By Collins Yakubu-Hammer
The Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Malam Jibrin Ndace, says the organisation will partner with Tsinghua University in China and the media in that country to create content.
He stated this when a don at the university, Prof. Zhong Yuezhi, led three of her doctoral students to VON on a courtesy visit in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Zhong is the Director of the newly established Research and Teaching Practice Base for Global South Communication at the university.
Ndace commended the visiting professor for stressing the need to deepen relationship between Nigeria and China at a forum earlier held at the University of Abuja.
“The way that Nigeria and Africa is reported in China is by a third party media and verse versa.
“ That is why visits like this is to close that gap, to understand ourselves, create content and tell our stories from our own perspectives.
“Nigeria is not a perfect country, but there are good things happening in Nigeria everyday.
“The partnership that VON wants to build with the Chinese Embassy and government is not just in terms of broadcasting in Mandarin but also in joint content production.
“ If there are Chinese in Nigeria that are doing well, let us report it and allow the people in China to know about it and if Nigerians in China are doing well, let the world know.
“This will only be possible if we work together with institutions like Tsinghua University through exchange programmes.
“ We want to partner with you to leverage on your decades of experience,” Ndace said.
He solicited for an exchange programme on training for staff of VON and the university.
“Whatever we do, the media must take the lead, and we will be very intentional in shaping the narrative about our two countries.
“ That is what we do in VON; to shape the narrative of Nigeria and Africa.
“I also want to work with you in fighting fake news, misinformation and disinformation, because this is one of the biggest challenges facing the global community.
“As media practitioners, either in the academia or practitioners in newsrooms like ours, we must continue to close the gap.
“ I believe the relationship between Nigeria and China will continue to grow if the media plays its role in shaping the positive narratives of the two countries,” Ndace said.
Zhong, on her part, expressed delight at the warm reception given by VON management.
She agreed that there was need for China and Nigeria to communicate directly without third party interference as well as fight fake news.
According to her, Research and Teaching Practice Base for Global South Communication was established to promote communication within the global south.
“I am the Director of the institute and these are my senior research students. They have come here to do research on global south communication.
“When we talk about global south, we have Africa as our focus because there is a saying in China that it was the African brothers that brought China to the United Nations, and for us, we owe gratitude to African nations.
“We have international programmes, scholarships and short visits. So we have opportunities that Nigerians can tap into,” she said.
NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA