By Emmanuel Mogbede
Mr Festus Keyamo, spokesperson for All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Campaign (PCC) has recommended a structural change and more funding for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to enhance its operations.
He said this on Sunday in Abuja at the agencys news forum, adding that more funding was necessary to enable it perform more effectively.
Keyamo, also the Minister for State, Ministry of Labour and Employment said that in spite of obvious handicaps, including lack of funding that affected all government agencies, NAN had leaved up to its billing.
He said the agency had been able to project Nigeria positively more than any other news platform, adding that it was in the same class with the BBC and VOA that were synonymous with some countries.
The world sees Nigeria through the eyes of NAN and the agency has far more reach than we can imagine.
That also, I think, is the mistake some of us in government make, they dont know the reach of NAN.
So for me, maybe we need some structural changes to improve the bureaucracy, or even remove it entirely from bureaucracy to make it more funtional and more effective.
Imagine if we can give NAN more funding, more autonomy to perform more than it is doing now, Keyamo said.
He thanked and praised those who had managed the agencies affairs over the years, saying that government was proud of them.
He added that NAN should be insulated from bureaucratic bottlenecks of core ministry and the strict bureaucratic civil service.
NAN needs to be more independent and most have a direct funding, even if it was not first line charge.
But it should have its own independent and direct funding, not under the envelope of the general ministry, that is what I think should happen, Keyamo said.
NAN was established on May 10, 1976, with the primary function of gathering, processing and distributing news about Nigeria to local and foreign news media.
The agencys mandate was to present a complete, objective and impartial information, news or news material or features on any matter of public or national interest within and outside the federation.
Its vision is to remain as the most authoritative and credible news source on Nigeria, always first with the the most accurate news. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Ali Baba-Inuwa
Source: NAN News