…As VON DG Lauds the Appointment of Princess Akobundu at NEPAD Nigeria.
The Director-General, Voice of Nigeria, Mr Osita Okechukwu has said that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development(NEPAD), Nigeria, was an Agency which was positioned to facilitate the realisation of the cardinal objectives of President Buhari’s Change Agenda and that whoever had been chosen to drive the Agency was one in whom the APC-led Administration had the greatest confidence.
The DG, who made the above revelation, Thursday, in his office in Abuja when he played host to the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD Nigeria, Hon. (Princess) Gloria Akobundu, also added that the triple issues of Security, Economy and the Fight Against Corruption, which are parts of the core mandates of NEPAD, were the very basis upon which the All Progressives Congress led by the incumbent President campaigned for power in 2015.
Mr. Okechukwu, who applauded the choice of Princess Akobundu as the NEPAD CEO said he was confident that she would deliver on the expectations of Mr President and her numerous admirers. In his words: “The NEPAD CEO was one of the women who stood out in our quest for power during the electioneering campaigns in 2015.We trust her abilities to perform; we know what she can do and we will offer her support in her vision for NEPAD Nigeria”.
Earlier in her address, the NEPAD CEO, who was at the Voice of Nigeria to seek cooperation and partnership with the media Agency in the areas of information-dissemination, content development and sensitisation on programmes, had informed the DG of her many programmes and projects at NEPAD Nigeria which have come in the last three months as fruits of her 4-R Agenda of Repositioning, Rebranding, Realigning and Relaunching NEPAD Nigeria for greater performance on its mandate
While stressing the need for collaboration with VON to take the vision of NEPAD to the people at the grassroots of the nation, Princess Akobundu maintained that Nigerians needed to understand the mandate and cardinal objectives of NEPAD in order to key into the continental Agency’s development agenda. She added that it was only by doing so that the real benefits of NEPAD which are favourably being enjoyed by other African countries over whom Nigeria plays the big-brother role, would come home to the Nigerian people.
Such continental projects as the Sustainable Energy for All, the Trans – Saharan Gas Pipeline and many Smart Agriculture and Renewable Energy initiatives, the NEPAD Nigeria CEO said, were projects which impact was already being felt in other NEPAD member countries. While seeking for media support and dedicated coverage for her soon-to-commence Good Governance Tour across the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT, Princess Akobundu said good media coverage and sensitisation would deepen the import of that programme under the NEPAD’s APRM National Programme of Action.
Highlight of the visit was the agreement by the Voice of Nigeria and NEPAD Nigeria to form a Technical Committee to pursue their vision in areas of common focus and to attach VON officials to NEPAD Nigeria to officially cover NEPAD Nigeria’s programmes and projects.
Among those present at the meeting were members of the Management team of Voice of Nigeria and selected officials from NEPAD Nigeria; among whom were the Special Assistant to the NEPAD CEO and Chairman of the Agency’s Economic Team, Prince(Dr.)Charles Onuoha and Dr. Wakil Sarki.