SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND NATIONAL ORIENTATION, MOHAMMED IDRIS, FNIPR, AT THE MANAGEMENT RETREAT OF THE VOICE OF NIGERIA, HELD ON TUESDAY, 17TH DECEMBER, 2024 AT THE BON OCTAGON HOTEL, JABI, ABUJA

 


Protocol.

 

I am pleased to chair the Voice of Nigeria Management Retreat 2024 and to be amongst the managers of Nigeria’s global information highway. The theme for the 2024 management Retreat, “Voice of Nigeria in the 21st Century: Restructuring for Global Impact,” embodies an inclination towards repositioning Nigeria’s preeminent international radio broadcaster. 

 

Similarly, it is clear that the Management of the Voice of Nigeria, in choosing the distinguished academic, Professor Umaru Pate as a keynote speaker, is intent on defining a new path for its future operations that will more assiduously resituate it amongst the world’s leading external broadcasters.

 

The Voice of Nigeria is indeed steeped in history having been established in 1961, when it began its operations as the external service of the then Nigerian broadcasting Service, now Federal radio Corporation of Nigeria. Therefore, 63 years since its establishment, charting a new course at this point in time, is absolutely necessary. 

 

It is for this reason that I want to extend my appreciation to the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, the untiring and focussed Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace, and the Management and staff of the VON for steadying the ship of operations and for their strategic visioning.

 

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

 

At a time like this, a phase in which our dear country is also undergoing a strategic socio-economic turn-around under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on their part, public broadcasters under the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, are certainly expected to match the pace and expectations of government in projecting our success stories. In this regard, the Voice of Nigeria’s role is well defined as the narrator of Nigeria’s newfound road to economic recovery and a remerging regional and international economic and political powerhouse.

 

It is important that through the deliberate reportage of news and analysis on Nigeria to international audiences, no gaps are left in the curating of our nation’s gradual road to greatness.

 

Indeed, more than ever before, the present and the future belong to countries that are able to tell their stories to the world in a compelling and engaging manner. The late great novelist and writer, Chinua Achebe, one of the founding fathers of what is today the VON, popularized this proverb: “Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” We must tell our stories and shape our narratives, consciously and deliberately. No one else will do it for us.

 

The Voice of Nigeria must be able to tell the world that Nigeria is working again; that we are winning the war on terrorism, banditry, and ethnic warlords that seemed to define us lately; that we are renergising our population towards sustainable productivity; that our young population has a clearer path to quality tertiary education through the National Education Loans (NEL) Fund, and importantly, that our nation is going through an energy transition phase that will guarantee more sustainable electricity and gas to power our homes and machinery.

 

I also want us to be guided that President Tinubu is implementing an ambitious fiscal reform agenda that will devolve more resources to Nigeria’s State and Local Governments, and ultimately to the Nigerian people, in the spirit of true federalism, of which the President has always been a vocal champion and advocate. 

 

There’s no doubt, I assure you, that the year 2025, will consolidate Mr President’s Renewed Hope Agenda reforms, which is already yielding good results in different facets of our socio-economic and political life.

 

Let me also assert that in order to support our new evolution, our nation will increasingly rely on the VON's information assets to thwart the menace of fake news, disinformation, and misinformation against the Nigerian nation.

 

For media organisations like VON to compete in a crowded global field, technology must be a priority. You must leverage new and emerging digital technologies to improve the quality and reach of what you do here, and to ensure that you continue to stay relevant in these ever-changing times.

 

I cannot close these remarks without specially recognizing and saluting all of the hardworking staff of the Voice of Nigeria, for the work that you do. From the journalists on the front-lines, to all of the other staff who contribute just as much from behind the scenes.

 

We will ensure that we prioritize your welfare, and make resources available so that you can continue to fulfill your mandate. I look forward to the outcome of this retreat and to the emerging new template for VON's repositioning. Thank you and I wish you all a great management retreat.

 

I now declare this Voice of Nigeria management retreat open.

 

 

Mohammed Idris

Minister of Information and National Orientation.

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

 

 

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