Obaseki inspects state media outfits, to revamp EBS, Observer

The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Monday paid an unscheduled inspection visit to the state radio and television stations, Edo Broadcasting Service and the Nigerian Observer, publishers of the Observer newspaper titles and hinted that the media outfits would be overhauled for optimal performance.

Speaking after inspecting the facilities at the Edo Broadcasting Service in Benin City, Obaseki said his administration has resolved to leverage on digital technology so that the media outfit can compete favourably with similar enterprises across the country.

“Clearly, we need to upgrade the technology of this media outfit to conform to the requirements of the digital era. We also need to upgrade the premises and the quality of people working here,” the governor said.

He explained that the radio and television stations did very well in ages preceding the digital era, but stressed that the digital age demands continuous scaling up to meet present day quality of service delivery.

Obaseki who was taken round by the Assistant General Manager (AGM) Engineering, Mrs. Ameze Osagie, assured that his administration would reclaim the portion of EBS land taken over by private developers to ensure there is enough land space for effective operation of the media outfit.

“We have laws in place, for those who have taken government land around this area, we need to recover the land to enable us carry out the overhaul we are planning for the outfit,” he added.

A similar feeling of disappointment was expressed by the governor at the facilities of the Nigerian Observer, publishers of the Observer titles established by the late Brig.General Samuel Ogbemudia (rtd.) fifty years ago.

Obaseki said he was in consultation with media experts to come up with a clear roadmap on what to do with the newspaper company.

“I don’t know what we will end up doing with this organization right now because by the time it was set up in 1968, it served the need of that time. Today the media world has changed, technology has changed the operations of newspaper houses. This was a front line technology 50 years ago. But 50 years after, we should look at where the world is today,” he added.