Show Expertise In Managing Government-Owned Enterprises — Rivers SSG

The Secretary to the Rivers Government (SSG), Dr. Tammy Danagogo, has advised managers of government-owned enterprises to show expertise in running their organisations.

Danagogo gave the advice on Friday in Port Harcourt when the Management of the Rivers State Newspapers Corporation paid him a courtesy visit in his office.

He said it was regrettable that most government-owned enterprises no longer existed because of the laxity in employees’ approach to work.

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“Almost all government-owned businesses are dead. If salaries were dependent on profit, it would not have been as it is,’’ he said.

The SSG urged the management of the corporation to approach the business of publishing the way a 21st Century entrepreneur should manage the business of printing.

Danagogo said: “You have to up your game. Make your paper an appeal so that anyone who wants to talk about the state can reference the Tide Newspaper.

“There is no reason the Tide should not be the number one paper in the Niger Delta after almost 50 years of existence.’’ He further urged them to deploy their workers “to push for adverts, printing, creative writing, and other professional activities’’.

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He said the state government would be happy if the management made efforts to boost the corporation’s revenue and position the tabloid as a major player in the information industry.

Danagogo decried the alleged “attempts by opposition elements, who are working to demarket the state’’. According to him, in spite of such attempts, the state has continued to be peaceful and secure because of the government’s deliberate and dogged approach to security.

“Irrespective of the challenges, Gov. Nyesom Wike has continued to be proactive by doing everything possible to protect the state and her people.

“Only recently, the special C4i Security Unit was restored to boost the efforts of Operation Sting and other measures applied to ensure the safety of lives and property of the people.

He also urged the media in the state to continue to project the developmental strides and good image of the state.

“The media have a crucial role to market the state for people to adequately understand the true situation of peace and the government’s efforts at providing security,’’ the SSG said.

Earlier, the General Manager of the corporation, Chief Ernest Chinwo, commended the state government for sustaining the corporation.

He said the corporation “has continued to thrive, in spite of the failure of similar state government-owned newspapers around the South-South region’’.

He promised to continue to project the good work of the government and publisher, Gov. Nyesom Wike. “The corporation can generate more revenue for itself and the state. The Tide has been very resilient, compared to other state-owned newspapers,’’ he said.

He implored the SSG to use his good offices to encourage Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to patronise the corporation.
He said that the MDAs could engage the corporation to print documents and advertisements for their products.