Abayomi Adeshida Abuja
9 May 2004
The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has said it got the support of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, and professional broadcasters across the country before it embarked on practical steps towards sanitizing the nation's airwaves even as the body refuted media reports that it has placed a blanket ban on the broadcast of religious programmes in the electronic media.
The Acting Director-General of the NBC, Mr. Livinus Okpala, told journalists in Abuja that in spite of the hue and cry over its recent pronouncements on religious broadcasts, the NBC has not sanctioned broadcast outfits, which have continued to air religious programmes that were in conformity with the Nigerian broadcast code.
Speaking to media men in his office, Okpala said: "NBC has not banned any religious preaching, be it on radio or television, you may even wish to be informed that we don't have the power to do so.
What the Commission has done is to say if you want to preach, go and package your programmes in ways that conform with the Nigerian broadcast code as stated in sections 4.4.6 and 8.6.1a. "Please allow me to seize this opportunity to tell all Nigerians that we have no problem with any preacher, we are only saying that media owners should let preachers package in such a way that it does not breach the code," he insisted.
The Acting Director- General further refuted claims by some broadcast outfit owners that the Nigerian Broadcast Code was done without due consultations with interested parties in matters as they concern regulating the airwaves. In his response to a question on whether there were wide consultations before the code became operational, Livinus stressed that, "the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) was among the bodies that agreed with the NBC on the need to sanitize what was being aired on our terrestrial stations after several discussions we had with them over this same matter.
"They share the view that there was need to monitor what is being aired on our airwaves and they believe that unless we are firm enough, the power of the media would be employed to mislead the audience.
"We would want to state unequivocally here that we are now fully resolved to carry out our mandate as stated in the code in line with the new democratic dispensation. "We are now ready to wield the big stick on any outfit that errs henceforth," he emphasized. On community broadcasting, the acting director general declared that the NBC was awaiting the approval of the National Assembly on the Bill forwarded to the legislators on granting of licences to community broadcast outfits.
But he was very quick to add that applicants found to be below a certain qualification would not be licensed by the NBC for community broadcasting.
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