There
are indications that President Muhammadu Buhari has acceded to the request made
to him by the leadership of the amalgamated workers union of parastatals in the
Federal Ministry of Information and Culture to sack heads of cultural agencies
and some top directors in the agencies. A Presidency source confirmed that the President
has communicated his approval of the request of the union to the Minister of
Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The
directive will also affect some top directors in the agencies who have been
accused of misconduct or who were engaged without due process. The source also
revealed that the President subsequently directed that all the CEO’s and
Directors accused of ‘corruption, embezzlement and maladministration’ be
investigated and ‘brought to book’ where necessary.
The
leadership of the unions had in a joint petition addressed to the President
through the Secretary of the Government of the Federation requested President
Buhari to sack all the heads of the culture and film agencies in the same
manner he ordered the sack of all the heads of the information agencies earlier
in the year.
A
source explained that the Workers Union had alleged that most of those who are
heading the culture and film parastatals are ‘square pegs in round holes’ while
others who were employed by the Jonathan Administration under questionable
criteria lack the capacity to run the agencies.
The
union leaders also alleged ‘wide scale abuse of public funds and embezzlement’
by most of the CEO’s. ‘’They even
alleged that some of the CEO’s were involved in employment racketering and were
squandering capital and over head votes on self serving scheme.
They
even gave an example of a parastatal in Lagos whose CEO padded his capital
budget. They said he included organizing a workshop for kannywood filmmakers in
his 2016 budget and was funded. Meanwhile they have no business with film. The
agency is just a monument’’ the source said.
There
are about 11 parastatals in the culture and film arm of the Ministry of
Information and Culture. The parastatals are the National Council for Arts and
Culture, National Theatre, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization,
National Gallery of Arts, National Troupe of Nigeria, National Museums and
Monuments and National Institute for Hotel and Tourism Services. Others are the
Nigerian Film Corporation, Nigerian Tourism Corporation, National Film and
Video Censors Board and the National Institute of Cultural Orientation.
It
will be recalled that President Buhari earlier in the year approved the sack of
CEO’s of the parastatals in the information arm of the Ministry of Information
and Culture. Those affected in the sack include Sola Omole of the NTA, Emeka
Mba of the NBC and Ladan Salihu of the FRCN.
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Entertainment