EXCLUSIVE: “I DARE YOU TO SACK ME”, Broadcaster Extraordinaire, Gbenga Aruleba Blasts AIT’s Chair, Raymond Dokpesi.

Mr. Aruleba, Raymond Emeritus & Raymond Junior.

There seem to be love lost between the owner and Chairman emeritus of Daar Communications Plc, owners of African Independent Television, AIT and Raypower, Chief Raymond Dokpesi and one of the finest anchors on the TV arm of the company, AIT, Mr. Gbenga Aruleba who seem to have stuck in the neck of Dokpesi over what I may term, VERY BAD MANAGEMENT DECISIONS.

Gbenga, who used to anchor one of the most popular political programs on Nigerian Television, “FOCUS NIGERIA, last night, as has been the case for some years now, was asked to resigns his position as Group Head, Reportorial and also, his job at the company, but has refused to resign, daring the owners of the station to sack him if they’ve got the liver to do so.

Information has it that this is neither the first time, second, third and won’t be the last, the owners of the station would ask Gbenga Aruleba to leave the employment of the company, but would not bulge so long as the station continues to behave irresponsibly and refuses to handle the issue of staff welfare with some form of irresponsibility.

Last year, Gbenga’s program, FOCUS NIGERIA was taken from him and handed over to another anchor, in their bid to cripple him and make him irrelevant, hoping that that would break him and maybe, force him to resign, but being a man with 9 LIVES, he stuck in their throat like the bone of PANLA FISH till he weathered the storm and today, he has another program, “JIGSAW” which is gradually gathering momentum, but the success of this is not going down well with the owners of AIT and all of a sudden, they want the anchor, not only out of the new program, but out of the station.

This, to me, will be the toughest of wars for both Dokpesi Senior and his son, Raymond to fight, especially when sacking Gbenga at this point in time would not be the best of decisions to make, so, coercing him into resigning seemed their best option, which actually may not happen anytime soon.

High Chief Raymond Dokpesi has, over the years, been used to owing salaries and what have you of his workers, with some leaving or resigning without their pays and others, dying without their statutory payments, and when a staff resigns like that, that is the end of what the company owes him or her, but with Gbenga Aruleba, that nonsense seem not to be holding any water, as he knows that sacking him would be detrimental to his station, because he would have to pay, COMPLETELY, all he had owed him from the day he started work with AIT to date and that’s what the Chairman emeritus is cunningly dodging to do, therefore the force to have him resign.

The Chief is also accusing Mr. Gbenga Aruleba of being sympathetic to the All Progressives Congress, APC, against the stations affiliation with the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP, which is one of the reasons they want him out with immediate effect, but achieving that would be very difficult for them, because, they would pay him all they owe him, a character the Raymond Dokpesi is not known to possess and won’t start possessing now.

So, the only way to get rid of Gbenga Aruleba from AIT is, calculate all you owe him from his first day at AIT till date, pay him to the last kobo, calculate his severance packages and benefits, pay him in full and he will go.

Gbenga Aruleba is and won’t be like one of those who had been frustrated out of the station and had had to leave, abandoning their payments for work done and services rendered, with some still out of jobs till date and the owners of the station are happy sharing the sweats and wages of people amongst family members who are clustering around the structures of the station like BEDBUGS.

As things are looking now, the shenanigans of the owners of the AIT and Raypowers would be put to a stop with the struggles of the lone ranger and single voice in the wilderness, Gbenga Aruleba, even as we expect the likes of Mark Amarere to join in this fight to end the massive dehumanization going in the station, because after Gbenga, his will follow.