The Director General of Voice of Nigeria, (VON), Mallam Jibrin Ndace and the New Tanzanian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ambassador Selestine Kekele have reiterated their commitment to fostering the bilateral agreements between VON and the Tanzanian government.
The commitment was made when the DG of VON received a delegation from the Tanzanian high commission at the VON headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.
The DG VON, Mallam Ndace assured the new High Commissioner of VON’s commitment to upholding the Memorandum of Understanding, (MoU), already in existence, stating that VON will continue to work in shaping the positive narrative of Africa.
“My focus since my appointment working with the management is actually to be very deliberate, intentional, very very unapologetic about shaping positive narrative about Nigeria and Nigerians, Africa and Africans.” He said
Mallam Ndace also said there have been positive gains from the bilateral relationship in the areas sharing of content between VON and the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, (TBC).
He restated that the management of VON will continue to work to boost Africa’s reach in its drive to promote positive narratives not just in the Swahili language which is one of the broadcast languages in VON, but by also incorporating Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesia and Portuguese.
Also, the Tanzania High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amb. Selestine Kekele stated the Tanzania government’s Commitment to upholding its end of the agreement.
Referencing Nigeria-Tanzania relations over the years, Amb. Kekele commended the government of Nigeria for backing Tanzania’s recent bid for the Director General of the World Health Organization, WHO.
The High Commissioner also commended VON’s promotion of the spread of the Swahili language in its broadcast and the class organized for the staff of VON.
“We are here to say thank you to the VON for this collaboration but also to insist and reiterate our commitment of the high commission to this great country but also on behalf of the government and the people of Tanzania that we are ready to support and continue working closely in the promotion of Kiswahili language.” He said
Moving forward, Amb. Kekele emphasized the staff exchange program and the sustainable flow of content in a more viable way that promotes the African perspective.
He extended an invitation to the DG VON for the swahili language day set aside by UNESCO for the 7th of July.
Olusola Akintonde