BCOS: Much ado about competency test

A few weeks ago, 144 members of staff of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) were redeployed to various ministries, departments and agencies of the state government following a reported competency test. MOSES ALAO writes on allegations of a hidden agenda by the affected workers and the insistence by the state government that exercise was with altruism and plainness.

What could have made the Oyo State government to redeploy 144 staffers of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), comprising the radio and television arms of the stations? What could have warranted the movement of such a large number of staffers to other ministries, departments and agencies of the state government after serving for many years in the broadcast industry? These are the questions that have continued to agitate the minds of people who have followed the development in the last few weeks, with the ultimatum issued by the Oyo State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) for the reversal of the redeployment by government still running.

The answers to the questions are, however, not far to seek; the state government insisted that the deployment exercise was done to bring about innovation and standard in the operations of the corporation, which was commissioned in 1976 following the creation of Oyo State. In order to achieve that turnaround, the General Manager of the corporation, Mr Yanju Adegbite, maintained that a financial management outfit, KPMG,  hired to drive the reform process, administered  a competency test, while the office of the Head of Service was also involved in the consideration of the qualifications of those who failed the test with a view to redeploying them to other MDAs where they would be of greater use. But the affected workers have continued to allege a hidden agenda, pointing out that they were redeployed for other reasons than failing a supposed competency test administered by an outfit hired by the government.

The test, which was said to be part of efforts by the government of Senator Abiola Ajimobi to reform the operations of the BCOS, affected those on Level 7 to 15.

According to information made available to Nigerian Tribune by interested parties, members of staff were aware of the reform effort and the fact that there would be a competency test, with the test and oral interview said to have eventually been conducted by a group of broadcasting professionals lined up by KPMG.

Trouble, however, started when the results of the test came out, with about 144 workers said to have failed to make the mark. The Secretary to the State Government, Mr Olalekan Alli, had announced the redeployment of 144 staff with effect from February 1, 2018, adding that it was in a bid to restructure the corporation to meet contemporary challenges.

Alli stated that the certificates obtained and the experiences of the deployed staff were considered in the deployment of the staff so as to make them relevant in their new workplaces,  noting that the exercise was targeted at restructuring, transforming and reorganising the stations.

The development, however, irked the staffers and the Oyo State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), who protested the portrayal of members as dullards and incompetent, with some of the staffers complaining to Nigerian Tribune that they never could have failed the test, alleging a hidden agenda on the part of government.

According to some of the affected staffers who spoke to Nigerian Tribune on a condition of anonymity because public service rules forbade them to officially speak to the press, there was more to the redeployment beyond the competency testing. Pointing out how union leaders and other people bold enough to look the management of the corporation in the face were those affected by the redeployment exercise, the staff members raised a number of issues.

According to them, the state government was looking for a way to retrench workers, having sacked some top management staff of the organisation two years earlier. For those with this belief, the redeployment to other ministries might end up being a smokescreen. This was just as another set of affected workers alleged that those who didn’t write the test were deployed, even as others described the redeployment as an attempt to clip the wings of unionists in the corporation.

Another big argument against the redeployment exercise was that having sacked top management staff members, the redeployment was another attempt to take away top managers in order to frustrate the agitation for a General Manager who has risen through the ranks in BCOS. Some of the affected staff members pointed the finger at the incumbent General Manager, Mr Adegbite, whom they accused of being involved in redeploying workers because “he didn’t like them.”

Similarly, the NUJ condemned the deployment of the affected workers, particularly picking offence at the portrayal of their members as dullards.

The union, speaking through its state chairman and secretary, Mr Adewunmi Faniran and Mr Bola Ogunlayi, during a press conference on the development, maintained that describing its members as incompetent and dullards was wrong, noting that while the NUJ was not averse to restructuring of the stations, “it was unfortunate that its members who had contributed in no small measure to the growth of the media, were being labelled as dullards and incompetent.”

“We therefore strongly demand for a reversal of the uncomplimentary words used to describe our members in the current restructuring exercise embarked upon by the Oyo State government,” the NUJ said.

But the General Manager of the corporation, who himself was an ex-staff of the station, countered that workers were referred to as dullards, saying: “What are they talking about? Nobody called them dullards. But if you say incompetent, that may depend on individual interpretations. There were many examples of those who were unwilling to be trained and unable to make impact in BCOS; how do you call those people.?”

He added that he had no axe to grind with anyone and that as a professional, he did not hate anyone in the organisation but that he could hate the attitude that “inhibits the progress of the organisation,” just as he noted that the redeployment had nothing to do with him.

Insisting that the government’s desire to ensure the turnaround of BCOS was the only reason for the competency testing and the eventual redeployment of those who were found wanting by an unbiased outfit like KPMG, Adegbite queried why some people passed the test while others did not, adding that what the corporation had as staff members could not take it to the next level, which was why the move to right-size was done.

According to Adegbite, BCOS’s workforce had been too large, with its monthly wage amounting to N38 million.

The SSG corroborated this position while speaking to Nigerian Tribune, noting that the Oyo State government had no hidden agenda on the exercise. He said this was why the state government brought in KPMG and that the exercise was not an attempt at retrenching.

According to him, the government conscientiously considered the qualifications of the affected people and redeployed those with matching qualifications to ministries where they can make better impact.

“If it was otherwise, people would have been disengaged. The overriding intention of government to bring the desired innovation to the enterprise and ensure it is run in accordance with global trends must be recognised and appreciated,” Alli said.

ALSO READ: Leaders and staff motivation