Upgrade: Energy crucial to productivity, national economic growth.

Mr Ali Muhammad Ali, the Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday reiterated the importance of power supply to national productivity and economic growth.

The managing director, who noted this while inaugurating solar energy equipment in its Lagos office, said that every nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could be determined by the amount of energy it consumed.

He added that the more energy used, the more prosperous and productive the country, organisation or individual was likely to be.

He noted that the NAN Lagos office had been in need of a power boost to help upgrade the work being done by its staff.

Ali stressed that with the NAN management’s huge investment in energy in its Lagos office, some of the noticeable challenges would be a thing of the past.

“Productivity, sometimes, is a function of comfort. Comfort in the sense that there is power, there is energy, and there is work to do.

“So, what I will expect from my colleagues, the reporters, is to apply themselves, to take maximum advantage of this facility, to also give back to the agency.

“The management wants to see how much power we are using and spending to make our production a lot easier and faster,’’ he said.

According to him, the business of news hunting and gathering is that of speed and accuracy.

Ali said that no matter how fast one is, without the right work environment, one would be slow.

He added that news was, however, expected to be delivered with speed and accuracy in the best language.

The managing director stressed that with time, most of the agency’s challenges would be addressed and its glory as a reliable, trusted, authentic source of news would be restored.

Mr Adeleye Ajayi, the Head, NAN Lagos operations, appreciated the efforts of the the agency’s management team, while pledging that the reporters’ productivity would be enhanced.

Ajayi noted that this was a new dawn in the history of NAN, saying that the MD and his pilot team had done so much in providing the agency with power and work equipment.

“And to whom much is given, much is expected, so let us put in our best.

“Let us apply speed and accuracy now that we have constant light at our disposal,’’ Ajayi urged the NAN Lagos office staff.

Also, the Chairmen, NAN Lagos inhouse unions, specifically, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Radio Television Theatre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU), Mr Yusuf Yunus and Mr Deji Fadipe respectively, appreciated the management’s gesture.

They pledged that the staff would use the facilities judiciously, adding that the productivity and morale of workers had been boosted.