Change How Staff Are Treated In VON –Workers Tell New DG

Journalists working at the Voice of Nigeria (VON) want a change in the way workers are treated in the organisation which recently got a new director general, Mr Jibrin Ndace.

The chairperson, Nigeria Union of Journalists, VON chapter, Ms Jumoke Falayi-Johnson, made this known while reacting to a promise by the director-general to prioritise workers’ welfare.

She spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during a visit to the Lagos office of VON by the director-general.

Falayi-Johnson said: “Our expectation from the DG is that there will be a change in the way staff are treated in VON.

“An organisation should not just be about the job. The engine room of any organisation is the human resource before the machines, no matter how important machines are and how technologically-driven the organisation is. What you put in is what you get when it comes to human resource.”

According to the chairperson, there is a place for staff training, welfare and advancement on the job in every successful organisation.

“These are what we expect from the current DG, and we hope he will achieve all of these,” Falayi-Johnson said.

Ndace had, during the visit, called for support of members of staff in repositioning the broadcast medium.

“I require staff support; staff will make things to happen. It is their institution, a national patrimony, our institution; so we all need to work together.

“The staff should be sincere and open to me; if there are issues around the organisation, they should not hide them.

“I am coming with the mind-set to make a change, but that will not be possible without the support of the men who make things happen, “ he said.

The director-general said his focus would be to bring more life into VON and reposition it in line with its mandate as the authoritative voice of Nigeria.

According to him, such repositioning would require leveraging technologies and innovations as well as prioritising staff welfare. (NAN)