The financial troubles of Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, founder of DAAR Communications, the first private operators of Television and Radio Stations in Nigeria, which started in 1999, has finally boiled over.A leading U.S based online news service, Sahara Reporters, in 2009, had detailed some business interests of Dr. Dokpesi, the Araba of Osooro, that could arise possibly as a result of his ostentations and reckless lifestyle. But Dokpesi’s financial troubles actually started in 1999 when he was harassed and chased around to pay the initial loan of 500 million naira with which he started African Independent Television and Ray Power 1 and 2.
Dokpesi, a marine engineer, who was purportedly invited back to Nigeria from Holland by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo to join in nation building, allegedly combined unethical practises and greed factor to divert investors’ funds to maintain an harem of girl-friends and cronies from his wife’s family who joined with him to spend investment money like water. The public and sympathizers rallied support for him in 2000 and his investment interest were revamped.
Dokpesi, however, returned to a lavish lifestyle that has always been part of him from his juvenile days. But now luck has run out on him as Fidelity Bank whose corrupt and hapless executives aided Dokpesi’s fraud has now dragged him to court and demands that he be declared completely insolvent and as such be granted the power to take over and manage his assets, corporate and private. Two law suits were filed towards the same end last week. The bank prayed that the court should declare Dokpesi bankrupt over his inability to repay a N3.7 billion loan granted his company, as he has allegedly failed to liquidate the debt.
Fidelity Bank claims that in May 2008 and June 2009, DAAR Communications applied for and was granted several credit facilities meant to partly finance its daily corporate operations and to enable it to broadcast the FIFA under-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria. The bank added that the facilities were secured by a legal mortgage over a property located at 34, Creek Road, Apapa belonging to Baldok Shipping Limited, other fixed and floating assets of DAAR Communications valued at N21.3 billion and Dokpesi’s personal guarantee.
The bank wants also to take over DAAR Communications. He does not seem to have any fall back arrangement for taking care of the crushing debt. And even now his smart calculations that have led to questionable romance with corrupt politicians cannot save him. The intrigues he engineered against, his younger kinsman, Prince Kazeem Afegbua who introduced him to the IBB campaigns, is coming back to haunt him. He also disrespected some of the media personalities who assisted him to swim out of his initial troubles in 2000; now they are staying away from him. His good friend ex-Governor Peter Odili does not look keen on giving him any lifeline like he once did in 2007.
Some of the journalists at the Asokoro, Abuja office of Ray Power/AIT said that they have not being paid salaries for a long while. They claim that they are left with one operational van and that they are loosing ground to competitors because of sub-standard equipment.
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