2019: What we expect of broadcast stations – NBC

What is the latest about the Digital Switch Over?

A lot of efforts have gone into the process of the Digital Switch Over (DSO). It started from when the White Paper for transition from analogue to digital broadcast was issued. And in the White Paper, it is stated that a DigiTeam should be set up to be responsible for driving the process. Of course with NBC, the regulatory body as the main driver of the entire structure. For a very long time we were dealing with policy paper, analyses and scenario building. 

After that NBC got presidential approval and we were able to lease a 7700Mhz frequency and were able to harvest N35billion.  And with that money, we moved from creating scenario to taking concrete steps towards implementation. So licensed signal distributors were in place, set-top manufacturers were authorised. Thirteen of them in total. Content aggregators were put in place. They entered agreement with a satellite provider and content providers were told that they would now be evacuated in another way. 

There was a pilot in Jos in April 2016. That was the very first time that all the different components of this process were brought together and practically we could see that we can actually do a transition. 

When the Jos pilot was done, we had some technical difficulties. We were also bothered with how to make all the operators work together. So it was a massive operation. So all the lessons we learnt in Jos came handy and we embarked on a trip to England and went to all the different institutions that put together the British Digital Switch Over. And we did an intensive study while there. Almost like classroom situation where we were taught the rudiments. So with all these put together, we now decided we were going to switch on Abuja. 

The choice of Abuja was made because it is the seat of government in Nigeria. You know anytime you are speaking to any top official about DSO, he or she looks at you very politely though they do not understand what you are saying. So, we need to really show them in practical terms what it means. So when we switched on Abuja, these officials now understood and it became easier for us to move on with them.

We had Pinnacle Communications, which helped greatly in making the Abuja switch over very easy. They worked within a very a short time to make sure that it was done within the stipulated time. And instead of 15 stations we gave in Jos, we were able to give Abuja residents about 32 stations. 

And one of the decisions we took after Abuja was that we were going to launch in each of the six geopolitical zones. So we chose Kwara in the North-Central, Kaduna in the North-West, Osun in the South-West, Enugu in the South-East, Gombe in the North-East and Delta in the South-South. We launched that of Kaduna and Kwara in December 2017. We would go to Enugu and Osun soon.  Also, we have also brought all the disagreeing operators together by making them work for the success of the exercise. 

Are you saying the infighting between the two signal distributors have been resolved?

Well, we all met in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State at a retreat put together by the NBC. We looked at the entire DSO value chain. We looked at who should do what and all that. I think largely we have been able to resolve the issue.

What about the allegation of obsolete equipment said to be deployed by one of the operators?

I am not sure that is true. But as I told you all that have been resolved and they are all working together. Now, we are gradually moving towards 2019 when there will be a general election. A number of hate speeches on our airwaves are increasing by the day.

What is NBC doing about this?

We have noticed the trend and that was why we started our sensitization seminar since last year in some places in the north. We had it in Kano twice and we also had in Kaduna. In the two states, the ruling parties are factionalised and a lot of hate speeches are being passed around. We also noticed this in Katsina and Jigawa states. We told broadcasters to stay unbiased and uphold the ethics of the profession. There have been some rancour in Kwara also and I can tell you that we are following everything. We are moving round the country to sensitise them about political broadcasts so that people can be aware that there is a way they should do proper political transmission. So, let me tell you very soon we will start sanctioning some stations we found guilty of bias in political broadcasting. We cannot allow some bad elements to disrupt the political process. And we don’t want what happened before the 2015 election when some politicians were using the media to attack other politicians.

When I became the Director-General in 2016, we did an analysis of the events before the 2015 elections. We then commissioned a Nigerian consultant to do a study of hate speech using the 2015 as an example.  This was to help us avoid or prevent a reoccurrence. The result of the consultant is out and we are using it towards stopping political speeches as we move towards 2019. We are also collaborating with the Independent National Electoral Commission, Human Rights Commission and others to stop hate speech as it relates to political broadcasting. 

NBC will soon license some new television and radio stations. Many Nigerians think we already have a lot…

It is a deregulated field and as many as possible can come in. What should be our concern is if they would be able to meet up with standard and stay by the rule. If they don’t stay by the rule, then sanctions come in. 

Now talking about sanctions, you said some stations were recently stationed. Can you throw light on that?

We release lists of sanctioned stations every quarter. The latest was recently done and the names are pasted on our website. Not too long ago, we invited Raypower and showed them how they have been consistently using their programme, ‘Political Platform’ in a way they shouldn’t have done. We showed them the code they have flouted and we warned them to stop flouting the code or they will be sanctioned. This warning to them and other stations across the country is just to prevent violence and disruption to our democratic process. Also, some reports have gotten to us that some stations’ broadcast are skewed against herders and we have warned and queried all the indicted stations. We have compiled their names and we are still monitoring them. If they fail to stop this stereotyping of some ethnic groups, we will sanction them appropriately.