THE Managing Director of Metrodigital Limited, owners of Silver Lake Television (SLTV), indigenous Nigerian satellite pay television, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwafor, has been honoured with ‘Salute to Courage Award’ (SACA).
The Chief Operating Officer of Camroll Quest Limited, Princess Nikky Onyeri, who presented the award to the SLTV boss at the SLTV Post Launch Reception, organised by Camroll Quest Limited and associates of SLTV, on Saturday, May 11, in Abuja, said the honour was in celebration of his doggedness towards ensuring that Nigeria has indigenous pay television.
According to her, Metrodigital Limited, under Nwafor’s watch, took bold and patriotic steps in conceiving SLTV for Nigerians to have alternative to monopolistic satellite pay TV service providers, adding: “When nobody gave Nigerians a chance, Nwafor and Metrodigital remained focused and resilient for us to have our own satellite pay television, and so today, we are recognising tenacity, we are recognising resilience and doggedness.
“This celebration and award came from many years of being in the battlefield, as those opposed to it tried everything possible to put Metrodigital away.
“I believe this is also the only award that is recognised by the government of Nigeria, in the sense that the National Copyright Council (NCC) has certified this award.
“For 13 years, they were taken to court in Nigeria and they still took them to European courts for three years, all as part of plots to stop this patriotic vision. But Metrodigital won at the end.
“The fact that we are in the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu has also given us another hope, because this is happening under his government.”
In his remark, Nwafor expressed appreciation for the honour done him and the SLTV team, assuring that the team was poised to do more to ensure the pay television network gives value to Nigerians.
He lamented that the growth of pay television in Nigeria had been hampered over the years by policies and legal frameworks that encouraged monopoly, noting: “I am very happy and humbled by this honour, and we promise not to disappoint Nigerians, as we urge them to patrionise their own.
“We are very considerate with our prices, because we are Nigerians, and we are not going to take Nigerians for granted.”
Nwafor explained that SLTV has over 55 HD channels, with 10 Sports channels that show live football matches from all major football league in Europe, with a monthly subscription ranging of N2,500 and N5,000.
Earlier in his speech, Chairman of the occasion and a former chairman of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Mr. Abubakar Jijiwa, said SLTV was a veritable alternative that has emerged in response to the yearning of Nigerians by giving them value for their money.
Jijiwa observed that the new satellite pay television would also create jobs for teeming Nigerian youths from its entire value chain, adding: “SLTV has come to stay, but we must support it as our own, because our own will drive direct foreign investment and create jobs.
“Let us spread the message that there is now a Nigerian company that is providing pay television services at a cheaper price than others.”
Top government officials, heads of both private and public organisations, seasoned entrepreneurs and consumers of pay television services were among stakeholders present at the event.
There was goodwill messages from the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and other stakeholders.
Recall that Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, in March this year, unveiled the indigenous SLTV at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, saying its establishment aligns with the hopes of Nigerians to “reap from the bountiful harvest awaiting investors in the Nigerian economy.”
Akume, who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant (Technical), Prof. Babatunde Bernard, said the operators of SLTV- Metrodigital Limited- took a patriotic step in setting up the satellite television.
The Salute To Courage Award was held with a lot of dignitaries, individuals and groups from within and outside Nigeria, who came to be part of the epoch-making event and join Metrodigital to celebrate the spirit of self-reliance, doggedness, creativity, tenacity of purpose and the renewed hope.
Among such individuals and groups was the delegation of national women traditional title holders from all over Nigeria, led by Sarauniyan Matasan Nigeria, Hajiya Hauwa Gidado, who came to give their royal blessings to Metrodigital and SLTV.
