Mr. Wada Maida, Chairman Board of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Thursday, announced the establishment of five new departments within the agency to pace up with modern ways of news reportage.
Maida made the announcement after the board members’ meeting, held in the Lagos office, Orile-Iganmu.
He named the departments as: Data, Social Media, New Media, Human Development and International Relations departments.
He said the Nigerian media space was evolving and the board was working tirelessly to ensure that the Nigeria media competes favourably with other countries.
The board chairman said that the departments were also created in order to harvest whatever revenue that was available in those areas.
“To move the agency forward and improve on its activities, we have just created another five departments and more innovations are on the pipeline.
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“Since the inauguration of this board, we have been doing a lot to ensure the Nigeria media space competes favourably with other countries.
“I served here for 25 years as an editor; became a foreign correspondent, then editor, on the political desk, thereafter the Editor-in-Chief, the Managing Director and now the Chairman of the board.
“So quite a lot of things are in the pipeline, we are trying to ensure that the agency comes to terms with modernisation,” he said.
The Chairman sympathises with the members of staff who had been deprived of some of their allowances due to paucity of funds.
He urged the members of staff to remain committed to their work and bear in mind that the agency could only make do with the resources made available for it.
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He said the board members had come to see the condition of the offices and interact with the members of staff, having held five meetings in Abuja office.
“I apologise for the non-payment of most of the staff allowances but the staff must realise that we can only make do with what government has given.
“Funding has been the biggest problem facing the agency; we are not the only government agency facing this problem.
“We do more than what other agencies are doing in terms of the image of Nigeria and what is going on; we are the most vital organ that exists in government.
“Though we generate money but the amount is not enough to sustain the agency.
“I wish to inform all staff of the agency that they are in an institution that is very strong, which should be protected because it is an institution that sends happenings in the country to the world.
“There is no other media that does it like we do,” he said. (NAN)