top floor of the building, destroying valuable documents,
office furniture, computers, among others, but expressed gratitude to God that
no life was lost in spite of the fact that some essential staff were on duty as
at the time of the incident.

Represented by the Group News Editor, Nelson Chukwudi, the
general manager informed the delegation that the state government has begun
reroofing and complete renovation of the entire building to give it a facelift,
and thanked the governor for his kind gesture.

He said the corporation was delighted to receive the
delegation on a special sympathy visit, and pledged the readiness of the
newspaper chain to improve on existing relationship between it and the college
in order to move the state forward.

Ogolo also informed the delegation of the desire of the
corporation to improve The Tide’s print run, ensure early production and
circulation with a view to attract the readership of hard-to-reach villages and
towns in the state and beyond while striving to enhance editorial content and
quality, saying that with the expected state-of-the-art Rotary machine, the
college, government and people of the state would soon find the newspaper a
worthy companion and conduit for reliable and timely information.

Also speaking, the Public Relations Officer of the college,
Idino Eluku, said the school was desirous of improving its relationship with
the newspaper organizations, stating that it was for that singular reason that
the management and students felt the urgent need to visit and share the moment
of grief with the corporation.