Obaigbena relocates THISDAY office to Protea Hotel, National Mirror

The Publisher of THISDAY newspapers, Nduka Obaigbena, has relocated the headquarters of the office in Lagos State to Protea Hotel and National Mirror newspapers.
This followed the picketing of the headquarters of the newspaper house by the leadership and members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists and the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Product Workers following the refusal of the management to pay four months salary owed staff.
While senior editorial staff, using their influence among some junior staff, produce the newspaper from the premises of National Mirror on Lagos Island, the Advertising Unit operates from Protea Hotel on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi.
It was gathered that this arrangement took off on Friday after the leadership of the NUJ and NUPPROW stopped the production of the newspaper at its Apapa headquarters in Lagos State.
Obaigbena met with senior management staff, including the Managing Editor, Eniola Bello, at Apapa Club to strategise on the way forward when it became apparent that the workers’ unions meant business.
Obaigbena had on Thursday attempted going into the office but was almost mobbed by angry staff.
The flamboyant publisher is the Chairman of the umbrella organization of newspaper publishers, the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria.
It was learnt that the staff who have chosen to return to work are not getting a good deal either.
On Saturday when some of them made to eat at the Protea Hotel, where they are making use of Rooms 106 and 308, the management of the hotel turned them down.
The staff were told that the money paid by Obaigbena does not cover feeding.
Yet, most of them could not afford to eat, a source told The Eagle Online.
The source said: “Our decision to return to work outside the headquarters is not as a result of the fact that we have been paid or that we are getting anything extra.
“It is just sacrifice to ensure the newspaper does not die.”