Broadcasting
Ford Foundation Appoints Catherine Chinedum Aniagolu-Okoye as Regional Director W/Africa
The Ford Foundation, on Thursday announced the appointment of Catherine Chinedum Aniagolu-Okoye as its new Regional Director for its office serving West Africa.
The foundation, in a statement said Aniagolu-Okoye would lead the foundation’s office of West Africa and oversee its grantmaking, external relations and local operations based in Lagos.
Aniagolu-Okoye succeeds the late Innocent Chukwuma who served as regional director from 2013 to 2021, and helped the foundation to build its brand in the region and to establish solid partnerships with donors, civil society, public and private sector leaders.
With over 20 years in the social change sector, Aniagolu-Okoye is a respected leader on the African continent and brings many years of extensive experience leading diverse international development organisations, managing country programmes, donor projects and country strategies in West Africa and across Africa.
As regional director, she will oversee the foundation’s local team, external relations and administrative operations in West Africa.
She will also lead on programme strategy development and implementation in the region, with a focus on advancing democracy, human rights and social inclusion for all, especially youths, women and people with disabilities.
“I am delighted to welcome Aniagolu-Okoye to the foundation. Her international experience and leadership, and her expertise in navigating civil society circles will be invaluable as our work in West Africa grows,” said Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation.
“Aniagolu-Okoye’s reputation as a strong operational leader and an African feminist will bring a critical perspective to our work to help address some of the region’s most pressing opportunities and challenges.”
Throughout her career, the new regional director has designed and implemented strategies at regional and global organisations on key social issues such as improving governance.
She has also implemented strategies on reducing poverty, advancing transparency in the extractives sector, and furthering women and girl’s empowerment – all through engaging civil society as well as the public and private sectors.
Before Ford, Aniagolu-Okoye was most recently the Country Director of Technoserve, an international NGO that provides business solutions to poverty with women at the heart of the work.
Prior, she was the Country Director for WaterAid in Nigeria where she provided grants to civil society organisations advocating for improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, and strengthening civil society networks, including one focused on journalists dedicated to telling more accurate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) stories.
Before WaterAid, she led Girl Effect, an initiative of the Nike Foundation focused on girls’ empowerment, and also served as Country Director for Oxfam/Nigeria.
At Oxfam, she led strategies on reducing inequalities through initiatives on tax and gender justice, including the VOICE programme that addressed gender-based violence and transparency in the extractives sector.
Earlier in her career, Aniagolu-Okoye was Deputy Programme Director of a European Union project focused on reforming public sector service delivery with more efficient management of public finances, budget reform and accountability in six Nigerian states.
Prior to that, she was the West Africa Director for ASHOKA Innovators for the Public, focusing on advancing social entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali.
“I am very excited to be joining a team and a foundation so passionately focused on building a world where everyone has the power to shape their own lives and live with dignity,” says Aniagolu-Okoye.
“The Ford Foundation successfully promotes social justice and reducing inequality in West Africa – a vision I am fully aligned with and honoured to help shepherd and grow in the regional office.”
Aniagolu-Okoye holds a Ph.D in Sociology specialising in Gender and Development from University College Cork in Ireland, and a B.Sc in Sociology and Anthropology from the University of Nigeria Nsukka.
She is a founder of the South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO), a member of the Advisory Board of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and an Africa Policy Advisory board member of The One Campaign.
The Ford Foundation is an independent, non-profit grant-making organisation.
For more than 80 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement.
With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Broadcasting
Why Multichoice Hiked Subscriptions for DStv and GOtv Packages- FCCPC
Dr. Adamu Abdullahi, acting Executive vice chairman, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), has disclosed that Multichoice submitted a four-page letter detailing the reasons for the price hikes in their cable services, GOtv and DStv.
FCCPC is responsible for protecting market competition and promoting consumer protection.
In an interview with Channels TV, Sunday, Abdullahi stated that the company cited the cost of electricity, generator operations and poor access to dollars as some of the reasons for the price increase.
He said the commission will review the reasons identified by Multichoice, noting that the agency will involve regulatory bodies such as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the process.
According to Abdullahi, the commission will not hesitate to sanction the firm if it discovers that their prices are arbitrary or it is in any way manipulating the market.
