The Voice of Nigeria (VON), says it will partner with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in telling positive narratives about Nigeria and Africa.
The Director-General of VON, Malam Jibrin Baba-Ndace stated this when he paid a courtesy visit to his counterpart at the Headquarters of NBC on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to Baba-Ndace, VON is determined to seek new partnership and consolidate on the existing in telling Nigeria and Africa stories.
“There is no platform in the continent of Africa like VON that is empowered by law, and that has the mandate to tell Nigeria and Africa stories, and to build positive narratives about Nigeria and Nigerians, Africa and Africans.
“There is no better time to do it than now when people are busy telling their stories, we should also tell ours. I want to assure you that we are determined and unapologetic in telling truthful, believable, timely and consistent narratives about Nigeria and Africa.
“We cannot achieve this without the support of NBC. What people see about NBC is when it wields the big stick, but the role of the Commission is much more strategic; content creation and telling broadcast stations to do the right thing.
“You cannot bring down your own country. If you cannot contextualize knowledge and understand the sensibility and difference of people, religion, ethnicity, diversity, etc then you should not be an anchor.
“We have the human resources to support and partner with NBC to deliver on its mandate. We are determined to be the buffer in telling and sharing the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
“Also, we are willing to work with you in the fight against fake news, misinformation and disinformation. This is one of our major challenge in the world, and that is why VON is thorough in gatekeeping for our contents,” Baba-Ndace said.
He said that VON was in the forefront of running campaigns to create awareness against fake news, misinformation and disinformation, hence the need to collaborate with the NBC in addressing negative image about the country.
In his response, the Director-General of NBC, Mr Charles Ebuebu, said the Commission had the mandate of bringing the media to be at par with best practices in terms of content sharing and others.
Ebuebu added that the NBC also had the mandate to take the industry to where it should be.
According to him, the social media eco-system has pulled away some source of revenue from the television stations.
“There are so many positive stories about Nigeria. If we are able to make things work, we will go far. Content producers and distributors should always be on the positive side.
“This is because, we have licensees who are complaining that their revenue is going to skit makers, but why is that so, the answer is simple, content!!
“However, we are in discussion with the National Orientation Agency. We need to partners and collaborate. We need to join hands together and have an inter-agency collaboration to take media to where it should be,” Ebuebu said.
