Date: 2016-01-24

The Kwara State government has said that its decision to reposition the state media houses is to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery, make them self-sustaining, as well as increase their revenue generation capacity.

This according to the state government will be done in consonance with current realities and industry trends.

The Sole Administrator of state media houses, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, revealed that the State government intends to work with a panel of renowned media experts on the repositioning process.

Akorede also refuted allegations in some quarters that the state government was planning to sell the media houses, adding that current staff of the organisations will not be retrenched in the restructuring process which will instead see an expansion in the work force.

"The State government understands how important symbolic these media organisations are to Kwara and its people, and as such cannot dispose them off to private individuals," he stressed.

He further explained that the media houses were established by law, which prevents their sale.

Akorede explained that the objective of the overhaul of the media houses, comprising Kwara TV, Radio Kwara and Herald newspapers, was to ensure their efficient and effective service delivery, and for them to be avenues of first and last resort for any and all type of information about Kwara State.

According to him, the restructuring process will cover training of the work-force, provision of modern equipment and infrastructure, as well as an improvement in the editorial direction of the media houses.

He emphasised that part of the expected outcomes of the exercise is to ensure that the media houses are among the top ten in Nigeria within a year, and witness a remarkable turn-around in their revenue generation to make them self-sustaining.

Akorede further added that the objective of the state government for Herald newspaper is for the paper to regain its previous position as a frontline nationally-respected and widely circulated newspaper in the country.

For Kwara TV, he noted that the goal is for the station to be the number one state-owned TV station in Nigeria, adding that Kwara TV will be revamped from being a grassroots station to one that serves a broad-based audience.

Additionally, he stated that the State government's plan was to make Radio Kwara expand its coverage area, serve a broad-based audience by broadcasting programmes that will be tailored to meet the needs of diverse audience, using quality equipment as well as professionally trained staff.

Consequently, the Sole administrator disclosed that all the media houses would have a strong online presence that will enable them provide adequate information to their audience and also engage them via different social media platforms.

It will be recalled that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed while on a visit to the media houses last year, promised that the state government would carry out a complete overhaul of the three state-owned media houses for efficient and better performance.