The Voice of Nigeria (VON) is seeking a partnership with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation to shape and project Africa’s narrative to the world.
VON’s director-general, Jibrin Ndace, made the organisation’s intentions known when he and his management team paid a courtesy visit to the Ambassador of Ethiopia to Nigeria, Esayas Seifu, in Abuja.
Mr Ndace noted that the relationship between the two countries dates back several years, during the Trans-Saharan trade and when Nigerian travellers travelled to the Hajj 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 broadcasts in eight languages: Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Fulfulde, English, Arabic, Swahili and French.
“Very soon, we will start broadcasting in Mandarin (China), Bahasa Indonesian, and Portuguese.
“We are doing this because other nations are busy telling their own stories. Who will tell our own stories? We are to tell our stories ourselves, and VON was established to do that.
“So, we are here to deepen the relationship between Ethiopia and Nigeria by creating a positive narrative about our two countries.
“We believe that no matter what we do as nations, if we don’t collectively work together and be deliberate about how our stories are told, nobody will know about those positive stories,” Mr Ndace said.
The VON D-G noted that several positive developments were happening on the African continent, but added that the world was not seeing it, because third-party media were shaping Africa’s story.
“We shouldn’t allow that to continue, and as D-G of VON, I will be intentional, deliberate and unapologetic about shaping a positive narrative about Nigeria, Nigerians, Africa and Africans.
“So, during my visit today with my team, we are here; we remain committed, consistent, and available as a platform to work with you.
“We also want capacity building between VON and the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, which was rebranded recently.
“Ethiopia houses one of the most important African institutions, the African Union; VON want to be embedded there. We want to report from the AU Headquarters, and we want your support on that,” he added.
Mr Ndace also expressed VON’s desire to collaborate with the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation and the Ethiopian Embassy in Nigeria to combat fake news, misinformation, and disinformation.
Mr Seifu also noted that Nigeria and Ethiopia had long diplomatic relations.
“These are countries that hold the Pan African Spirit, working together to promote the interests of the African Continent. I very much appreciate the interest that VON has shown in working closely with our embassy.
“Today, in the era of social media, unless the African media promotes the interests of Africans and shapes the opinions of the African countries, no country can be at the forefront of encouraging it.
“We have shared values, so we need to work closely together and share experiences,” Mr Seifu said.
The envoy pledged to link VON to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation to deepen the relationship and work together to deliver on their respective mandates.
He also narrated how Ethiopia assisted other African countries in attaining independence and the challenges it faced in building the largest dam, which had the capacity to generate over 5,500 megawatts of electricity.
