STILL ON VOA SACKING 15 OF ITS HAUSA SERVICE STAFF

By Dr. Idris Ahmed

Yesterday, we published the story of VOA sacking 15 of its Hausa service staff for collecting illict money that amounts to corruption. The fact of the matter is this; the VOA itself is far more corrupt than the 15 staff it sacked!

If anyone thinks that a foreign government like the US, would spend millions of its hard earned money to setup a radio station like the VOA, broadcasting in our native languages, to genuinely help educate our people, he must be living in delusion of grandeur.

If the gospel truth must be told, all these foreign TV/Radio services broadcasting in our native languages are NEVER intended to educate, enlighten, and empower our people. In fact, they are setup to achieve the complete opposite - misinform, mislead, and brainwash our people. So, the VOA sacking 15 of its Hausa service staff of corruption smacks of hypocrisy and double standard.

I have since given up listening to or participating in the programming of any foreign TV/Radio station broadcasting in our native languages. Their agenda is completely inimical to what we at CUPS stand for.

Without a doubt, Nigerians are hungry for credible sources of information to empower themselves. Unfortunately, the corrupt and incompetent Nigerian media are also not viable alternatives. They are vision-less and lack objectivity. The notion of using their platforms to unite Nigerians and help build our country to attain greatness is a totally alien concept to them.

Our first bitter encounter with the Nigerian media was during the first ever Occupy NASS in 2016. They showed up and covered the event. However, they demanded N50,000 each from CUPS, in oder to publish the coverage. We refused to pay them a single Kobo! Some of them went away angry at us, and published an outlandish bogus news that a Lagos based APC politician paid us N400 million to host the event!

Fellow compatriots, it is for the above reasons that we at CUPS are determined and are working so hard to get the CUPS TV/Radio station off the ground. Nigerian masses deserve an independent, patriotic, and incorruptible media outlet that broadcasts nothing but the gospel. We keep soliciting for your prayers for the successful launch of this much awaited project.

May God save Nigeria and Nigerians. Amen.