Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau on Thursday congratulated Malam Yakubu Mohammed over the recent renewal of his tenure as Director-General of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that President Muhammadu Buhari renewed Mohammed’s three-year tenure as NTA helmsman at the expiration of the first tenure in May.Lalong, who felicitated with the NTA boss, a Plateau native, when he paid him a courtesy call in Jos, thanked Buhari for appointing him and and finding him worthy of another term.
He thanked the NTA boss for the publicity he enjoyed in his first tenure and solicited for “even more” in his second term.“In the last four years, you have proved to us that you are a son of the soil. Without prompting, you gave us a lot of publicity.
You promised to expose us to the outside world and you did.“At the onset of my second tenure, you pledged to stand by us. You are already doing more than that by “donating” one of your staff, Dr Makut Macham, to serve as my Director of Press and Public Affairs.“I want to thank you for that kindness and shall strive to look into your demands, especially the interventions required in NTA College.”Lalong urged the NTA boss to give employment slots to Plateau youths and assured him of quality hands.
“We have taken one and we want you to replace him with four or five others because we want to produce more like you in NTA,” he appealed.Mohammed, in a response, congratulated Lalong for his re-election and prayed God to give him the wisdom to lead Plateau to the next level.
He said that Plateau and NTA had a strong relationship, recalling that Jos was the home of the first coloured television station in Africa.“Jos is also the home of the first and only Television College in Africa.“One of NTA’s iconic programmes, ‘cock crow at dawn’ was shot and edited in Jos,” he said, adding that products of NTA Jos had risen to the levels of directors-general and even beyond.
He said that NTA Network Centre, Jos was located in the city to serve Plateau, and charged the people to take possession of the centre by supporting it.Mohammed appreciated the Plateau Government for its assistance to the centre over the years and urged Lalong to establish some corporate presence in NTA College by building classroom blocks or hostels that would be named after prominent sons or daughters of the state. (NAN)
