The Oyo State Government today ordered the redeployment of 144 members of staff of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, BCOS, to other arms of the government work force with effect from Thursday 1st February, 2018.
According to an address by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ismail Olalekan Alli on the ongoing restructuring project of BCOS, the letters of redeployment are already dispatched accordingly. They are therefore expected to resume at their new places of work with immediate effect.
Read the address below:
PRESS STATEMENT
ADDRESS BY THE SECRETARY TO THE OYO STATE GOVERNMENT ON THE ONGOING RESTRUCTURING PROJECT OF THE BROADCASTING CORPORATION OF OYO STATE.
WEDNESDAY, 31ST JANUARY, 2018
Introduction
As part of the restoration, transformation and repositioning of the policies, management practices and operational culture of some major public institutions in Oyo State embarked upon by the Senator Abiola Ajimobi government since 2011, we hereby wish to announce the current status and next lines of activities for the ongoing restructuring project of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State.
The Concept and Imperative of Restructuring
To restructure an organization or system means to change the way it is organized, usually in order to make it work more effectively. It seeks to bring about drastic or fundamental internal changes that alter the relationships between different components or elements of an organization or system. The concept of restructuring has increasingly become fundamental to any organization that seeks to run its affairs and use its resources in a more efficient, optimal and consequently profitable manner for its stakeholders. As it is with nation states and their international agencies, so it is with business firms and public corporations.
It is therefore little surprise that when this government came into office, it left no one in doubt that almost every aspect of governance in Oyo State will be restructured to ensure optimum performance and maximum return on investment. It was no longer business as usual. The helmsman of the government, Sen Abiola Ajimobi made it clear from the very beginning that he was determined to run very efficient government that focus on the optimal utilization of all public resources for the greatest good of the majority of our people. To this end, he led by his personal example of thrift and thereafter instituted an extremely hardnosed financial management system that has since ensured the highest possible return on every government investment. This culture of efficiency and productivity has since led to the evaluation of current systems and practices in several ministries, departments and agencies of government. These governance restructuring project include the review of our security administration architecture, a revamp of our environmental and waste management culture, the reengineering of our education management systems, a reconstruction of our healthcare delivery practices as well as the rethinking of our infrastructure funding strategies, etcetera. Today, we are talking about the current status and next phase of our ongoing restructuring programme for the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State.
BCOS 2011 -2015
It will be recalled that one of the first major policy announcements of the Ajimobi government on assumption of office was the appointment in June 2011 of a five-man steering committee to assess the extant operations of the BCOS and consequently recommend immediate remedial interventions. After about six weeks, the committee of tried and tested broadcast professionals reported its findings to government.
In the area of administration, they reported the following:
* Gross mutilation of operating standards and a consequent desecration of ethical values;
* Encouragement of favoritism and cronyism leading to a bloated and unproductive workforce
* High level of indiscipline among staff members which in turn made the
bloated workforce a largely redundant army.
In the area of news and programming content, the committee reported that persistent, consistent and mostly malevolent interference in the activities of the Corporation by the past political leaderships of the state had simply turned BCOS into an arena of grandstanding.
Coupled with lacklustre programming, this resulted in a huge loss of viewership/listenership and consequent loss of advertising revenue.
As for Engineering services, the committee found that frequent transmission failures and inferior operational facilities ensured that the radio and television stations were almost always broadcasting poor signals when they were not completely off-air, sometime for months at a stretch. Indeed, by the time the Ajimobi government was sworn in, BCOS had been off air for about two months! While off-air, audiences and advertisers migrated to the nearest competitor.
All of these and many more factors resulted in an unenviable brand reputation which in turn made BCOS a sorry source of embarrassment to all its stakeholders, including its management and staff.
Having received and reviewed the report and proposals of the committee, Government approved a modest intervention fund to energize and stabilize the corporation, in the short term. In about six short months, they had created a new station identity as well as developed a set of new programmes and concepts that tremendously changed the narrative with great impact and enhanced viewership. Every group of stakeholders applauded the interventions and innovations as the positive evidence was too glaring to be missed. Viewers and advertisers soon flocked back in droves. Yet, this was only a scratch on the surface. The real wok of restructuring, transforming and repositioning of BCOS was not yet begun.
Restructuring BCOS
While the 2011/2015 management team made significant gains in turning around the operations of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, there remained the need to deepen the reforms in order to exponentially grow its fortunes by addressing the structural, material and human resource issues still facing the BCOS. Some of these include:
– A massively bloated workforce – with a current staff strength of over 500, BCOS is arguably the most populated media organization in Nigeria.
– A top-heavy organization structure – with some departments operating an inverted pyramid structure.
– A wasteland of estate properties and other resources waiting to be optimally utilized for the public good.
– The need to develop and implement an appropriate management/operating model for the Corporation that will enhance and guarantee operational efficiency.
Therefore, when this government was re-elected into office in 2015, we decided on the massive transformation of BCOS into a diversified media and entertainment corporation capable of exploring, exploiting and growing its extensive opportunities for the maximum benefit and profit of all its stakeholders. To achieve this end, Government consequently embarked on an Organizational, Technical and Commercial Review and redesign of the BCOS.
The first aspect of this task was the Organization Structure Review/Redesign including Organization Structure assessment and Manning Analysis as well as Manpower Assessment of competencies and adequacies.
The second leg was the Technical Review and Redesign including an appraisal of the technical capabilities of the existing facilities as well as identification of necessary equipment upgrades. This appraisal benchmarked existing technologies and practices against leading industry practices and trends just as it reviewed content strategy articulation and acquisition strategies.
