Leadership (Abuja)
Betrand Nwankwo
16 November 2007
Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) has said that the N8 billion debt owed it by members of advertising agencies may cripple the activities of broadcast organisations if the debt is not settled.
Chairman of BON, Alhaji Abubakar Jijiwa disclosed this at its 46th general assembly which opened yesterday in Abuja.
He equally lamented the continued use of obsolete and out-moded (analogue) broadcast equipment by radio and television stations in Nigeria, saying if the problem is not addressed, broadcast organisations in the country may not find a place to purchase the spares of their analogue equipment.
Jijiwa, who is also the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), noted that the huge debt owed its members by advertising agencies has adversely affected the revenue of broadcast stations in Nigeria.
"With the industry debt put at over N8 billion, radio and television stations are finding it increasingly difficult to run their radio and television stations profitably", he said.
He commended the efforts of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) whom he said, are currently working out a strategy to ensure that the huge debt is settled.
Speaking further, the VON director-general urged federal, state and owners of private television and radio stations to equip them with modern equipment to meet the 2015 deadline for the update of transition from analogue to digital equipment.
"We want to use this forum to call the federal and especially state governments to modernise the broadcasting infrastructure and equipment of their radio and television stations".
The BON chairman revealed that most stations in the country still use analogue equipment saying "with the global deadline of 2015 for the update transition from analogue to digital imminent, this issue must be addressed squarely without which, Nigeria broadcast stations cannot find a place to purchase the spares of their analogue equipment".
"The radio sets used by our listners and viewers would have been digital ones, and therefore there will be no room for the signals of stations using analogue facilities. We can only consolidate on the gains of our collective heritage if proprietors of broadcast media houses put in place latest state-of-the art and digitally compliant equipment", Jijiwa warned.
Minister of Information and Communication, Mr John Odey, in a keynote address, said the growth of broadcasting industry in Nigeria signals a radical transformation of the media industry in the country. According to the minister, there are about 152 radio stations and 116 television stations and 40 cable stations located in several states across the country.
With this number of broadcast stations in Nigeria, Odey described the industry as one of the most competitive in Africa. "Through your programming, we can say that the broadcast media has come of age and has taken its rightful position, alongside the print media, as our fourth estate of the realm. This estate is not only the gatekeeper, but one that sets the agenda for national discourse for the people of this country", he said.
Collaborating the theme of the conference "Creating an Enduring Partnership between the Police and the Broadcast Media for Effective Crime Control", the minister stated that both the media and the police have very critical role to play in crime prevention and control.
He therefore, urged the two organisations to collaborate with each other to curb the upsurge of violent crimes in Nigeria. "We believe that with the collaboration efforts of the broadcast media and law enforcement organisations, volatile situations across the country, particularly in the Niger Delta region, which has become a serious challenge to the nation can be looked at objectively and addressed".
Concluding, the minister said that the federal government is poised to address power and energy requirements of the stations as well as rehabilitate and modernise the equipment in government-owned broadcast stations like NTA, FRCN and VON to enable them meet their visions, missions and mandates.
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