The Federal government has lamented about how people travelling with Nigerian passports are treated with disdain and unfair manner in foreign countries across the world.
The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Jibrin Baba Ndace, said though Nigeria is not a perfect country and has its challenges the treatment given to Nigerians with Nigerian passports is unacceptable
Baba Ndace partly blamed the poor treatment of Nigerians in foreign countries on negative narratives that have flooded the internet and media space concerning the country.
The VON DG stated this during a visit to the Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Peter Odey, in his office in Calabar, on Wednesday.
“As a person, when you travel out with a Nigerian passport, you are treated with disdain, unbefitting of your status. This unacceptable treatment is traceable to negative stories people have peddled about Nigeria.
“We may not be perfect, but we are not what is being portrayed. Let us partner to tell Nigeria’s story, especially in this era of social media distortions, outright lies, misinformation and disinformation.
“Our country is not all about negative news, we have great things happening here too. We should all join hands to tell the positives that we are known for,”
Ndace said.
He added that VON has a unique role in telling Nigeria’s story and Africa’s story intentionally and deliberately. He explained that the time had come for the country to tell its story.
“VON has a unique role with a mandate to tell not only the story of Nigeria but the story of Africa as a whole, and we do this in four Nigerian languages: Hausa, Yoruba, Igbos and Fulfulde. For the international languages, we broadcast in English, French, Arabic and Swahili.
“Telling Nigeria’s story is something that all of us should be intentional and deliberate about. This is not a time for us to do good and be quiet. We must be unapologetic in telling Nigeria’s story confidently
“, Ndace stated.
On his part, Odey promised collaboration of the state government in ensuring VON achieves its mandate.
Odey said through the “office of the Commissioner for Information, the Cross River State Government will partner with Voice of Nigeria. We need VON to publicise all our activities, showcase Cross River State to the world.
“Henceforth, we need active participation of VON in the coverage of our flagship tourism festival, Carnival Calabar and other lofty programmes and projects of the Prince Otu-led administration because we are investing in infrastructural development.”
