The Voice of Nigeria (VON) and the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation are planning better global outlook by using more African languages and values in broadcasting.
The two media organizations signed a memorandum of understanding to that effect on Tuesday in Abuja.
Mr. Osita Okechukwu, Director-General, VON, said that the agreement would promote pan-Africanism and strengthen relationship with other African countries.
“For what we are doing today, we are trying to strengthen the bond of pan-Africanism and brotherhood started by our brothers — Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Julius Nyerere — who were the pan-Africanists and we want to continue what they started.
“In Voice of Nigeria, we are on eight languages, one of which is Swahili, we are trying to add Chinese because we are trying to look at the world on a global scale, we are trying to cover as much as we can in the six geo-time zones of the earth.
“So that wherever you are in the world, you will hear the perspective of the African story,” he said.
D.r Ayub Chacha, Director-General, Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, said that the agreement was to re-establish links and cooperation with the VON to promote Africa from African perspective.
“We came for one important purpose, to re-establish links, among other things, to continue promoting the Swahili, this is an African language spoken widely on thee continent.
“It is the tenth widely spoken language globally and in Africa, it is the second widely spoken language after Arabic.
“We are proud that Nigeria has had many ways to promote the Swahili apart from the Swahili programme on VON and various universities where Swahili is taught at degree levels.
“That is one area we will like to cooperate with the VON to promote Swahili but we will also like to make sure that we have exchange of contents, contents produced by Africans, from our own perspectives, be it news or other contents,” he said.
Dr Benson Bana, High Commissioner of Tanzania to Nigeria, who appreciated the VON for its efforts during the Pan-African struggle, noted that the collaboration with the agency would further educate the people all over the world about Africa.
“We started with this initiative, trying to link the two organizations for the betterment of educating and inspiring Africans in the totality and by doing so, promoting the Nigeria-Tanzania bilateral ties,” he said.(NAN)
