Amid conflicting reports about the state of affairs at national daily ThisDay, its executive director Gbenga Oni-Olusola dismissed suggestions that the newspaper owners were planning to quit, adding that their plans to resume publication “soon” remained on track.
Oni-Olusola said the newspaper’s owners were continuing to investigate ways in which they could resuscitate the newspaper, the publication of which was abruptly suspended on October 25 on the back of a financial crisis.
He confirmed that the staff meeting scheduled for Wednesday had taken place, but contrary to what he had told I-Net Bridge on Monday, “a clearer picture” was still not known. Oni-Olusola had said ThisDay chairperson Nduka Obaigbena would be arriving on Wednesday for a staff meeting, however Obaigbena was not at the staff meeting and is currently out of the country.
“He is busy organising things and ensuring that we meet our commitments, he’s invested a lot in this and cannot just abandon it,” Oni-Olusola said of Obaigbena’s unexpected absence.
Oni-Olusola had also promised that a statement would be issued on Wednesday afternoon, but on Thursday noted: “We did not feel there was a need to issue a statement after all, because since it’s an ongoing process you can’t keep issuing statements. I had thought we would have completed the process but that was not the case.”
ThisDay owners are still in a process of settling their debts — external and internal — including staff salaries, he said. He acknowledged there was low morale among staff due to protracted uncertainty.
While insisting that ThisDay had not closed, he declined to indicate when it would be hitting the streets again. Asked if there was a possibility that publication would resume this year, he said: “I can’t be pre-emptive. We are going to be back and we are doing everything possible to achieve that.”
Oni-Olusola was not able to say exactly how much of its debt ThisDay had settled, what was outstanding and what its discussions with Absa Corporate Merchant Bank have yielded thus far. Obaigbena said last month that they were negotiating with potential investors to rescue the newspaper, with Absa brokering for the ailing daily. – I-Net Bridge