The Voice of America on Thursday donated broadcast equipment worth N2 million to the Mass Communication Department of the Kaduna State University.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the equipment included iPhone, smart phones, microphones, tripods and Apple-Imac computers.
The items will be used for audio and visual editing as well as recording.
Malam Sani Malumfashi, the VOA Hausa Education and Health Coordinator, who presented the items to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Williams Qurix, said the gesture was to assist the institution in the training of students in modern trends in journalism.
According to Malumfashi, the support is a product of the mutual partnership between VOA and the university toward quality training.
“The goal is to support the university’s efforts in equipping its journalism students in view of emerging trends, especially the advent of the social media,” he said.
Malumfashi commended the university’s initiatives aimed at boosting students’ access to practical skills.
He lauded the establishment of a viable FM station and TV studio by the university.
Receiving the items, Qurix thanked VOA for the gesture and promised to use the equipment effectively to impart necessary skills in the students.
According to him, the goal is to open up students’ minds to new experiences and spur their interest toward acquiring and utilising the necessary skills to make them stand out among their peers.
He said: “KASU is in the business of raising formidable pen armies (journalists); the equipment will go a long way in helping us raise formidable pen armies for our dear nation and the world at large.”
Dr. Joseph Ayodele, the Head of Mass Communication Department of the university, in his remarks, also thanked the donor for the equipment.
Ayodele noted that mass communication had become information technology driven.
NAN also reports that the VOA had trained some of the university’s journalism students on entrepreneurial and business reporting, using smart phones and other mobile gadgets.
NAN