Dr Ngozi and Mr Newton
Abia state director of National Orientation Agency, NOA, Dr Ngozi Okechukwu says the agency will continue to appreciate and partner with United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF and other developmental organizations to engage people on the need to curb covid 19 in the state.
Dr Okechukwu made the promise during a stakeholders training to re-introduce the program, “Abia state covid 19 talks”, a thirty minutes interactive program with all the nine radio stations in Abia state held at Vision Africa Radio 104.1fm, boardroom in Umuahia.
She pointed out that the purpose of the meeting was to develop a framework skeleton for a thirteen weeks magazine program, showing the program outline, segments, broad content, and duration of each segment and the signature tune that will run across all the nine radio stations in Abia state.
Dr Ngozi Okechukwu and Hyacinth Okoli
Ngozi emphasized that the common uniting element, the theme, the signature, the payoff times and among others should be embedded in the program.
Abia State NOA director used the forum to thanked all the nine radio stations that participated during the first phase of the program, noting that there is room for improvement.
She disclosed that NOA was worried on how to sustain the program, but also commended UNICEF for keeping to their promise by supporting National Orientation Agency in creating awareness through radio stations on routine immunization, child survival, covid 19 prevention and vaccine uptake of covid 19 pandemic. To this end, Dr Ngozi Okechukwu stated that NOA does not take UNICEF for granted and for consistently supported them in issues of child survival, women and children care given.
She said that NOA has used the August women delegates conference to speak to women in 340 communities across the state on the same topics, child survival, routine immunization, covid 19 prevention and vaccine hesitancy in Abia State. She disclosed that UNICEF is also supporting them to undertake house to house engagement using the volunteer community mobilizers in Umunneochi LGA which will commence next week. She frowned that despite the efforts injected by stakeholders, the pandemic is still ravaging, as if nothing has been done, stressing at the level of vaccine rejection going on in Abia State.
According to her, the level of hesitation about the vaccine poses a big trait to the society, hence, she called on the radio stations to do more in convincing the public on the importance of taking the covid 19 vaccine and take the program as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Producers at the meeting
Declaring the training open, the director general of broadcasting corporation of Abia state, Sir Anyaso Anyaso represented by BCA director of news and current affairs, Hyacinth Okoli noted Nigerians doubted the existence of covid 19 and the vaccine because federal government neglected the media whose job is to sensitize the people on issues of public importance.
He added that eighty percent of people do not believe the existence of covid 19, but urged media workers to add live to the program to enable it record success.
On his lecture, the UNICEF representative, Mr Newton Barabara said the vaccine was introduced to save lives, including the lives of loved ones.
Mr Barabara maintained that governance cannot introduce to it’s citizens, a vaccine that will harm them and appeal to people to get vaccinated and end the spread.
