Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara says the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) must continue in the task of propagating Nigeria well to help attract more investment to the country.
AbdulRazaq said this while receiving the agency’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, on Tuesday in Ilorin.
‘NAN has always propagated Nigeria at the sub-national, national and international levels as the voice of Africa, and this is why NAN has never been brought to disrepute.
‘You cannot go wrong by listening to NAN.
‘Obviously, NAN’s mandate then in 1976 when it was set up and up till now is to propagate Nigeria at the sub-national, national and international levels.
‘One will recall that moments after 1976, during the apartheid era, Africa did not have a voice. The voice of Africa then was NAN,” the governor said.
He urged NAN to continue to propagate Nigeria so much as to help in propagating Nigeria to enhance investments and attract more investors to Nigeria.
‘NAN is an investment tool
for Nigeria and we in Kwara in particular are looking forward to working with the agency,” AbdulRazaq added.
He then urged NAN to strengthen its ties and operations across all the levels, assuring that Kwara was ready to collaborate with NAN.
The governor commended the agency for planning to open district offices in Omu-Aran and Kosubosu in the Kwara South and Kwara North senatorial zones of the state, respectively.
‘Who would have thought of Kosubosu, which is next to Chikanda, and from Chikanda the next place is Benin Republic? So, this tells you that NAN’s footprints are all over the place.
‘If you go to the remote places, you will get all the right information,” he said.
Earlier, the NAN Managing Director had commended Gov. AbdulRazaq for his giant strides in developing infrastructure, healthcare and workers’ welfare, among several other projects in the state.
‘Since yesterday (Monday) that we arrived in the state, we have noticed a huge repositioning in the whole state.
‘This means your re-elect
ion is a testimony of what you did in your first tenure.
‘Also, your re-election has helped to lower the political temperature in Kwara,’ he said.
Ali, while explaining more about NAN to the governor, pointed out that the agency is the only News Agency from Africa that is resident in the United Nations.
‘We are present in all the 36 states of the country, and in Kwara we have a 12-man team.
‘We hope that with the support of the state government, our plan to re-open our district offices in Kosubosu and Omu-Aran will come to fruition.
‘We will take you as a natural ally of NAN, which prides itself on the slogans ‘if you talk to NAN, you are talking to all’ and ‘no one knows Nigeria better’.
‘So, with NAN, you can be rest assured that your trumpet which you are reluctant to blow will be blown to a high level,” the NAN Managing Director said.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria