Sanctions Against Broadcast Stations Not Aimed At Gagging Media – NBC Says
…As journalists urge it to stop acting as complainant, prosecutor and jury
Against the backdrop of concerns by stakeholders that press freedom in Nigeria is being threatened by neck tight regulations against broadcast organisations in the country, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has said that disciplinary measures and sanctions on erring broadcasting stations are not aimed at gagging the media.
This was as the Editor-in-Chief of Forefront Magazine and Online, Mr. Amos Dunia, questioned the legality and otherwise of NBC’s sanctions, stressing that it was founded on faulty grounds which had made the Commission act as both the complainant, prosecutor and the judge at the same time in its own case by sanctioning media houses unhindered.
Dunia therefore, called on the Nigerian government to be less combative against the media but should learn to work with the 4th estate of the realm, particularly in the fight against corruption.
The former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abuja Council, also said that journalists and the entirety of the media industry are doing their best in their role as enshrined in the constitution even as he lamented the dwindling fortunes of investigative journalism owing to difficult operating environment.
NBC’s Director-General, Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, while speaking on a radio programme ‘PUBLIC CONSCIENCE’, an anti-corruption radio programme produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG), on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 in Abuja, explained that imposition of sanctions on broadcast stations was not carried out hastily.
Represented by the agency’s Director, Public Affairs, Susan Obi, the NBC DG, Shehu said that such sanctions usually go through a rigorous procedure and steps, insisting that the main aim has never been to gag the Nigerian media space but to get all stakeholders to play by the rules.
He said the functions of the Commission were not just set up by NBC but were agreed on by broadcast stakeholders while urging the media to take responsibility for ensuring credibility and balancing their duties.
According to the NBC DG, the Commission could contribute to Nigeria’s fight against corruption by ensuring that broadcast stations have programs or content that are authentic, thoroughly investigated, and with balanced contents.
Dismissing insinuations that the NBC is contracting press freedom in the country with sanctions, Shehu said; “NBC does not just sanction. There are procedures for sanctioning. They are even formal procedures because we are concise with decisions. There are letters given, letters of caution, and letters of warning before the sanction we all talk about, which is the fine.
“Broadcasting is supposed to help the people make informed decisions, make informed choices. Because of the function of the Commission, stations, on their own set agenda, have their content, but the Commission does not determine the station’s content,” he said.
Continuing, Dunia said as journalists face attacks on daily basis, there is the need for the government to work on its reluctance to react and act appropriately on corruption cases that are getting worse by the day.
In his words; “Government must understand that the media is the oxygen needed for democracy to thrive. And as long as the media must exist and work, the government should be less combative against the press. They should be able to listen more to the media and ensure that they carry the media along in the fight against corruption.
“One corruption can be minimized. I’m not saying you can eliminate corruption totally as it is pretty difficult to do so since we are dealing with human minds. As long as corruption can be minimized, we will have more development.
“The bottom line is that the government should see the media as partners in progress in governance,” he enthused.
In his own contribution, Kabir Yusuf, a reporter with Premium Times, advised the incoming administration to strengthen the fight against corruption, just as he also urged the government to see the media not as a competitor but as a partner.
Yusuf further said that the anti-corruption agencies that are charged with the responsibility of fighting corruption must collaborate with the media.
He lamented that journalists are facing a new form of attack by state actors which shouldn’t be, adding that the government and the media can work together.
Yusuf said; “There is no way a democracy like ours can develop and grow without the media playing its crucial role. I believe the government can work together with the media”.
An investigative report by Premium Times exposed that media houses are tightening their digital security measures out of concerns that new spy technologies have exposed journalists to even more significant threats of surveillance and harassment.
