Chairman of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) and Chief Executive Officer, MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe, has promised to work with members to strengthen the organization.
Ugbe made the promise on Saturday at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, venue of his investiture as the 14th Chairman of BON. In a speech delivered at the event, Ugbe thanked BON members for electing him and promised to work with everyone towards the realization of the organisation’s collective vision.
Ugbe, who is the first Chairman from the pay television sector, listed the priorities for his tenure. He stated that his administration will be committed to the improvement of professionalism among members through training.
“Working with local and foreign partners, we will facilitate training opportunities for our member stations.The training programme would be in two layers. The first layer will be to train-the-trainers and the second layer will be the zonal trainings,” he said.
He added that the training programme, which is expected to start from the first quarter of next year, will take in 1,000 members with the figure going up in the second year.
The new Chairman also said there will be commitment to bringing all broadcasters under the BON umbrella to form a formidable industry group, capable of influencing broadcast policies and regulations.
“Working with the BON Secretariat, we will initiate an aggressive membership recruitment drive, so that we can achieve the objective of forming a formidable industry group,” Ugbe stated.
He equally promised to leverage on MultiChoice’s expertise at organising top-notch awards like the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards (AMVCAs) to revive the BON Awards, which he said will be a platform for recognizing and celebrating the best in the industry.
In addition, Ugbe stated that his administration will build on the process of the establishment of the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters, which will set standards for entry, training and code of conduct. This, he explained, will be done through pushing for the passage of the relevant bill at the National Assembly. Ugbe listed other priority areas as industry debt and the digital switchover programme.
Ugbe thanked his predecessor, Hajia Saa Ibrahim, for leaving behind a virile BON and promised to build on her achievements.
