The Director General Voice of Nigeria Mr. Jibrin Ndace has expressed readiness to work with Radio France International including other traditional media to curb the spread of fake news on the social media space.
Mr. Jibrin Ndace made the statement during a courtesy visit by the management team of Radio France International, RFI to Voice of Nigeria Broadcasting House in Lagos Southwest Nigeria.
The DG said the relationship between Radio France International and Voice of Nigeria goes way back and it was time to reconnect to bring back the people’s trust in the traditional media.
The Director General said he is ready to reactivate the gap in the relationship the two media houses shared in the past, like exchange training programmes and content sharing.
“This relationship was consolidated under the former Director General of Voice of Nigeria, Allaji Abubakar Jijiwa who signed an MOU with RFI during his tenure. I was in the studio that RFI used while in VON premises, which gave birth to the RFI Hausa and several other opportunities that have been shared over the years between VON in terms of training and content sharing as well as exchange of staff. Many of our colleagues have worked with RFI either here in Nigeria or at your head office in Paris. I am determined to build on all those relationships which have been commendable”, he said.
Mr. Ndace said Voice of Nigeria, as an external radio station, is set to rejuvenate the already signed memorandum of understanding with Radio France International to bring back the trust people all over the world have in the traditional media thus eradicating fake news.
“No nation is perfect and so Voice of Nigeria needs to tell the world the beauty of the nation and how well Nigerians are doing both in the country and the Diaspora.
For all of us media practitioners both in public and private media in Nigeria and abroad, it’s important to note that we are in the age of fake news and misinformation and that is posing a challenge to us in the mainstream media and therefore we need to work together so that the credibility and trustworthy people had in the traditional media will be rejuvenated,” he opined.
The Director and Chief Executive Officer of Radio France International, Mr. Jean-Marc Four said he and his team are ever ready to work with Voice of Nigeria, especially in the area of fighting fake news.
“ What you said about fighting fake news is of course a major issue for all the traditional media in the world and we have to do all we can to fight fake news and with all the new technology we have implemented in RFI Hausa digital media we hope to achieve that”.
Voice of Nigeria is an external radio organ of the Nigerian government, that through its news and programming presents facts about Nigeria and Africa, giving a voice to Nigerians and Africans both at home and abroad, to have a say on issues that affect them and insights in global affairs. Voice of Nigeria broadcasts in eight languages Arabic, English, French, Fulfulde, Hausa, Igbo, Kiswahili and Yoruba.
Radio France International is an international radio station that broadcasts in seventeen languages including Hausa which reaches over 19 million people.
Dominica Nwabufo
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