NAN working hard to boost revenue – MD
Mr Bayo Onanuga, Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), has said the agency was working hard to increase its internal revenue.
He said that an increase in revenue would enable management to further improve the welfare of workers.
Onanuga, who addressed workers in Lagos office, unveiled some of the frontiers the agency was exploring to boost its internal revenue to complement dwindling government funding.
The managing director spoke to the workers ahead of the threat by the three staff unions to embark on a warning strike on July 26.
The unions had earlier given a deadline of July 25 for management to meet their demands.
He said that NAN had the potential to be self-sufficient, adding that the news agency was working towards achieving it through the expansion of its SMS news and other media content services.
“We need to expand our subscriber base to millions of people.
” Even if we are able to build a subscriber base of 200,000 and we charge N30 a day, we will be able to make N6 million daily,’’ Onanuga said.
He explained that the implementation of NAN staff condition of service was beyond NAN management as NAN does not pay salaries.
“The new condition of service has been sent to the Ministry of Information. It needs the approval of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Ministry of Finance and Budget Office.’’
The managing director said that all claims concerning promotion arrears have been forwarded to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation for payment.
On training, he explained that within the limit of its resources, the Agency has been sending staff on various training.
He added that management has been collaborating with some organisations to provide specialised training for the staff to boost their productivity.
Onanuga, therefore, said there was no justifiable reason for the workers to go on strike, advising them to show more understanding with the management.
He also advised them to join the management in finding better ways of improving the Agency’s finances so as to improve the workers’ welfare. (NAN)
