The report submitted by Stephen Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies has reopened the imperativeness of merger of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC). As a trend dictated by technology especially the convergence of broadcasting, telecommunication and Internet, there is a consensus that the merger of the two agencies is just a matter of time. However, experts have continued to call for caution in the process of actualising this global trend. Former Director General of the NBC, Dr. Tom Adaba is a leading voice on why the project should be undertaken with utmost care. He spoke with NKECHI ONYEDIK.
Excerpts:
THE merger of NBC and NCC has emerged again in the report submitted recently by Steve Oronsaye panel, why should these agencies merge?
That is really what bothers me, especially for the NBC and NCC. You will see that NCC works more on technical things such as the frequencies. At the point NBC was being established, this issue came up and it was clearly resolved in the sense that the block wavering of frequencies for broadcasting were now set aside for NBC to handle while NCC takes care of the frequencies meant for telephony.
That was the way it was handled because the major area that really bothers me is the issue of content. Broadcasting is a very sensitive thing and unless it is well-handled by professionals who know about it, it can create serious security problem for us in this country. It is not a matter of just having a scientist; it is a matter of having a scientist who has great idea of the act, especially programming and content. Content management is a serious business. Therefore, I think it will be a lot safer if these two agencies are allowed to operate separately. NBC should take care of the broadcast element and its content and channel distribution while NCC continues with telephony and others.
If however government still feels that they still have to merge, let there be two strong bodies with distinct functions spelt out clearly: I mean one handling the broadcast element; and the other handling telephony. But indeed, I see the possibility of a crisis in the merger. Yes, another argument will be the issue of convergence, that indeed, there is so much of convergence in terms of management of frequencies, you have the internet and other facilities, how do you place them and how do you handle the content. I believe that these things can easily be resolved. I feel very strongly that the two agencies should be allowed to exist separately for greater efficiency and security of this country. Somebody can make a blunder in a simple broadcast and that can set this country on fire.
The good thing about telephone is that nobody can listen to you. But the impact misinformation through broadcasting will have on the public is far more than what you can think of when you compare it with telephony. We need to be very cautious and careful; this was my advice to the panel. I will not be surprised if after the merger, the frequencies meant for broadcast are used for telephony even though the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) had demarcated the frequencies.
If we go back into history, before the civil war, there was an allegation that a statement that was made on one of the foreign radio stations set this country ablaze and brought about the beginning of the civil war. We cannot let that happen again, we can’t toy with the lives of the citizenry of this country. Programming has a lot to do with making and marring of the society, the earlier the government realizes this, the better for all of us.
Why is it that Nigeria finds it difficult to easily embrace global trend?
I don’t know, we have imbibed it, it has become our culture, unfortunately if we go back a little bit, we will discover that many of the things we do now have a military trait to it.
During the military regime, whenever a particular Junta comes into power, what the previous regime did becomes nothing, notwithstanding the merits and demerits of what the previous government has established. They forget that government should be a continuum, they come and just put aside everything. This precisely is what is happening to us. In an attempt to make an impression, we look for one form of a change or the other, no matter how wise or unwise it is, it doesn’t take us anywhere.
How do you think the project should be pursued now since the first attempt in 2006 failed to scale through?
In all sincerity, the government should look deeply into the issue in all ramifications and consider also the consequences on the citizenry. I am passionate about this because of what implications this could have. I am sure that the Obasanjo’s regime that looked at it and dropped it knew the implications and the consequences. The government should take a second look at the issue so as to know what to do. The merger is harmful to societal needs, if you get a pure scientist into handling issues that are related to content, I am afraid. I agree that the present Director General of NBC is an Engineer but he has been in the system for a long time and have seen what it is by the way of programming and good enough, he has some competent assistants. If you get somebody coming in there and lording it over programmes, you will have loads of problem but I don’t anticipate it, I hope government will look into it again.
Do you think that government has the political will to drive this merger to a successful end?
I honestly don’t know, let them do what they want, I can’t tell. One of my observations is that generally, the very slow nature of governance, perhaps in an attempt to check viewpoints across the country, the delay itself creates another problem on its own. The government had already told us that they are setting up a White Paper Panel, which they have done, we are waiting for what the panel will come out with. They said two months so let’s wait and see, if I have my way I will say that even a month would have taken care of it. Sometimes, this procrastination create a lot of problem because you get a lot of lobbyists come in here and there and at the end of the day, everything is so watered down that it doesn’t have any meaning but I pray that government would be able to do something about that.
