The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) will soon reopen its foreign bureaux in Johannesburg, Addis Ababa and Abidjan.
According to the its Managing Director, Mr Buki Ponle, this followed high level consultations by the management with relevant government institutions and the Nigerian embassies in South Africa, Ethiopia and Cote d’Ivoire.
NAN, which currently has a functional bureau in New York, is the country’s largest content provider and national purveyor of information, with 36 state offices and several district offices.
To leverage on its octopoid reach, NAN also has news exchange partnerships with leading international wire agencies such as Reuters (United Kingdom), Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Germany), Xinhua (China) and Sputnik (Russia).
Others are Yonhap (South Korea), Asian News International (India), Anadolu (Turkey) and BTA (Bulgaria).
The agency also intends to increase its zonal offices from the present six to 12.
Ponle said that the 12-zone structure is part of the initiatives to strengthen NAN,’s editorial effectiveness and marketing operations, and further boost its visibility across the country.
The new-look structure now has Ibadan zone with Oyo, Ogun and Kwara as component states, while Akure sone has Ondo, Ekiti and Osun States.
Enugu zone has Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi States while Port Harcourt zone has Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States with Owerri zone comprising Imo and Abia States.
Asaba zone has Delta, Edo and Bayelsa States, while Jos zone has Plateau, Benue and Taraba States with Minna zone comprising Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi States.
Bauchi zone has Bauchi, Gombe and Jigawa States while Maiduguri zone has Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States.
Kaduna Zone is made up of Kaduna, Kano and Katsina while Sokoto Zone comprises Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states.
All the changes are expected to be effected in the first quarter of 2023.
NAN, which is funded wholly by the Federal Government, started operation in 1978.
