The Hon Commisioner for Information and Orientation chief Ode Ageh has said that Benue Television will take off in a matter of months ahead.
The commissioner disclosed this to newsmen after he led the Acting Secretary to the State government (SSG) Dr Ben Meladu and a team of engineers round the facility to ascertain what needs to be done for the station to effectively take off.
He commended Governor Samuel Ortom for fostering the activities of the Media in the state and called for support from all relevant bodies to support the move to ensure that Benue Television hits the air immediately.
Earlier, the ECALPEMOS TECHNOLOGIES (a company that specializes in installation and maintenance of Radio and Television) team who came from Kaduna for the assessment were led by the Director General of the corporation Mr Desmond Gondo round makurdi environs to test run the signal strength of the station.
In their submission, the lead Engrs James Olatunji and Lawrence Oguche maintained that the Benue Television mast which is about 120fts as against the needed 250fts was not high enough to serve the purpose for which it was built. As such, its signals will not be effective enough to reach the nooks and crannies of the state.
They therefore submitted thus: 1 The construction of a new Benue Television mast of 250fits or 2 The hoisting of the Benue Television Antenna on the Radio Benue mast.
They said any of the above options can be used depending on the financial capacity of the state government. In his remarks, the SSG expressed confidence in the Ecalpemos Technologies highlighting their track record in the field and tasked them to work out the cost implication of the two options available for onward adoption.
Dr Ben Meladu reiterated on the stance of the Hon Commissioner for Information and orientation saying Benue Television will begin full transmission in the first quarter of 2017.
He said His Excellency Governor Samuel Ortom will be exceedingly happy to see the station take off as the project is one of the many others that has received positive attention since the inception of the current administration.
Also, the station’s Director General Mr Desmond Gondo said he was honoured to receive the team of Engrs from a renowned engineering company who were in Benue to assess the station with the aim of fixing it up for immediate take off. Mr Desmond Gondo explained that the station was first test run in 2010 but could not take off due to damaged transmitters that are installed at Igbor.
He explained further that the test running yesterday showed that the high point areas got reasonable signals while the valley areas could not which means that the mast was not high enough.
The DG of the station further stated that the station has enough manpower predominantly graduates that all they needed to do was to send his staff for a mandatory three months training to refresh their skills for effective take off.
He noted that it was necessary for government to alert them in time for them to organize the training as according to NBC guidelines, they must test run the station for at least three months before going professional which means that they must undergo the requisite training to keep them in shape.
In their concluding remarks, the team of Engrs expressed satisfaction with the commitment shown by the Hon Commissioner for information and orientation as well as the DG and state government and promised to on their part do all that is necessary for the station to hit the ground running.
Note that Ecalpemos Technologies Limited is a digital broadcasting engineering firm run by dynamic Nigerian professionals with relative experience in both the information technology and the broadcast fields.
Some of their jobs include: Supply and installation of 10kw FM Transmitter Radio Benue Makurdi, 10 KW FM Transmitter , Kapital FM Abuja, FRCN Network studio Abuja, City Fm Lagos Studio Lagos, High Power FM transmission system, Aso Radio Abuja, Radio Star FM Lagos, MCR NTA Parliament Channel just but few.
The outspoken DG of the station Mr Desmond Gondo gave his parting words saying he was optimistic that Governor Samuel Ortom will not leave any stone on turn to ensure that the station comes to fruition soon.
He appreciated all especially Chief Ode Ageh, the SSG and the team of Engrs for their time and inputs and sued for speedy actions to see the dream of Benue Television become a reality.
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Treasure Orokpo
A multi-talented individual with a passion for diverse fields, Treasure Orokpo is a trained journalist, skilled cook, and AI enthusiast. When she's not uncovering the latest stories, you can find her whipping up culinary creations in the kitchen and entertainment.