Do you have any template that you would like government to follow to achieve the desired result?
No I don’t have, I only want government to increase its pace, the pace matters and in our given circumstance, I know there is a lot of wisdom in being very careful, respecting the fact that we still need to look at quite a few other things, what are the urgent needs of the people and so on. We don’t know what the direction is right now as far as this merger is concerned, except those who go around places checking grapevine stories like you.
Do you foresee some legal impediments considering that both agencies were established through the Act of the National Assembly?
I want to believe that by the time this issue of merger is sorted out by the Executive, they will still go to the National Assembly. If the National Assembly feel they are satisfied with what the Executive has done, they will give it a nod but if they are not satisfied, they might have to thinker with it and come out with something that may reflect the aspirations of the people.
How then can we move the Nigerian broadcast industry forward?
Right now, the issue of digitisation is on, I am not too sure we know the implication of this, the ordinary person has not realized that it he is going to go digital, he needs to get the decoder except by the grace of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that now has StarTimes decoder. That is what is going to happen to others, unless they go into the bouquet of the one that already have the decoders.
In a paper I presented at the recent broadcast summit in Lagos, I made it clear that there is need for a lot of orientation for ordinary person and even for the stations themselves. The channels we are using now, at the point we go digital, we can split them into 10 channels and fill those channels with something. How prepared are we with programmes that will make the rounds, 10 channels instead of one, 24hours a day, 7 days a week, it is not a joke, that is why I advise that the television owners should be serious about this and seek some level of cooperation in common programmes that could emerge in some areas of each station. If I know that station A has a lot of talents in terms of musicals, why can’t I tell him to give us musicals? If station B is good at sports, why can’t it handle sports and the other one will take up documentary, etc. It cuts down cost, time and everything. Why must each station have a tower of its own? Why can’t they share one, I mean, co-sitting of their transmitters will do a lot of good, the NBC and the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria have a lot of work to do in this direction to begin to sensitise our media owners on this issue. Instead of this issue of merger, we should pursue how we can meet up with the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting. By the time we go digital, there would be a lot of programmes and issues that not only one agency can handle.
Culled From The Guardian.
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| Dr Tom Adaba |
THE merger of NBC and NCC has emerged again in the report submitted recently by Steve Oronsaye panel, why should these agencies merge?
That is really what bothers me, especially for the NBC and NCC. You will see that NCC works more on technical things such as the frequencies. At the point NBC was being established, this issue came up and it was clearly resolved in the sense that the block wavering of frequencies for broadcasting were now set aside for NBC to handle while NCC takes care of the frequencies meant for telephony.
That was the way it was handled because the major area that really bothers me is the issue of content. Broadcasting is a very sensitive thing and unless it is well-handled by professionals who know about it, it can create serious security problem for us in this country. It is not a matter of just having a scientist; it is a matter of having a scientist who has great idea of the act, especially programming and content. Content management is a serious business. Therefore, I think it will be a lot safer if these two agencies are allowed to operate separately. NBC should take care of the broadcast element and its content and channel distribution while NCC continues with telephony and others.
If however government still feels that they still have to merge, let there be two strong bodies with distinct functions spelt out clearly: I mean one handling the broadcast element; and the other handling telephony. But indeed, I see the possibility of a crisis in the merger. Yes, another argument will be the issue of convergence, that indeed, there is so much of convergence in terms of management of frequencies, you have the internet and other facilities, how do you place them and how do you handle the content. I believe that these things can easily be resolved. I feel very strongly that the two agencies should be allowed to exist separately for greater efficiency and security of this country. Somebody can make a blunder in a simple broadcast and that can set this country on fire.
The good thing about telephone is that nobody can listen to you. But the impact misinformation through broadcasting will have on the public is far more than what you can think of when you compare it with telephony. We need to be very cautious and careful; this was my advice to the panel. I will not be surprised if after the merger, the frequencies meant for broadcast are used for telephony even though the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) had demarcated the frequencies.
