Ex-commissioner Hails New DG, NBC’s Appointment

A former commissioner of information, Taraba state, Emmanuel Bello, has described the appointment of Ishaq Moddibo Kawu as the Director General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as timely and appropriate. In a parley with newsmen, Bello pointed out that the appointment was proof that the federal government is repositioning the broadcast industry in Nigeria for effectiveness.

He said “I now have profound faith in the current administration’s effort at repositioning the media generally and the broadcast industry in particular. The choice of Kawu is a show of faith and a major statement towards that direction.

“I have known Mr. Kawu for many years now. He was part of the team that grilled me for my first job as a reporter in Daily Trust years ago. I can attest to his resilience and expertise as our Editor back then. One thing I noticed about him then is his punctuality and versatility. As Editor, he was always in the office, dealing with everything. He was teaching us new things. His current appointment is a case of the right peg in the right hole”.

Bello allayed the fears of those who have noted that Kawu’s major journalism profile has been in the print. He said “Editor is a prolific writer no doubt and a fine newspaper person but don’t forget that he actually started out in broadcasting. He even headed the television of his state at a time. So he is also a major stakeholder in the broadcast industry. He has also done many courses and has practical experience in this regard. In fact, one can safely say that Kawu is more of a broadcast person than print.”

The former commissioner also urged staff of the NBC to brace up for hard work, describing Kawu as a workaholic. “If you are professional and work real hard, then be glad to have a boss like Kawu because the roles would be complementary. But he doesn’t suffer slothful people gladly. He is also very good with details. So I would advise all the staff to get ready and be abreast what whatever is required of them.

“Kawu is also an easy going man who mingles with the high and the mighty. Back then at Trust we used to call him a Marxist scholar because of his left wing leanings. He doesn’t hide his dislike for the oppressive class of the bourgeoisie. He is decidedly with the proletariats. He doesn’t really care about the things of this life, choosing to be very simple all the time.

He has been driving one car for the past years and happily lives in a rented apartment with his family for a man of his class and status. But you cannot fail to notice that he is still a man of good tastes- a quality he would bring to bear on the industry.”

Bello furthermore congratulated the minister of information, Lai Mohammed, noting that the choice of Kawu would provide the minister with the sort of organisational support needed for rapid growth in the nation’s drive towards digitisation.
‘You know right now, many states are starting to take the digitisation of their broadcast media seriously. The advent of Kawu is a huge boost towards that.so I foresee a situation where the target of digitisation would soon be met and we would beat the global deadline. When I was in office, he was always discussing this with me so I can attest to his enthusiasm in this policy thrust.”