Governor Abdullahi Sule has restated his administration’s commitment to transform the Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS) to international standards.
The governor made the promise on Monday in Lafia during an interactive session with journalists to mark the 2021 Press Week organised by the Nasarawa State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Sule said he had already put machinery in motion toward improving facilities at the station housing radio and television.
He added that he was also talking to some of his friends outside the state to help with the upgrade of the station.
According to the governor, work has reached advanced stage in one of the studios while promising to work on the other as soon as possible.
“We will provide the station with the needed modern facilities and improve on the welfare of staff in line with international standards,” the governor added.
Sule also commended journalists for partnering and reporting the activities of his administration since inception, adding that he was looking forward to a better relationship for the overall development of the state.
He said his administration was working assiduously in the implementation of its economic development blueprint to improve on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and reduce over reliance on allocation from the federation account to meet up with developmental challenges.
The governor said the efforts have so far paid off with improvement in the state’s IGR from about N500 million to over N1 billion monthly.
He pointed out that the government was able to achieve the feat by blocking leakages in the system and not increment in taxes.
Sule added that the administration would ensure futher improvement on the IGR to N3 billion monthly, in order to enable the government to deliver on its promises.
Earlier, some journalists shared their experiences in the field, saying that non-payment of salaries by many private media organisations was one of the problems confronting the profession.
They urged owners of media houses to give priority to salaries and welfare of their staff to enable them to perform optimally.
The journalists also identified fake news, especially on social media, as a challenge to the profession and society.
They urged relevant stakeholders to tackle the menace before it escalated further. (NAN).
