NEDC donates 130 trolleys to N’East airports, FRCN gets equipment

The North-East Development Commission on Thursday donated 130 trolleys to six airports across the North-East region, as well as broadcasting equipment to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.

Speaking during the handing-over exercise in Maiduguri, Borno State, the Managing Director of the NEDC, Muhammad Alkali, said the items are critical to the rebuilding process of the North-East, which has suffered years of conflict.

He said, “We are here as part of our mandate to support the rebuilding process in the North-East. From the beginning, we have been collaborating with the media because everyone needs information. This is why we are donating these items to the FRCN.

“What we did was not just a kind of supply approach, we engaged all our partners to know their demand. We engaged the FRCN in discussion and narrowed it down to what is needed specifically. This is why we introduced these items. This gesture cuts across all sectors; we have done the same thing with the police, military and media.”

Alkali further noted that six states in the North-East will benefit from the 130 trolleys to be distributed.

“FAAN is also another very important agency. We all travel through the airports and must have seen the challenges.

“This is why we decided to look at the low-level needs for a start. As basic as trolleys, they are struggling to have enough. This is why we decided to start with these 130 trolleys before we go into the next step,” he said.

He said out of the 130 trolleys, 20 were allocated to Adamawa, 20 to Bauchi, 30 to Borno, 20 to Gombe, 20 to Taraba and 20 to Yobe states.

Handing over the items to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, the Managing Director of the North-West Development Commission, Abdullahi Maji, said that if judiciously utilised, the items would serve the information needs of people across the region and beyond.

He said: “By the authority conferred on me by the MD of the North-East Development Commission, I hand over the following items: 5KW transmitter including antenna system and installation, six-bay broadband antenna, two computers for on-air studio, and two computers for each production studio.”

He added that the items also included a 16-channel professional console, distribution amplifier, FM tuner, four condenser microphones, drone cameras, chairs, cables, printers, lighting kits, routers, consoles, plugs, connectors, laptops and tables, among others.

Responding, the Director-General of the FRCN, Muhammad Bulama, said the gesture would increase the station’s broadcasting hours in the region.

“For me, the most important assistance here today is the supply of solar power to our stations. With this, it means our stations in the North-East can now broadcast 12 to 15 hours per day. We say thank you to NEDC for listening and granting our request,” he said.

On her part, the Regional Manager of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria at Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri, Fatima Aliyu, said the trolleys would ease the movement of passengers’ luggage across airports in the region.

“We thank the Managing Director of the NEDC and his team for the donation of the trolleys. They will really go a long way, as they will add comfort and ease the movement of passengers’ luggage to different parts of Nigeria,” she said.