The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada has described the collaboration between Voice of Nigeria and Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, TBC, as ‘a compact of a shared vision for Africa’s development.’
Dada made the statement when the Director General of Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, Dr. Ayub Chacha paid him a courtesy visit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, Nigeria.
Drawing on the vision of Pan-Africanism, the Minister said; ”Africa needs to tell its own story by bridging the boundaries between African countries through communication.
“Whether we like it or not, we have a common destiny and the earlier we realize that the better for us. If we don’t like ourselves, we can’t expect others from outside to like us,” Dada explained.
The Minister pledged the support of the Ministry towards ensuring that the shared vision between TBC and VON becomes a successful legacy that would be bequeathed to the next generation.
The Director General of TBC, Dr. Ayub Chacha said that ”it is imperative to balance the flow of news stories out of Africa and put an end to the negative adjectives used in description of Africa by Western media.”
“There is a general way, a picture painted globally by Western media about Africa, which is not necessarily the true picture we have ourselves. And therefore, I have always believed that our media needs to cooperate,” he stated.
Dr. Ayub Chacha was accompanied by the Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Mr. Osita Okechukwu,
Nigeria and Tanzania relationship
The Tanzania High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Benson Bana lauded the Minister of State for the meeting, noting that the relationship that exists between Nigeria and Tanzania is important to the economic diplomacy of the whole Africa.
Bana said: “It is through bilateral ties that today Tanzania hosts almost five companies that have invested in its country.”
Mercy Chukwudiebere
