The New Initiative for Credible Leadership (NICL) has alleged that some staff of the National Film Corporation (NFC), Jos are being sponsored to destabilise activities at the corporation so as to remove the Managing Director of the Corporation, Engineer Danjuma Wuri
Addressing journalists on Friday in Abuja, Executive Director of the group, Rev Steven Onwu said the so called outcry from staff is therefore the handiwork of some disgruntled staff who are finding it difficult to align with the era of change that has come upon the country.
He said, “The latest manifestation of this worrisome habit has cropped up at the National Film Corporation (NFC), Jos where the staff have staged a so called protest only that it is not a protest that was driven by national interest.
According to Onwu, the protesters instead levelled series of accusations against the Managing Director of NFC, Engineer Danjuma Wuri saying those behind the call even conscripted Students of the National Film Institute (NFI) to join their cause.
In addition to these, he said the staff that had pretended they were interested in the wellbeing of the institute had also embarked on an illegal strike, which effectively crippled the same organisation they claimed to be interested in making to progress.
“Our investigations have however revealed that the allegations are spurious and meant to tarnish the image of the Managing Director. We realised that he is not only innocent but that he has given his best in the service of NFC and the country. We found that the protests were just a component of a well-orchestrated campaign aimed at removing Engineer Wuri from office. Other components of this campaign include sponsored write ups and commissioned articles that were unleashed immediately in the aftermath of the protests.
“Influential people have also been contacted and commissioned to pressure the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, whose ministry oversees the NFC, with the intention of prevailing on him to sack the managing director after they must have created bad press and unfavourable public opinion around him.”
He said if the issues these staff were protesting were genuine, the resolution of same would have made them call a truce and return to normalcy; stressing that this has not been the case.
“One of the things they based their grievances upon was delayed promotion but they have continued their belligerence even after they have successfully completed the promotion examination. Students at the NFI had allowed the corporation to use the school’s facility for the promotion examination when they realised that they were misled into protesting against the Managing Director. This goes to show that there is more than meet the eyes in workers’ demands or agitation”, he stressed.
He said despite assurances by the MD to take up all the issues the workers had raised, they have continued to demand a leadership change when there are no grounds to demand such and the tenure of the Chief Executive is definitely not over.
