The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has expressed its readiness to renew working relationship with the Egypt-owned news agency, the Middle East News Agency (MENA).
NAN Managing Director Buki Ponle, disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to Amb. Ihab Awad, the Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, in his office in Abuja.
Ponler was received by the ambassador in company of Tarek Mahfauz, the Deputy Head of Egyptian Mission to Nigeria.
He recalled that at inception of its operations in 1978, the agency located one of its foreign offices in Cairo, Egypt, as a result of cultural, social and economic ties between the two countries.
He told the ambassador that NAN was looking beyond the paucity of fund which earlier led to the closure of the office; but willing to reopen it because of several mutual benefits in the exchange of news and other services.
‘’We started our operations in Egypt in 1978 immediately we commenced our operations in Nigeria. We had about 10 international offices then apart from the ones we had in Nigeria. The office in Cairo served the entire North Africa region.
‘’In spite of all the current challenge of fund; we still cover African events with special interest in North Africa. This is because Africa is the centre of our development issues in NAN. When we started, we had a news exchange programme with MENA, but it fell through at a stage.
‘’Now we want to have these programmes renewed. We want to re-establish a real partnership with our sister news agency in Egypt, so that we can have continuous flow of information.
‘’Over the years, Egypt and Nigeria have been like children of the same mother. We share so many things in common: socially, culturally, economically, including commerce and trade. We want all these areas to be promoted and this can be achieved when we have a channel of news exchange.
‘’We report things happening in Egypt to our Nigerian and Egyptian audiences interchangeably,’’ he said.
He expressed optimism that the partnership would correct some wrong notions, help situate issues properly and present in proper perspectives, the abundant opportunities that abound in the respective nations.
‘’The truth is that there have been so many distortions and misinformation that need to be corrected and properly situated because of the communication gap that has been existing.
‘’However, when we report in our own way and style which is positive reporting, which is Solutions Journalism. No doubt, issues that have been distorted will be brought back into their proper perspectives.
‘’This will help us eliminate negativity and fake news. These are some of the things we will benefit from this partnership. And you are in a good position to facilitate this and make our reporting more appreciated on the African continent,’’ he said.
In his remark, Amb. Awad appreciated the visit with a promise to immediately swing into action and drive the process leading to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NAN and NEMA, in view of the mutual benefits.
Awad added that he had been looking forward to meeting the MD following the information he gathered from his own predecessor about the strength and coverage capacity of NAN, especially on the African continent and beyond.
He reiterated the significance which the Egyptian government and its mission in Nigeria attach to NAN’s operations and their readiness to ensure success on both ends.
‘’ I have been really looking forward to this opportunity to meet you. Of course, I can safely say that since I arrived here or even before my arrival. My predecessor had particularly pointed to the importance that he attached to embassy’s interaction with NAN. We do hold our relationship with NAN in a very high regard.
‘’We also take as very important, the issue of reporting transparently and sincerely on the major developments and events that are happening in our respective countries. This is because the media is the most influential and effective way of shaping the mentality and perception of the populations.
‘’Though the social media too is becoming very important, but traditional media is still very influential and part and parcel of our overall drive to enhance the relationship between Egypt and Nigeria. This is the role of this embassy and the role of Nigerian Embassy in Cairo.
‘’So, I cannot agree enough with you that we need to take the collaboration to the next level. We need to revive our cooperation on the media. This visit, I believe will provide that push we need to achieve the result.
‘’We will need to receive templates of agreement from the two agencies, their objectives and see how they can converge them and expedite the process of signing the MoU,’’ he assured.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
