By Newsmta
After almost three years of handing over the printing press of the Edo State-owned Nigerian Observer to consultants by the immediate past Godwin Obaseki’s administration, the state government has repossessed it.
Ex-Governor Obaseki had on June 30, 2022, shut down the newspaper and redeployed the staff to the supervising Ministry of Information and Communication.
But following a passionate appeal to Governor Monday Okpebholo by the workers to restore the printing press to the newspaper, the government on Friday heeded their plea, and directed the staff to return to work, while the printing press was also handed over to the management team led by its General Manager, Sylvester Oboh.
Paul Ohonbamu, a lawyer and the Commissioner of Information and Communication, joined by the chief press secretary to the state governor, Fred Itua, directors of the ministry, said the event was important because the goal was achieved without any altercation, violence or fighting.
He commended erstwhile consultants, the Fountain Brook Publishing Limited led by Chike Madueke, for keeping to his words and handing over the printing press back to the Edo State Government.
Ohonbamu said “When I came on board, I said that the primary mandate of Observer is to print, which is the dream of the founding fathers. The newspaper gets to the grassroots, keeping the people abreast of happenings. We need to feed the people with good news.
“We are all excited to be here today to retrieve the printing press and strategize on training of staff on its operations. We assure Edo people of quality news”.
Madueke, on his part, said the handover of the Observer Newspaper printing press to the Edo State Government was the right thing to do because it is the property of government.
He said, “Our concern about the printing press is handling the press. It is divided into three. One is for printing of flex banners; the second one is for printing calendars, books; and the third is for printing newspapers.
“The printing is of high quality. I am here to do the formal handover of the documents and keys to the three printing presses. It is Edo State Government’s property”.
Oboh, the acting General, said since November 2024, the organisation had suffered many challenges, one of which was the absence of self-serving printing press. He noted that Observer is not just a media house, but a printing and publishing corporation established by an Act of Parliament.
“Since 1968, Observer has been able to project government policy thrust, service institutions and the general public.
“The major tool to do our job had been taken away from us, which is the printing press. We had three in our premises but not able to access any of them. We discovered that there was an agreement. We appealed to Governor Monday Okpebholo to retrieve our printing press to enable us to operate effectively and he has done that”.