Date: 2015-12-09

The Kwara State Government yesterday reassured its commitment to repositioning the three state owned media houses as part of the ongoing reform to improve on their services in  the area of information dissemination.

To this end, the management of the media outfits including The Herald Newspapers, Radio Kwara and Kwara Television have been urged to remain committed and focused in achieving the set goal.

The state commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr Mahmud Babatunde Ajeigbe, stated this yesterday when he paid a courtesy visit to the Corporate Headquarters of Kwara State printing and publishing Corporation, publisher of The Herald titles.

The commissioner, accompanied by the state Director of Information Services, Mr Samuel Odeyemi and a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mrs Funke Oludipe, also visited Radio Kwara and Kwara Television Authority, where he also made similar commitment on the ongoing repositioning exercise.

Ajeigbe stated that the government’s plan was to make the newspaper outfit quasi-commercial venture to meet up with its catalogue of demands and compete favourably with its counterparts.

He said plan was afoot to revisit advertisement strategies of the media houses to ensure that none of them was left out in the advertisement placement.

The commissioner specifically noted that the state government was concerned about the survival of the newspaper and would do all within its lean resources to put the paper back on the track.

“The state government in its wisdom had appointed a sole administrator to midwife the ongoing repositioning of the three media houses. We want  a rehabilitated and repackaged Herald to further project and disseminate government policies and programmes”, Ajeigbe said.

The commissioner enjoined the managements of the state owned media organisations to think outside the box by initiating revenue generation efforts aimed at complementing government finances on them.

Responding, General Manager of The Herald, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Adebayo, applauded the commissioner for initiating synergy with the state owned media houses, saying it has gone a long way to address the problems confronting them.

The General Manager of Radio Kwara, Alhaji Abdullateef Adebowale Adedeji and his counterpart in Kwara Television, Alhaji Abdulfatai Adebowale, promised to support the state government reform, adding that they are prepared to give the best for government to achieve its core mandate.