Bayo Onanuga, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, on Wednesday charged staff of the Editorial Department to rise to the challenge of fulfilling the mandate and mission of the agency.
Giving the charge during his maiden meeting with the editorial staff, Onanuga said NAN has all it takes, considering its staff strength, to deliver on the mandate and vision of the founding fathers of the agency.
Going down memory lane, the managing director recalled that NAN was established due to the need to tell Africa’s story by Africans, especially by Nigerians, rather than by the imperialists at the time.
He, therefore, urged the journalists to take advantage of the available modern technology to deliver NAN reports timely and accurately.
He, however, commended NAN for performing creditably, by writing accurate reports and currently providing about 80 per cent to 90 per cent of media content in the country.
He said: “NAN is the biggest media organisation in Nigeria and we must take advantage of our strength to ensure that our reports are delivered on time.
“Speed and accuracy must be our watchwords if we must maintain our leading media organisation status in this country.
“We must take advantage of the various innovations in the industry, where reports could be sent from any location.”
Onanuga pledged his commitment to ensuring that staff welfare and better working environment were not compromised.
He decried the fact that some publishers were taking NAN reports free of charge due to certain loopholes.
Onanuga said that efforts on to ensure that only genuine subscribers had access to NAN products to checkmate current loss of revenue.
Responding on behalf of the staff, Felix Ajide, the Chairman, NAN Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, informed the managing director that the morale of staff was currently very low due.
Ajide, who is also an Assistant Director, attributed the situation to poor working and environmental conditions and the lack of incentives, among other constraints.
He appealed to Onanuga to readily address staff welfare issues as would be made available to him shortly in a position paper.
He also stressed the need to implement the Staff Conditions of Service abandoned by the previous administration.
He, however, assured him of the loyal and support of staff of the department and prayed God to grant him the wisdom to lead the agency successfully.
It would be recalled that Onanuga’s appointment to head NAN was announced on May 25, among those of other agencies under the Ministry of Information and Culture.
He is the sixth substantive managing director of the agency.
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