Voice of Nigeria (VON) has expressed interest in forging a media partnership with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation to jointly promote Africa’s image on the global stage.
The Director-General of VON, Malam Jibrin Ndace, made this known during a courtesy visit to Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Esayas Seifu, in Abuja, alongside his management team.
Ndace, noted that the relationship between both countries dated back to several years ago during the Trans-Sahara trade and when Nigerian travel to Haji by road via Ethiopia.
He said that the VON was established by its founding fathers not just to be in the forefront of developing and sharing positive narratives about Nigeria and Nigerians but more importantly, about Africa and Africans.
According to him, VON currently broadcast in eight languages; Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulfulde, English, Arabic, Swahili and French.
“Very soon we are going to start broadcasting in Madarin (China), Bahasa Indonesia and Portuguese.
“The reason we are doing this is because, other nations are busy telling their own stories. Who will tell our own stories. We are to tell our own stories ourselves and VON was established to do that.
“So, we are here to deepen the relationship between Ethiopia and Nigeria through creating positive narrative about our two countries.
“We believe that no matter what we do as nations, if we don’t collectively work together and being deliberate about how our stories are told, nobody will know about those positive stories,” Ndace said.
The VON D-G, noted that several good things were happening in the African continent, but added that the world was not seeing it, because Africa story was being shaped by third party media.
“We shouldn’t allow that to continue and as D-G of VON, I will be intentional, deliberate and unapologetic about shaping positive narrative about Nigeria, Nigerians, Africa and Africans.
“So my visit today with my team is to say we are here; we remain committed, consistent and available as a platform to work with you.
“We also want capacity building between VON and Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation which was rebranded recently.
“Ethiopia houses one of the most important institutions in Africa which is the Afrcian Union; VON want to be embedded there. We want to report from the AU Headquarters and we want your support on that,” he added.
Ndace also stressed the readiness of VON to partner with Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation and the Ethiopian Embassy in Nigeria in tackling fake news, misinformation and disinformation.
In his response, Ambassador Seifu commended the initiative, describing Nigeria and Ethiopia as nations with long-standing ties and shared values.
He emphasised that African media organisations must take responsibility for shaping the continent’s image and pledged to strengthen collaboration between the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation and VON.
Seifu further recalled Ethiopia’s contributions to Africa’s liberation movements and highlighted the country’s achievements, including the construction of its Grand Dam with a capacity to generate over 5,500 megawatts of electricity.