Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Terna Ayu has reiterated the commitment of Governor Hyacinth Alia’s administration to the total rehabilitation of The Voice newspaper for optimum performance.
Mr Terna Ayu stated this Wednesday when he paid a familiariszation visit to the Benue Printing and Publishing Corporation (BPPC), publishers of The Voice Newspaper.
Mr Ayu who expressed delight over the massive renovations of the organisation by the Alia administration, stated that, he was in the organisation as Part of visit to parastatals under the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism which BPPC is one of them, and to have a first hand information about the challenges and operations of The Voice Newspaper, with the aim of achieving optimum performance and service delivery in line with the current administration’s blue print.
He stressed that, The Voice Newspaper is very important in the dissemination of Governor Hyacinth Alia’s giant strides, policies and programmes to the people of Benue state and Nigeria at large and commended him for restoring The Voice back to life, urging management to expand the current level of circulation and readership which is gradually crumbling due to the current economic crunch as people now struggle to survive rather than reading the newspaper.
The Permanent Secretary commended management for putting The Voice Newspaper at pal with other national dailies as it is now online and reassures management of government’s determination in repositioning its information machineries including The Voice Newspaper.
“The Voice Newspaper has been moved from the intensive care unit and hopefully, all challenges hindering its smooth operations will be tackled gradually”.
He commended the management for their efforts in sustaining production and publishing The Voice despite the dwindling economic situation and finances, adding that, with Governor Hyacinth Alia on seat, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
In his response, the General Manager of BPPC, Mr Samuel Atachin welcomed the permanent secretary and his entourage to the The Voice.
He commended Governor Hyacinth Alia for giving the organisation the desired attentions in his one hundred days in office.
Mr Atachin however, listed several challenges confronting the smooth operations of the organisation which includes, dilapidated infrastructures, lack of office equipment and furnitures, lack of production materials,operational vehicles and funding as according to him, newspaper production is capital intensive.
Mr Atachin further lamented that, despite the new partnership arrangement between the Benue State government and Shimatex Nigeria Limited, the organisation pay for services offered by the company and appealed for a review of the agreement as the company is a commercial arm of BPPC, serving the same Benue State Government and its people just like The Voice Newspaper.
He also appeals to Governor Hyacinth Alia to come to the rescue of the organisation if the core mandate of the founding fathers must be achieved.
In his contribution, the Editor in Chief of The Voice Newspaper, Mr Solomon Ayado described the visit as “Gods sent”, especially as the Permanent Secretary is a core civil servant who can feel the challenges of the organisation and has the listening ears of His Excellency.
He stated that, despite the renovations of the organisation, the newspaper aspects is yet to receive attention even though it has the capacity to generate substantial income for the state government if well funded as it has well experienced staff that have the capacity to deliver the much desired information needs of the government.
According to Mr Ayado “we are not lazy as erroneously assumed by outsiders but lacks the conducive environment to function effectively and efficiently”.
