Birnin Kebbi – The Kebbi State Government said it was determined and committed to ensuring that its media houses are digitised before the expiration of the digitisation deadline.
Alhaji Musa Kalgo, the Commissioner for Information, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday that the state would beat the deadline.
NAN reports that the International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) new deadline for migration from analogue to digital broadcast is June 2017.
The pilot scheme in Jos was successfully launched on April 30 and is working very well with consumers able to watch 15 channels with clarity.
The scheme was launched in Abuja late last year.
“All the necessary arrangements that will place the state-owned media houses on current digital migration have since commenced.
“The ministry has also made a reasonable proposal in the 2017 budget for the exercise, though, the government is yet to present this year’s budget,’’ Kalgo said.
He said the state radio and television stations would witness reforms that would boost their coverage and performance, while staff welfare would also be promoted.
The commissioner described journalism as the bedrock of society’s development, adding that without reliable and competent sources of information dissemination, the society would stagnate.
He lauded the existing cordial relationship between the government and journalists in the state, saying that the quantum of publicity government’s public policy issues were enjoying was appreciated.
According to him, the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrower Agricultural Program launched in the state by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, had received unprecedented publicity.
The commissioner urged journalists in the state to sustain their hard work and continue to uphold the tenets of the profession.
He said government would continue to provide an enabling working environment for journalists without harassment, intimidation or bias.
NAN reports that the Kebbi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) is currently conducting a ministerial press briefing to further publicise the activities of individual ministries and agencies in the state.