If we go back into history, before the civil war, there was an allegation that a statement that was made on one of the foreign radio stations set this country ablaze and brought about the beginning of the civil war. We cannot let that happen again, we can’t toy with the lives of the citizenry of this country. Programming has a lot to do with making and marring of the society, the earlier the government realizes this, the better for all of us.
Why is it that Nigeria finds it difficult to easily embrace global trend?
I don’t know, we have imbibed it, it has become our culture, unfortunately if we go back a little bit, we will discover that many of the things we do now have a military trait to it.
During the military regime, whenever a particular Junta comes into power, what the previous regime did becomes nothing, notwithstanding the merits and demerits of what the previous government has established. They forget that government should be a continuum, they come and just put aside everything. This precisely is what is happening to us. In an attempt to make an impression, we look for one form of a change or the other, no matter how wise or unwise it is, it doesn’t take us anywhere.
How do you think the project should be pursued now since the first attempt in 2006 failed to scale through?
In all sincerity, the government should look deeply into the issue in all ramifications and consider also the consequences on the citizenry. I am passionate about this because of what implications this could have. I am sure that the Obasanjo’s regime that looked at it and dropped it knew the implications and the consequences. The government should take a second look at the issue so as to know what to do. The merger is harmful to societal needs, if you get a pure scientist into handling issues that are related to content, I am afraid. I agree that the present Director General of NBC is an Engineer but he has been in the system for a long time and have seen what it is by the way of programming and good enough, he has some competent assistants. If you get somebody coming in there and lording it over programmes, you will have loads of problem but I don’t anticipate it, I hope government will look into it again.
Do you think that government has the political will to drive this merger to a successful end?
I honestly don’t know, let them do what they want, I can’t tell. One of my observations is that generally, the very slow nature of governance, perhaps in an attempt to check viewpoints across the country, the delay itself creates another problem on its own. The government had already told us that they are setting up a White Paper Panel, which they have done, we are waiting for what the panel will come out with. They said two months so let’s wait and see, if I have my way I will say that even a month would have taken care of it. Sometimes, this procrastination create a lot of problem because you get a lot of lobbyists come in here and there and at the end of the day, everything is so watered down that it doesn’t have any meaning but I pray that government would be able to do something about that.
Do you have any template that you would like government to follow to achieve the desired result?
No I don’t have, I only want government to increase its pace, the pace matters and in our given circumstance, I know there is a lot of wisdom in being very careful, respecting the fact that we still need to look at quite a few other things, what are the urgent needs of the people and so on. We don’t know what the direction is right now as far as this merger is concerned, except those who go around places checking grapevine stories like you.
Do you foresee some legal impediments considering that both agencies were established through the Act of the National Assembly?
I want to believe that by the time this issue of merger is sorted out by the Executive, they will still go to the National Assembly. If the National Assembly feel they are satisfied with what the Executive has done, they will give it a nod but if they are not satisfied, they might have to thinker with it and come out with something that may reflect the aspirations of the people.
How then can we move the Nigerian broadcast industry forward?
Right now, the issue of digitisation is on, I am not too sure we know the implication of this, the ordinary person has not realized that it he is going to go digital, he needs to get the decoder except by the grace of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that now has StarTimes decoder. That is what is going to happen to others, unless they go into the bouquet of the one that already have the decoders.
In a paper I presented at the recent broadcast summit in Lagos, I made it clear that there is need for a lot of orientation for ordinary person and even for the stations themselves. The channels we are using now, at the point we go digital, we can split them into 10 channels and fill those channels with something. How prepared are we with programmes that will make the rounds, 10 channels instead of one, 24hours a day, 7 days a week, it is not a joke, that is why I advise that the television owners should be serious about this and seek some level of cooperation in common programmes that could emerge in some areas of each station. If I know that station A has a lot of talents in terms of musicals, why can’t I tell him to give us musicals? If station B is good at sports, why can’t it handle sports and the other one will take up documentary, etc. It cuts down cost, time and everything. Why must each station have a tower of its own? Why can’t they share one, I mean, co-sitting of their transmitters will do a lot of good, the NBC and the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria have a lot of work to do in this direction to begin to sensitise our media owners on this issue. Instead of this issue of merger, we should pursue how we can meet up with the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting. By the time we go digital, there would be a lot of programmes and issues that not only one agency can handle.
Culled From The Guardian.
