By Sumaila Ogbaje

The Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Lt.-Col. Appolonia Anele, has called for stronger collaboration between the Nigerian Army and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

She said such a partnership was vital to keeping Nigerians informed about the Army’s operational activities.

Anele made the call when she led her team on a courtesy visit to the Managing Director of NAN, Malam Ali Muhammad Ali on Monday in Abuja.

She noted that the visit aimed to deepen the existing relationship between both organisations and commended NAN for its role in consistently projecting the Nigerian Army in a positive light.

“Let me first and foremost commend you for your good reportage of our activities.

“I’m here this afternoon to explore ways we can collaborate further, and to request increased coverage of our activities.

“I know your reach is extensive, whatever you publish gets amplified not just across the country, but around the world as well,” she said.

In his response, Ali congratulated Anele on her well-deserved appointment as acting director of army public relations, describing her as “the best man for the job.”

He assured her of NAN’s full support, noting that the agency and the Nigerian Army had enjoyed a long-standing, cordial, and robust relationship.

“We are taking it to the next level, the army chief couldn’t have picked a better person.

“We are happy that the Nigerian Army has really seen the importance of having a female to be the face of it.

“And then given the natural gender disposition of the female gender, I know the Nigerian Army has a very good deal,” he said.

Ali noted that NAN was the only news agency on the African continent which maintains an office at the United Nations, as well as in key strategic locations across Africa.

He added that efforts were on to reopen some of the foreign offices, especially in London and also to expand its operations to the BRICS nations.

“And because of our reach and our network, we are in every district of the federation and in every state of the federation.

“We also have 12 zonal offices, and a very functional, but inclusive, and increasingly attractive YouTube channel,” Ali said.

According to him, NAN Multimedia continues to add value to the agency’s work.

“We can proudly say that even some of our sister organisations sometimes come to us for content.

“We supply news to others, and we have a lot of MoUs and working relationships with global media,” he said.

According to him, the agency maintains numerous news exchange partnerships with international media organisations such as Reuters, Xinhua (the Chinese news agency), TASS (the Russian news agency), Sputnik, and several others.

“With this reach, that’s why we proudly say, ‘when you talk to NAN, you are talking to all.”

“We pride ourselves on the fact that no one knows Nigeria better,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Benson Ezugwu/Kevin Okunzuwa