Arise TV Boss Attacks UBA’s Tony Elumelu

The Managing Director of the Arise TV, Ijeoma Nwogwugwu, has called out the chairman of Heirs Holdings and the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, for allegedly giving preferential treatment to foreign media companies over local ones.

Elumelu had shared photos of himself with CNN’s Richard Quest at the Heirs Holdings head office in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Quest and his team had apparently visited the Heirs Holdings head office for an interview with the business mogul.

Elumelu captioned the photo: “started off the week with a courtesy visit from @Questinny and the @CNN team.”

But reacting in the comments section, Arise TV’s Ijeoma accused Elumelu of prizing “anything foreign over anything local.”

The media chief wondered if the UBA chairman would accord Arise TV the same audience he granted CNN, saying, “You’re all the same.”

Elumelu’s alleged sidelining of local media companies contradicts his stance on the need to drive Africa’s economic development by enhancing the competitiveness of the African private sector.

When he founded his foundation (TEF) in 2010, Elumelu said his objective was to “prove that the African private sector can itself be the primary generator of economic development.”