Posted by By Ihuoma Chiedozie, Abuja on
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday said the News Agency of Nigeria would be partially commercialised to increase the organisations efficiency and productivity.....
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday said the News Agency of Nigeria would be partially commercialised to increase the organisations efficiency and productivity.
Obasanjo, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette, said this at the agencys 3Oth anniversary celebration in Abuja.
Commending the media for supporting his administrations reform programme, the President restated his commitment to ensure the continuity of his administrations policies.
He said the Federal Government invested in the media industry because of its ability to effect a positive transformation of the society.
Obasanjo said, I commend the media for their role in helping to publicise our holistic reform agenda, the achievements and challenges of this administration, and placing our home-grown institutional package, the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, on the forefront of national discourse and application.
Let me assure you once again that we shall not be distracted, diverted, discouraged or intimidated from the path of reform.
The results are showing and we should continue to press forward to make Nigeria a nation of peace, stability, security, and holistic people-centred development.
After 30 years of operation, the agency, by now, should be self-sufficient in every way and should actually be investing in IT and other business ventures in the area of news generation, processing and disseminations.
The Managing Director of NAN, Chief Akin Osuntokun, said financial inadequacies had led to the closure of some offices located in strategic towns outside the state capitals.
He added that these same problem also led to the indefinite suspension of NAN foreign bureaux in some countries. Presently, only the New York and Johannesburg bureaux remain open. The foreign bureaux that were suspended include those in Nairobi, Cairo, New Delhi, Washington, Moscow, London and Abidjan.