Starting from its next level agenda, President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned the three-story edifice ultra-modern broadcasting house of the Voice of Nigeria, VON on Thursday 3rd of July, 2019. The VON building which is located in Wuse, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja is a product of the anti-corruption drive of Buhari administration and as part of his attempt to take international broadcasting station as the first choice for anyone interested in Nigeria and Africa.
The building which was erstwhile constructed by a faceless corrupt Nigerian who couldn’t disclose the source of his fund was declared by the court to be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Voice of Nigeria was which established in 1961 as the External Service of the then Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) later became the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (RCN). Given the importance of external broadcasting, the late Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa commissioned a 10WK HF transmitter which broadcast programmes for two hours in two days mainly targeted at West Africa in English and French languages.
Earlier in 1962, just two years into its operation, its relevance became more registered as 40 hectares of land was acquired by government at Ipakodo, Ikorodu for a befitting transmitting station as an external broadcasting service where five prototype RCA 100KW HF transmitters were installed and commissioned in 1960.
Also, to further extend the reach and impact to Voice Of Nigeria on the international scene, Arabic programmes were introduced just as the broadcast hours were increased to six hours per day. The organization was embedded with the responsibility of providing public service in the interest of Nigerian radio broadcasting services for global reception in such languages and at such times as the corporation may specify.
The corporation, also to the exclusion of any other broadcasting authority or any other body in Nigeria, is responsible for broadcasting externally by radio Nigeria’s viewpoint to any other part of the world. With this corporate mission, VON was set up at the Broadcasting House, Ikoyi. PMP 4003, Falomo, Lagos, Nigeria in 1990 under the leadership of Mallam Yaya Abubakar, mini. VON now broadcast in eight different languages which include English, Arabic, French, Kiswahili, Fulfulde, Igbo and Yoruba Language with a high level of professionalism and skills by its staff. However, the director general Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, assured that the building will not only be well maintained but will also be a reference point in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
