The noise and controversies that surrounded its purchase was deafening. Relationships were strained. Akwa Ibom State government, through the management of its newspaper corporation, The Pioneer, had accused the late Christiana Essien-Igbokwe and her husband, Edwin, of supplying a faulty printing press to the corporation.

Arising therefrom, that old printing press was scrapped with immediate alacrity and the government opened its vault and pulled out a whopping $1.5 million (about N750 million today) to purchase the assumed best and the most modern rotary machine to replace the old one.

The Igbokwes had claimed that the state government was trying to smear their names by condemning their product in order to pave way for them to spend more money, insisting that the scrapped printing press was good for use.

Akwa Ibom State government did not mind. There was money to spend.

So, why waste time with the scrap?

Within a few years of Chief Godswill Akpabio’s administration, the new press had arrived in containers. The consignment even arrived before the press hall to house it was completed. But the hall was eventually rushed and the machines installed and inaugurated before Akpabio bowed out as governor in 2015. And that was the end of all the frenzy about the rotary press. Ever since, it has remained under lock and key and abandoned in the new press hall for more than seven years.

Available technical information shows that the press, which consists of a SupraSetter A105, otherwise known as computer-to-plate (CTP) machine, and a Goss Community Press with a web offset press, was meant to be operated by the Akwa Ibom Newspaper Corporation (AKNC), publishers of The Pioneer newspapers.

The web offset press has the capacity to print 17 colour pages, 32 black and white pages of newspaper and run 500,000 impressions per hour, while the CTP runs a resolution of 2,400 DPI.

Before its over-publicised purchase, the new press was meant to enable the AKNC print the state-owned newspaper, Pioneer, in the state at minimal cost, as well as serve as a commercial printing press for national and local newspapers, among others.

Some national dailies, The Sun learned, had already indicated interest to print their newspapers at the press, especially as it would enhance circulation and early arrival of the papers in the South South region from Uyo, the state capital. But after waiting for ages only to have their hopes dashed, the managers of such dailies decided to look elsewhere.

Unfortunately, in the rush to ensure that Akpabio inaugurated the press on May 28, 2015, a day before his administration ended, certain protocols concerning the acquisition and management of such a press, such as testing the machines and official handover to the buyer, were flouted. As such the gargantuan press was like buying a pig in a poke.

A management staff at the AKNC told Daily Sun in confidence: “That thing lying there was not properly tested, and it didn’t not print even one page of the Pioneer on the day it was test-run by the experts brought in to manage the press. So, it has been lying fallow, while the complex housing it has remained locked. We do not know whether the parts are complete or not. We have been awaiting its official hand-over to us for use. But it seems the government is either confused or not interested in the thing.”

This position was confirmed by the former general manager of Pioneer Newspaper, Mr. Udo Silas, who was a strong advocate for the purchase of the press, as he said the machines were not used by the Pioneer to print any paper neither was any member of staff trained in how to operate the machines.

He also said that the AKNC did not officially receive the printing press, as it was never handed over to the corporation by the supervising ministry, the Akwa Ibom State ministry of information and strategy.

“The press was never used to print the Pioneer in my time. No Pioneer staff under my watch went for training anywhere to master the workings of the press.

“Yes, we did not receive the press. It was a deliberate decision not to receive it as the procedural processes were not done or seen to be done. For example, the checklist to ascertain that what the government paid for were what were sent. It would, therefore, have been against civil service procedure to sign a Stores Receipt Voucher (SRV). So, unless this was done after I left service, the press remained under the administration of the supervising ministry,” he stated.

Corroborating Silas, Idorenyin Umoren, the then production manager of AKNC, said he was one of the members of the AKNC rotary press pre-shipment inspection committee announced by the state government to visit Goss Community Press Company in Germany.

Umoren, however, stated that the committee was not inaugurated, and the inspection to the Goss Community Press Company in Hieldelberg, Germany, never happened.

Curiously, he said they were only informed that the machines had arrived at Uyo through Onne in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and they were expected to receive them. He insisted that no production staff of AKNC was trained to operate the machines.

Meanwhile, Mr. Patrick Usen, the consultant who handled the project, has blamed the ministry of information for the failure of the project, and called for a probe into the abandonment of the printing press.

Usen explained that the machines failed to work due to improper installation, saying the managers of the project did not follow the procedures necessary to set up a press.

He stated that, if the machines were properly inaugurated, the representatives from Hieldelberg, Goss Graphics and himself, who facilitated the process from the purchase and shipment of the machines, would have been available at the installation and inauguration.

He questioned the manner in which the machines were received, saying there was no confirmation of what was received vis-a-vis what was sent, adding that auxiliary equipment, such as forklift, rollers, etcetera, which are among major equipment for the smooth running of the machines, were missing.

“Governor Godswill Akpabio had excellent intentions for the state and Pioneer newspaper in particular. Unfortunately, the ministry of information truncated that project. They should be held responsible. I don’t know where this inquiry will end, but I think that a commission of inquiry should be set up to probe the issue.

“That web offset press has not been received till today by the Pioneer, that is, it has not been officially handed over by Goss Graphics to Pioneer because of the haphazard installation procedures. There was no adherence to good engineering practice of installation. They hurriedly put that up together and called the governor, and I think the machine collapsed and failed there.

“There was no ink, no rolling papers, no printing plate needed to print for the governor to see. All those things were not there, and the machine collapsed that day,” he said.

The consultant called for a technical audit of what was supplied, what was installed and how it was installed, as well as probable errors with the installation processes, so as to correct the abnormalities that have kept the machines from working.

He lamented that the state government was yet to pay him his contract fee for the project, adding that he was willing to return for a proper installation of the machines, if government was willing.

Usen, however, warned that the Supra Setter A105 (CTP) machine may have to be upgraded as it may have outlived its lifespan of six years while laying idle: “There must be a technical audit of what was supplied, what was installed, how it was installed and also find out if there were errors with the procedures of installation and realign the machine to start all over again.

“The lifespan of the Goss Graphics could be up to 50 years, but the computer-to-plate would last, let’s say, for between five to six years. All you need is to change parts and upgrade.”

However, Mr. Aniekan Umana, who was then the commissioner for information and now a member of the House of Representatives for Abak-Ika-Etim Ekpo federal constituency, whose ministry supervised the whole process of purchasing, installing and inaugurating the press, told our correspondent that there was a report on the project.

“There is a report out there. There is no private person involved. The machine was installed in 2015. They can decide to use or not to use the machine.” Umanah said.

Commenting on the press, the current commissioner for information and strategy, Mr. Ini Ememobong, said: “When I came into office, I visited the facility and commissioned an enquiry into issues surrounding the press. We are working to reconcile all gray areas.

“In line with the governor’s determination to continue to achieve results in a most cost-effective way, we had to open up the business to private investors who would come and manage the press. Many have indicated interest and we are still considering the options. I assure you that, before the exit of this administration, the press will be taken over for proper management.”

So, $1.5 million has been lying waste since 2015, despite the noise that The Pioneer urgently needed a good Goss Community printing press in 2008. Does it confirm what Edwin Ibokwe and his late wife, Christy, said then that the earlier printing press they supplied was good, but that government officials were simply on a squandering spree?

Edwin Igbokwe, who supplied the former printing press, which was condemned and scrapped at the Pioneer, told our correspondents that he knew that the people involved in the purchase of the new printing press were not sincere.

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By Joe Effiong, Uyo The noise and controversies that surrounded its purchase was deafening. Relationships were strained....

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© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.