The New Director Defence Information, Major General Jimmy Akpor says it is the responsibility of the military to protect the Nigerian borders while it is the duty of the media to nurture the soul of the country through their reportage as he solicited for continuous support.
The Director made this known during his familiarization visit to media establishment, Voice of Nigeria VON in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
General Akpor said that “Voice of Nigeria VON as a critical stakeholder in not only the image of Nigeria but the country in general”.
He noted that VON is the official international broadcasting station of the country and holds the exclusive external broadcasting rights.
Therefore, the military has the responsibility to defend the territorial integrity of the country as both the military and VON are doing the same work in different fairs.
The Director, Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu pointed out that “Voice of Nigeria’s mandate is to manage the freedom infrastructure as it concerns Nigeria while military manages the security infrastructure.
“The partnership between the two is as old as when VON was a department of Radio Nigeria until the day it became an autonomous agency in 1991”.
He noted that VON has been working with Nigerian Armed Forces even when they set their own radio; VON formed the nucleolus of that project.
He added that today’s broadcasting is very competitive and dynamic and VON has gone digital.
“Going digital is to make sure that Nigerian Armed Forces and what they are doing is reflected to the international community”, Okechukwu said.
Fighting security and insurgency
The Director General commended the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor and his officers for the improvement in security and successes recorded in the fight against insurgency in the country across the borders among all the services of the Armed Forces in Nigeria.
He said that “the appointment of Director Defence Information would give an in-depth account of what their programmes and policies are; not just press release. This is because they are in partnership and inside content gave birth to any policy so as to tell the story as it is to the audience”.
“VON has Social Media platforms to report both the good and the bad as it is the reference points that is funded fully by the federal government”, he added.
The Executive Director News, Voice of Nigeria, Ahaziah Suleiman urged the Defence Information carry VON Defence Staff along as they are already in partnership with Army and VON equally organized training with Armed Forces Radio.
Also, the Director News Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Ben Shemang reminded the Defence Director that VON is still producing for the Army and both have very good relationship which could be deepened to be more rewarding.
The visit had in attendance, Deputy Defence Information, Commodore MA Wabi, Deputy Director Defence, Group Captain ET Iheoma and Assistant Director Defence Information, Major ST Uba and Voice of Nigeria Management Staff among others.
Nneka Ukachukwu
