Restructuring at Daar Communications overdue – Dokpesi

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of DAAR Communications Plc, Raymond Dokpesi Jr, has said that his recent retirement from the management team of the company was long overdue.

He said this in an interview with The PUNCH while commenting on the changes.

In a statement sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, DAAR Communications announced the retirement of 10 members of its executive management team.

They include Tony Akiotu, Dr Oluwatosin Dokpesi, Dr Ambrose Somide, Anthony Uyah, Ms Paulyn Ugbodagha, Mrs Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi, Ms. Faith Ikems, Messr. Imoni Mac Amarere, John Iwarue and Johnson Onime.

According to the statement signed by the company secretary, Miji Jonah, the retirement is effective October 31, 2024.

Speaking on the changes, Dokpesi Jr said, “We are a publicly listed company and the only publicly listed media company on the stock exchange, and that means we are also bound by Securities and Exchange Commission rules, and the code of corporate governance is mandatory for all publicly listed companies. That means that our responsibility to our shareholders transcends personal choices and opinions.

“It is true that when you look at the tenures of the existing members of management, many of them have started as part of the management since the inception of the organisation.

We have persons who are leaving the organisation after 27 years, after 22 years; most of this time they have spent in executive management positions, and yet the code of corporate governance and our internal documents state that we should only do a maximum of two terms of five years each. So, their retirement is, in fact, long overdue. It’s a decision that should have been made five to six years ago.”

He pointed out that, as of the time, the founder, Raymond Dokpesi, was still alive and dealing with political pressure from the government; hence, the timing wasn’t right to make such major changes.

He said: “The time is opportune and right as well for us to review where we want to go from here. For me and the majority of the members of our board, the decision comes down to simply determining whether we want to continue on our existing trajectory or we want to do something different.

“If we are looking at doing something differently, it means that we have to subject ourselves to abide by the terms and conditions of extant laws and regulations, to give the investing public confidence in our organisation and the administration and to be able to attract the kind of funds that we need to grow and expand beyond our existing programmes.”

He added, “Certainly, the financials of the organisation show that shareholder capital has been eroded for a number of years now. We have serious liquidity issues, which have also been flagged and raised in past numbers of annual reports. So, we cannot sweep these issues under the carpet. We have to be able to proactively address them. We may have to look at what kind of solutions are available to us as an entity listed on NGX.

“We have to find the right kinds of opportunities that exist for raising capital either through equity or debt. But these are considerations that really gear us forward after we have done the basic restructuring of the organisation and by that, I mean compliance with the best practices of corporate governance and identifying talent with a track record of success to give us the confidence that they can come in and fit in with our new strategy and give us the best shot at success.”

He disclosed that the changes made would provide opportunities for those within and outside the organisation.

Meanwhile, the board of the company has expressed gratitude to the retiring management staff for their service.

“The company is working on a major restructuring of its leadership and once this is concluded, the Exchange, other regulatory authorities, shareholders and the general public will be notified of changes accordingly,” the company said.

Speaking further on the future of the company, Dokpesi Jr. said, “We had a lot of plans for what we had hoped to achieve. Of course, the transition sends a lot of these things back, and definitely, in terms of going forward, we have to recognise a new order or how to move things forward. Everything that was there the day he passed away is still there today.

“The stories of AIT, Raypower, and DAAR Communications and their contributions to the broadcasting landscape both in Nigeria and Africa are well-documented. We are the pioneering private broadcast organisation in Nigeria.

We are the first 24-hour network operation. We have exceeded and been through many critical stages and phases of our national development as a nation, playing the role of the media organisation at the forefront of the fourth estate of the realm.

Our contribution to the media industry, policy, and social-political growth and development in Nigeria cannot be contested. Since my father passed away, the questions for us as an organisation have been about: Where does our vision take us? Where are we going?  What are we doing? And how do we get there?

“The vision, drive, motivation, and energy that came behind DAAR Communications at the very onset were to provide an alternative worldview to what was being provided and positioned by global Western media organisations like BBC, CNN, and subsequently, Al Jazeera. Ours was to be the African voice and the pride of Africa on the continent.

“It is important to recognise that first and foremost, when we were trying to push, grow, and promote pan-African versions and realities of media at that time, the contemporary media was very in tune with importing foreign music and culture, and that might have been a result of the closed nature of our media industry due to the military regime at that time.

Since then, we have seen Nigeria and Africa embrace African culture and entertainment as their primary sources.

“So we are open to embracing new approaches, positioning ourselves, and taking our rightful place in the Nigerian media industry and entertainment landscape.”

On returning the company to the path of profitability, the chairman said, “We haven’t declared profit since listing; the subsequent losses have eroded shareholders’ capital. And turning this around is a multifaceted story and approach. There is no doubt that when we were listed on the NGX, there was a very clear digitisation policy by the government.

This policy has not taken effect even up till today. So, a lot of the investments that went into equipment to position us to be at the very forefront of that digitisation frontier in essence has been wasted because we have not been able to capitalise returns on those investments.

“So, we have been seeing subsequent losses as a reflection of the depreciation value of the equipment that has been invested over the years as well as our failure to capture the market of digitisation, which up till today is still hanging.

“However, I believe the regulation of broadcasting needs to be looked at by the regulators, and am very much in touch with the director general of the National Broadcasting Commission and engaging on how we think broadcast should develop more. Beyond that, as far as technology is concerned, there is a unification of technology today. We are competing in spaces that go and transcend beyond Nigerian boundaries and across technologies. So, we need to be able to adapt, position and come out of this phase as ‘the African voice’ as far as content coming out of Africa is concerned.”