The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has pledged to partner the Association of West African Legislative Correspondents (AWALCO) to publicise the activities of the ECOWAS Parliament, particularly its 25th anniversary celebrations.

The Managing Director of the agency, Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, made the pledge when the leadership of AWALCO paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja on Thursday. 

Ali while expressing appreciation to the association’s officials for deeming it worthy to pay him a courtesy visit, said as Africa’s biggest news content provider, NAN was home to all.

He said: “For deeming it worthy to come and pay us this courtesy call, the agency is appreciative.

“We hope that it will help the Parliament achieve its goals, and raise awareness, like you said, about its activities.

“On our part, the News Agency of Nigeria, like you know, is Africa’s biggest news content provider.”

He noted that the agency is the most authentic and biggest news hub in Africa, with a domineering influence and reach within the West African subregion.

Ali said: “So, with an association like this, certainly in the News Agency of Nigeria, you find a soulmate, a fellow traveller. You are welcome. We look forward to partnering and doing more and the News Agency of Nigeria is your home.”

Speaking earlier, AWALCO President, Mr Innocent Odoh, explained that the purpose of the visit was to seek the collaboration and support of NAN, as the indisputable leader in terms of news credibility reportage and viability.

He said that the ECOWAS Parliament would be marking its 25th anniversary on November 16 and a series of activities had been lined up for it.

Odoh said that AWALCO, being the association of the parliament’s press corps, was fully involved in it by way of planning to give the occasion a media and publicity glitz.

He said this would help to propagate the ideals of ECOWAS in general, and ECOWAS Parliament in particular, and make the objectives of ECOWAS Commission and Parliament known globally, starting from the subregion.

He said: “In terms of viability, if we talk about the repository of news in all ramifications, in all dimensions, I think the News Agency of Nigeria comes first before any other one.

“So, what we are doing is in line with the media advocacy that we are projecting for the ECOWAS Parliament at 25.

“We can see that if the collaboration with NAN takes off as we planned it, I think it will go a long way in expanding the vision of the association.”

The AWALCO president further said that the partnership would determine how the regional bloc is run, especially at a time that so many things about ECOWAS needed to be interrogated.

“That is why we’re here, to seek that collaboration, to seek that support, how we can deepen that collaboration to ensure that the citizens of the Parliament understand what is happening around them.

“ECOWAS has a vision of 2050 but many people may not be aware of it, but collaborations like this can open up an opportunity for people to understand the vision of ECOWAS,” he added.

On her part, the Chief Communication Officer, ECOWAS Parliament, Mrs Uche Duru, who was part of the delegation, extended greetings from ECOWAS Parliament Speaker and Secretary-General to Ali and NAN’s management.

The spokesperson for the parliament said the association was beyond Nigeria, as its membership encompassed the entire West Africa, including even from member states that were threatening to exit or had already exited.

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