“We got a four-page letter from Multichoice, telling us the reason that led to this price increase. What we need to do is to bring in NCC and maybe NBC and Multichoice, sit down and look at all these variables that they claim caused the rise in prices.
“At a glance, we saw things like the cost of electricity, running generators, the cost of dollars for spare parts and so on. We’ll go through these items individually and find out how they have affected their operations.
“By and large, that’s the claim of what they are doing because they are a dominant player in this market. People have no choice but to go to them for Cable television, so that’s why they are doing what they are doing.
“If by any chance we find out or we can confirm that that’s what they are doing, again we go back to the law and do what we are supposed to do,” Abdullahi said.
Recall that the Multichoice Nigeria recently increased tariff or its DStv and GOtv packages by at least 25 per cent.
The increase, second in five months will be effective May 1.
Broadcasting
How to Beat DStv Price Increase with ‘Price Lock’ Feature
In today’s fast-paced world, where every penny counts, finding ways to save on essential services is more important than ever. And as part of its commitment to customer satisfaction, DStv has reiterated its “Price Lock” feature.
This is in response to the upcoming tariff increase, which the company understands may impose some financial strain on its valued customers.
What exactly does the “Price Lock” feature entail? The “Price Lock” feature offers customers the opportunity to retain their subscriptions at the current rate for 12 months.
To use the “Price Lock” feature, customers simply need to renew their subscriptions before the due date each month, ensuring uninterrupted access to their favourite DStv content at the current rate for the next 12 months.
But here’s the catch: only customers with an active subscription by the 30th of April qualify for this offer, when the tariff adjustment comes into effect.
Make sure you don’t miss the price lock offer! Simply download the MyDStv or MyGOtv app or dial *288# to subscribe, upgrade, or set up Auto-Renewal.
Broadcasting
OJI Demands Ban on Netflix, TikTok, Others over Same-Sex Content
Civil Society Organisation (CSO) under the auspices of Open Justice Initiative (OJI), has threatened to drag the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to court if it fails to ban Netflix, TikTok, and others over the alleged broadcast of offensive same-sex content on Nigeria’s airwaves.
The CSO, also urged NBC to ban other social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook, etc with regard to the subject matter.
Donald Ayibiowu, lawyer and programme officer of OJI, gave the warning in a letter addressed to Mr. Charles Ebuebu, director-general of the NBC.
The certified true copy of the letter titled: “Need to ban and bar the continuous broadcast of offensive same-sex contents on Nigeria’s airwaves by Netflix and other specialised broadcast outlets”, made available to newsmen in Abuja, was received by the Commission on April 23, 2024.
The letter said, “We write to draw the esteem attention of your commission to some obnoxious and repugnant same-sex contents being aired or transmitted by some broadcast outfits operating within the Nigeria broadcast space, which platforms includes Netflix and some social media entities.
“These abhorrent contents being campaigned about borders on the promotion of amorous relationships between persons of same sex on the said platforms.
“We received complaints on this topic from well-meaning Nigerians and religious organisations and further discovered that the broadcast contents/materials on these platforms are laced with embedded scenes/episodes where same-sex relationships are practically being propagated.
“We also conducted research on some social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter (X), Facebook (Meta), etc with regards to this subject, and found same hazardous and illegal same-sex content being promoted and transmitted.
“It is clear that there is an agenda to surreptitiously lure the unsuspecting young population of this country to this satanic habit/lifestyle of same-sex practice in Nigeria by subtly introducing same through entertainment and showbiz industry, albeit through the airwaves.
“It is now commonplace to see some of these illegal contents being conveyed on social media and specialised platforms in Nigeria.
“We wish to point out that these contents are clearly being aired or transmitted in contravention of our extant laws such as Sections 4(2) and 5(2} of the Same-Sex Mariage (Prohibition) Act, 2013,” he said.
The lawyer said the act being subtly propagated and promoted via the mediums was targeted at destroying the moral fibre and rectitude, erode, dislodging and polluting the society with unacceptable inhuman values.
He said it was also to erode the age-long cultural practices and sacred religious belief system of male and female gender only as created by God Almighty.
Ayibiowu said, that if the commission failed to block, restrict or scrap the same-sex promotional material/contents from Nigeria airwaves, “we shall proceed to seek further redress in pursuit of our goal of saner Nigeria airwaves”.
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