Malam Ali Muhammed Ali, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, has reiterated commitment to reposition the agency to attain global best practices in its operations.
The MD stated this at the commencement of a five-day NAN Editorial Management Retreat on Tuesday in Kaduna.
The theme of the meeting is: “NAN Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
Ali said that NAN was sitting on a goldmine and needed the will power, creativity and ingenuity to harness its human capital and material resources to reach full bloom.
He said: “I have arrived at the inevitable conclusion that to tread the path to a prosperous future, we must first embark on a deep introspection on our past, reflect on our current realities and set the template to grab and run with the immense opportunities out there.
“This particularly became poignant for me after attending the World Media Summit in Guangzhou, China, in December 2023 where I spoke on: ‘Bolstering Confidence: Media’s Role in Promoting Human Development and Security,’ which set the tone for the syndicate discussion.
“The telling lesson I took away from engaging world media leaders at that summit was what I couched in the battle cry: ‘Innovate or die.’
“It was clear now more than ever that NAN must embrace innovation or wither.”
According to Ali, nothing exemplifies the value of innovation, especially at this trying times with the diversification currently going on in some online media outlets, adding that it should be a pointer to the opportunities for NAN.
He said the retreat is designed to enable the participants to come up with ways to leverage on its vast network and how to boost revenue generation using the specialised desks, expand partnership and explore opportunities in different platforms.
He added: “Confirmation of this process defines the burning motive all through our first strategic management retreat and invariably informs the outcome of the current exercise.”
Ali said the retreat would also reflect on the odyssey of the agency in an emerging world order that is continually in flux as well as define the path for a prosperous future.
Also speaking, Ephraims Sheyin, the Editor-in-Chief of NAN, commended Ali, adding that a lot had happened since his assumption of office.
Sheyin said the agency had restored workers’ confidence under Ali’s stewardship, stressing: “They are proud that someone with a big dream is in charge.
“Ali has affected the workers with an ambience whose aroma is so engulfing.”
Sheyin said the newsroom at the Abuja office was wearing a new look with more amenities, adding that the agency had distributed laptops and iPADs to reporters to encourage them.
He expressed commitment towards the improvement of editorial content to enable it to meet the demand of subscribers.
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Sheyin lauded the editorial staff over the interest demonstrated towards the repositioning of NAN, adding: “Clearly, we are not where we would have loved to be, but it is good that we all have seen the need to make NAN better.”
He urged participants to leverage on the retreat and contribute meaningfully to the discussions.
