Minister tasks new NTA Board on professionalism, national integration

Alhaji Mohammed said the NTA must borrow a leaf from its golden era of the 1980s-1990s, when it churned out relevant, impactful and desirable programmes such as Village Headmaster, Sa Manja, Masquerade, Cock Crow at Dawn, Behind the Clouds, Mirror in the Sun, Bala Miller Show and Giant in the Sun, in its efforts to reposition itself for a more stellar future.

He said while the NTA cannot afford to indulge in the ”political arguments” over how it lost its shine, ”there is a clear challenge in front of us, to take the NTA to new heights, to re-establish our social contract with our viewers and audiences, to lead the way in keeping the nation informed and educated, and all this while stepping boldly into the new future of digital broadcasting that is already threatening to leave us behind. We must take on these objectives without fear, favour or distraction.”

The Minister urged the new management board to ensure that the new content development strategy for the NTA promotes government initiatives and programmes in a more professional manner; and that the television station must explore strategic partnerships with key government MDAs as well as strategic partnerships with key foreign partners and investors in media and broadcasting.

He described the ongoing transition from Analogue to Digital broadcasting, known as Digital Switch Over (DSO), as a new dawn for programming in Nigeria and Africa.

”It comes pregnant with opportunities to do things in a better way. The availability of more television channels and the

Responding on behalf of the board, the Chairman, Chief Onabule, thanked President Buhari for finding them worthy of the appointment and pledged to partner with the Minister to reposition NTA for effective service delivery,

Other members of the board are: Dr. Steve Egbo, Abdul Hamid Salisu Dembos, Mohammed Labo, Fatima Bada, Stephen Okpanachi and Wole Coker.