Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde says his administration will continue to priorities workers and pensioners welfare. Makinde stated this on Sunday on the occasion of the first year anniversary celebration of the first Labour Radio Station in Africa. The Governor who was represented at the occasion by his Executive Assistant Administration, Reverend Idowu Ogedengbe says:
“I congratulate the Board Members and Management of Pensioners’ Radio for the giant strides you have taken since the inauguration of this impressive organisation, a year ago.”
“Since Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, sent and received the first radio signal in Italy in 1895, the feasibility of radio as an effective channel of communication became globally accepted.”
“However, with the invention of television in the 1940s, media watchers had predicted the imminent death of radio. The belief then was that television, which affords viewers the pleasure of watching moving pictures in the comfort of their living room, would render the radio useless and redundant. However, as radio stations introduced more and more socially acceptable programming, radio gained greater popularity among the people. For example, the introduction of rock and roll music on radio had a higher following than before and proved the predictions of the doomsayers wrong.”
“Subsequently, as a result of greater emphasis on listener – driven programmes, radio overcame the threats posed by personal video recorders and digital compact discs in the 1980s and 90s. Subsequently, many radio stations reinvented themselves to cater to niche audiences: there were brand radio stations dedicated to specific genres of content — talk radio, hip hop and rock music, business and investment opportunities, news and events etc.”
“Broadcast radio today reaches an audience that is estimated at over 90% of the Nigerian population. Rural communities in Oyo State rely on it overwhelmingly for information. Listening to the morning news on radio remains one of the most widely reported habits of many as they go to work either in private or public vehicles. Virtually all mobile phones, including the very affordable ones, which cost about N3000 or less, especially in the the fairly used mobile phones market, come with inbuilt radios. This makes it easy for a larger audience to listen to the radio.”
“Audio programmes easily surmount barriers linked to literacy — allowing even the unlettered to comprehend and absorb news and information. The cost of content production is lower than that incurred on producing visuals — typically one-fifth to one-tenth of the latter. This allows cheaper broadcasting in variety of languages, dialects and creative forms.”
“The accessibility of radio and the economy of the medium have led to a proliferation of local radio stations that can cater to niche populations in limited geographies.
In Oyo State currently, we have in excess of twenty radio stations. These stations have been around long before the commissioning of Pensioners’ FM 106.7 on September 27, 2019. But since you joined the industry, you have indeed made your mark.”
“The vision of the pioneers of this radio station is highly commended. Your foresight in making the choice to establish a radio station, among many options, is well thought out. It is instructive to note that since the birth of this station, which is the first Labour Radio Station in the whole of Africa, right here in the city of Ibadan, there have been a significant impact on the general listening audience and an undeniable increase in the content, depth and coverage of radio broadcasting, not only in Oyo State but across the globe through your online presence, which you need to continually improve upon. Although you were conceived as a veritable platform to fight oppression against Pensioners by the previous administration, you have since been transformed to fulfil more greater purposes in the society.”
“Apart from leveraging modern technology in order to ensure that your programmes are well received across the land, you have diligently maintained the ambience and beauty of your station since inception. While I encourage you to aspire towards attaining greater heights, I want you to consistently make your station appealing to those of us that are not yet Pensioners, knowing well that one day, we would also retire from active service to join your fold.”
“On our part, we will continue to make the welfare of workers and pensioners our priority despite the challenges being confronted due to the effects of Covid-19 pandemic. We would also continue to offset the backlog of unpaid gratuity bequeathed to our administration by the former government. By the end of this September, we would have paid a total of N2.7 billion out of the estimated N26 billion gratuity arrears that we met on assumption of office.”
“Obviously, we still have a long way to go but as they say, the journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step. We have taken the first steps and would continue to take further steps towards alleviating the financial burden of our retirees.”
“It is our firm belief that those who have used their active years to serve our State must not be allowed to suffer after retirement. In fact, we believe that you could still support our administration in our aspiration to move Oyo State from poverty to prosperity through any of our various programmes under the public private sector partnerships and agricultural sector development efforts.”
