Professor Pat Utomi, founder of The Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) and co-founder of the Pan African University will deliver the 30th anniversary lecture of The Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) on March 4, 2014 at the Women Development Centre, Awka. The theme of the lecture is ‘The Media, Politics and National development’. The anniversary lecture is one of the many activities planned by the ABS to commemorate its 30th anniversary.
Mr. Uche Nworah, the MD/CEO of Anambra Broadcasting Service disclosed this to newsmen at a press conference in Awka. According to him, “We are delighted to be rolling out the drums to celebrate our 30 years of broadcasting excellence. This, coming in the year that Nigeria will be switching to digital broadcasting, makes it all the more exciting as ABS is also on course for full digitisation. Recall that the state governor, His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano, had in September 2014 awarded a 728 million naira contract for the digitisation and modernisation of ABS radio and television”, he concluded.
Among the 30th anniversary activities planned by the ABS include the quarterly raffle draw with a Kia Rio car as the grand prize. Other prizes to be won include TV sets, refrigerators, generating sets, washing machines, smart phones, plus other consolation prizes.
A solidarity thank you tour of all the 21 local government areas in Anambra State, the Miss Anambra beauty pageant holding on the 30th of October 2015, the Anambra Beauty & Make-Up fair holding on the 19th of April 2015 and the ABS Excellence Awards scheduled for 22nd December 2015 are among the activities listed in the ABS 2015 events calendar.
The Honourable Commissioner for Information, Culture & Tourism in Anambra state, Chief Tony Onyima, remarked that “the ABS is a strategic government institution. The Willie Obiano administration will continue to support the organisation to carry out their mandate of educating, informing and entertaining Ndi Anambra at home and in the diaspora”.
The Anambra Broadcasting Service came into being through Edict No.6 of 1985 which was gazetted on the 14th of March 1985. It operates an FM station (88.5) and a TV station (Channel 27) in Awka, and an FM station (90.7) and a TV station (Channel 27) in Onitsha. The station has produced notable broadcasters including Pete Edochie, Boniface Offorkaja, Rosemary Azinge, Chuzi Iboko, Paddy Eke, Ngozi Ibegbu, Henry Omereye and so on.