After several months of internal dislocation involving staff of his two media outfits, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has finally joined the infamous league of extremely rich publishers who would not pay journalists their meager wages despite the huge wealth they flaunt around.
According to investigation, staff of the National Daily Newspaper and National Standard Magazine are being owed a backlog of up to six months salaries with no breather in sight.
When this newspaper visited the Ikeja office of the two media houses, disgruntled journalists narrated how the fortunes of the organization have plunged over the years under Sylvester Ebodaghe, a deacon and one of Pastor Chris’s minions who runs the publishing business, despite huge funds the church pumps into it.
In a July 18, 2016 SOS letter the angry staff presented to Deacon Armstrong Oyakhilome, Pastor Chris’s uncle and guardian, the staff narrated how Sylvester Ebodaghe’s mismanagement and incompetence have set the media empire back from a once bubbly organization to a desolate orb where staff constantly shut down production to press home their demands.
“We are wondering if you are aware that:. Employees of Paradigm Communications Ltd are being owed arrears of salaries running into five months, and still counting.
National Standard Magazine, once an award-winning journal of development and nation building, is no longer in circulation for seven months now. In 2015, the magazine was only published twice in February and December. The story was not quite different in 2014 and 2013 respective
The information we received from the Sylvester Ebodaghe-led management is that the magazine is not being funded by anyone or group, as a result, it makes no business sense publishing the magazine again. Except once in a while when the magazine has to be packaged to celebrate the birthday of the Man of God, Pastor Chris, or when Sylvester Ebodaghe himself has a special project.
The National Daily Newspaper is not without its own challenges too. Besides its 13-man editorial team and four-man circulation staff in Lagos, the newspaper, which is supposed to be a nationwide publication, has seven out-station correspondents who are mostly not paid.As if to worsen the crises, the management has sacked the entire marketing & advert departments for a long while now, hence making it impossible for the titles to reach out and drive revenue generation…’ the letter read in part.
And although Deacon Armstrong Oyakhilome, who is also a prominent Administrator in the Believers Love World Ministry, aka Christ Embassy, promised the disgruntled staff their salaries will be paid within two weeks of receiving their SOS, this newspaper gathered that the church reneged on its promise after Sylvester Ebodaghe recruited the service of a certain unknown lawyer to intercede with Deacon Armstrong on his behalf so that Pastor Chris does not get to hear of the crises threatening the life of its media empire.
“We already suspect that they might not pay us because Deacon Armstrong specifically told our representatives who presented the letter to the church that he doesn’t want to hurt Sylvester Ebodaghe,’ one of the staff told this newspaper.
This newspaper learnt that after Pastor Chris’s uncle and Sylvester Ebodaghe conspired to shield the SOS from reaching Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, Sylvester has been threatening to sack all of the journalists in the two stables rather than pay the backlog as promised by the church.
“In fact, he began interviewing some journalists recently after Deacon Armstrong Oyakhilome asked us to go back to work,’ another staff recounts.
But the angry staff told this newspaper that they are planning to surprise both Sylvester Ebodaghe and the church if the arrears of salaries are not paid within 72 hours. “We are waiting for them to default again so we can be absolutely justified in our actions,’ a staff reveals to this newspaper.
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