The final component of this comprehensive audit was the Commercial Review and Redesign. This included the Business Concept Validation and a review of the Corporation’s value proposition; the conduct of financial analysis to re-validate funding requirements for the business and the justification of turnaround proposals to the State Government.
Enter KPMG Advisory Services
To get this task done as professionally and as thoroughly as possible, the government engaged the services of the internationally renown consulting firm, KPMG Advisory Services to assist in carrying out a comprehensive audit as well to propose appropriate structures and strategies.
For about four months in 2017, the firm deployed its staff and systems conducting interviews, tests and assessments of the human and material resources of BCOS with a view to developing a Target Operating Model Design and Business Plan. This detailed document was submitted to Government in July, 2017. It contained a summary of the assessment results and its recommendations for implementation. As part of the process, a Training Needs Assessment exercise was conducted for all staff to ascertain the proficiency of each staff along the various competence requirements of BCOS for their respective grade levels with the aim of identifying the competence gasp and interventions required to bridge them. A total staff of 419 were planned for assessment but 3 of them were not eventually captured due to their absences either on medical grounds or an account of being on study leave.
Of the 416 assessed, 209 were junior staff between levels 1 and 7; 149 were senior staff between levels 8 and 13 while there were 58 management staff between levels 14 and 15.
While the assessment tools used for the junior staff was basically Desktop Assessment (i.e. qualifications and disciplinary records), the tools employed for the senior staff included Competency Based Test (Intermediate level for levels 8 -10 and Advanced Level for Levels 12 & 13). For the management staff i.e. levels 14 & 15, the tools used included the Desktop Assessment, Competency Based Test (Management Level ) and Panel Interview.
A summary of the Assessment Outcome showed that of the 209 junior staff assessed, 197 passed while 12 failed; of the 149 senior staff assessed, 35 passed and 114 failed while of the 58 management staff assessed, only 16 passed and 42 of them failed.
Based on the competency test and panel interview, the consultants found that 70% of the senior and management staff did not demonstrate the competence required for their respective grade levels. The details of the performance distribution by grade level and by department were provided in the report.
Key Issues Arising
* A key outcome of the assessment exercise was the identification of knowledge and capacity gaps in the staff of BCOS.
* Over the years, BCOS has been managed more like a Ministry dependent on OYSG subvention rather than as a corporation aimed at generating revenue for the government through annual dividends.
* The operation of BCOS is not financially sustainable as operating costs continue to outstrip revenue. Without OYSG subvention, the cost is more than double the current IGR capacity
* The BCOS workforce is over bloated
– High staff strength of 513 with 70% being permanent staff while 30% are contract staff. The contract staff were engaged to bridge the yawning skill gaps of the permanent staff.
– The workforce is heavy on staff with low skill qualifications .e.g. 55% have qualifications below HND
– Ageing workforce – 73% of staff are aged above 40 years while 52% will retire in the next 10 years
* The organization is not sweating its assets, as it should. It has so much under-utilized land assets, in addition to broadcast equipment bought by previous administrations gone obsolete.
Imperatives for A New Strategic Direction for BCOS
The overall intent of transformation of BCOS into a Media and Entertainment Hub is herby announced. The detailed set of activities and implementation time lines will be anoounced soon. In the mean time let me briefly share the Governments’ vision for a transformed BCOS.
The vision is “to be the leading media and entertainment hub that propels the unique cultural heritage of the Yoruba to the global market” while the vision is “creating pleasurable experiences for our target markets through the provision of exceptional products sand service”.
The business segments will include (i) TV and Radio Broadcasting, (2) Production Studio Services (3) Theme Parks and Resorts, (4) Hospitality and Leisure Services, (5) Live Events and (6) A Media Academy.
Some of the imperatives that Government intends implement in order to deepen and sustain the legacy and new vision of BCOS include the granting of Operational and Financial Autonomy to the corporation; strengthening Governance and Management; Commercial Sustainability, encouraging Partnership and Alliances as well as Legal restructuring to enable the corporation to take full advantages of public-private-partnership with the global organized private sector towards the creation of the leading entertainment and cultural hub in the South West of Nigeria.
Redeployment of Some BCOS Staff
As a first step in the pursuit of this new strategic direction, Government hereby announce the redeployment of a total of 144 members of staff of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State to other arms of the government work force with effect from Thursday 1st February, 2018. The letters of redeployment are already dispatched accordingly. They are therefore expected to resume at their new places of work with immediate effect.
It is to be noted that NONE of these workers is being sacked, disengaged or released from the services of Oyo State. On the contrary, they are only being redeployed to new offices and establishments where the government believes they will add greater value to its service deliver mandate. Their postings and redeployments are therefore in accordance to the Service provisions. Government wishes them to report in their new offices with the required vigor and enthusiasm worthy of their employment and respective status.
In conclusion, government wishes to seek the support and collaboration of all stakeholder for the full realization of the huge potentials of this corporation.
If and when fully implemented, our proposed massive transformation of BCOS will exponentially expand the innate capacities and dormant resources of BCOS into a diversified public corporation capable of sustaining its operations and growth from its own internally generated revenues. This will not only free critical financial, material and human resources to the State Government but should soon serve as a veritable source of funds to be deployed to other areas of public service delivery. At the conclusion of the ongoing restructuring, we intend that BCOS will become a national model of a successful and sustainably profitable public corporation whose example will be gleefully copied across Nigeria.
I thank you for your kind attention.
