Assembly Seeks Staff Training As NBS Upgrade Nears Completion
As the people of Nasarawa State await the completion of the upgrade and rebranding of the state-owned broadcast outfit, NBS, the Nasarawa State House of Assembly has called for the training of staff on modern broadcasting techniques.
Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Jonah Ali Dizaho, made the position of the House known while on an oversight function to the station.
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly’s Committee on Information was at NBS to assess the ongoing upgrading and rebranding of the broadcast outfit and ensure that the contractual terms are strictly adhered to.
After the inspection, the committee, management of the Ministry of Information, and the station went into a budget scrutiny of the second quarter of 2026, where the issue of the upgrade dominated the discussions.
On how the station would operate amid epileptic power supply after the upgrade, the Executive Vice Chairman of the station, Awwulu Salihu, said the management was exploring available options.
However, the committee advocated the installation of an alternative source of energy in order not to jeopardise the new facilities.
While expressing optimism that NBS would operate at a different level after the upgrade, Awwulu Salihu revealed that the removal of field cameras and TV editing suites from the initial contract to accommodate a sizeable budget was an issue that institutional stakeholders needed to add their voices to, so as not to undermine the intention of the contract.
The committee Chairman, Jonah Ali Dizaho, then called for the training of NBS staff on modern broadcasting techniques so they could effectively operate the new equipment.
Meanwhile, when the management of the State Ministry of Information appeared before Dizaho’s committee, the issue of designated state-owned hotels resurfaced.
The committee was taken aback to discover that its intervention over the past three years for the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, to return the control and management of the hotels to the ministry had continued to be ignored.
Additionally, the committee was surprised to learn that Fai-Fai Ruwa Waterfalls at Tunga Nupawa, Lafia Local Government Area, designated as a recreation centre awaiting national and state inputs, was being controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture instead of the Ministry of Information.
The committee pledged to summon the SSG and the Commissioner for Agriculture for institutional redress.
When the management of the Ministry of Tertiary and Technical Education appeared before the Education Committee, additional structures at the Institute of Leather and Science Technology, Doma, dominated the discussions.
The management of the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board also received kudos from the Aliyu Nana Pilgrim-led committee for prudent expenditure.
