Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the $500 million loan being sought from China is not for the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) alone.
Mohammed said on Thursday at a media briefing in Abuja that the loan was for three major projects contrary to the hysteria created over it.
“In an era of social media, the real news is usually sacrificed on the altar of sensationalism and disinformation,” he said.
“That’s how I will describe the hysteria in a section of the media over the reportage of the $500 million loan being sought from China.”
The minister also said the loan would be used to construct a headquarter complex and transmission network for Integrated Television Services (ITS), the Federal Government-owned signal distributor and a major component of the country’s Digital Switch Over (DSO).
He said the fund would also be used to build an ultra-modern media city in Ikorodu to have, Indoor/Outdoor shooting area, Animation Production Facility and Digital Media Training Centre.
According to him, other facilities in the city would include World Class Cinema, Four-Star Hotel, an Amusement Park and Amphi-theatre.
Mohammed said the loan would also be used for acquisition of digital movie production equipment for rental as well as power system
He said the facilities would be used to train Nigerian broadcasters and filmmakers in the production of high-quality media content programmes and make Nigeria a hub for digital movie production in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The minister also disclosed that the loan would be used for digitisation of all NTA stations at the headquarters, 12 zonal stations, the 36 states and FCT as well as 78 community stations.
He said the fund would also be used to upgrade, purchase and install relevant digital TV broadcasting equipment compatible with DSO products and accessories.
