Damilola Oyedele
3 November 2009
Abuja — Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY Newspaper, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, has questioned the relevance of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as a regulator in an age where technology has created a borderless world.
Obaigbena was delivering a lecture to participants at the Executive Intelligence Management Course at the Institute for Security Studies in Abuja yesterday.
He called for the merging of the NBC with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) because, according to him, the NBC has lost its relevance because of nature of modern news media.
The duty of NBC is to regulate and license broadcasting stations but with advent of the Internet, voice and video can be transmitted from anywhere in the world, thereby rendering NBC irrelevant.
A merger with the NCC, he advised, would be more appropriate for management, including frequency and spectrum allocations.
"Technology has changed the media. I wonder what the role of the NBC is anymore since all videos and voice can be delivered online. Then what are they regulating or licensing? NBC's time is gone. What we need is merging it with the NCC so that together they can properly manage frequencies," he said.
"Because the Internet is not fully developed, it is a palce for the good, the bad and even the ugly. Citizen journalism flourishes and all sorts of character and character assassination occur online and little can be done about it. If you shut down a website today, hundreds spring up the next week. So how would NBC handle this new media?" he added.
Even though all sorts of information are disseminated through various websites, those which are credible and are strongest will be branded and remain reliable sources, he said.
The advent of the Internet, he said, has presented fresh challenges to the security agencies because their training and technology might not be adequate to tackle the challenges presented by the new media, "which moves at the speed of light".
"Do our security agencies have the training, the technology, the budget and the wherewithal to handle this new challenge?" he queried.
He noted that speculation occurs in news reporting when the security agencies withhold accurate information from the media who have a duty to the nation as stipulated in Section 22 of the Constitution.
Fielding questions from the participants, Obaigbena called on the Nigerian government to run an all-inclusive government where the interests of all citizens are taken care of. This, he said, is necessary because even groups regarded as non-conformist can cause chaos in the polity.
"Nigeria has challenges when non-conformist groups like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) can issue statements, sometimes over the Internet and it leads to a rise and fall in the price of oil. Now that we have an amnesty programmes, government has to engage all its citizens through an all inclusive government as the world is changing."
He also said a strategic partnership between the Nigerian mass media and security agencies in the country is essential to the development and uplifting of the country.
This collaboration, he noted, would be effective in fighting corruption and corrupt practices in the country, which would ensure that funds targeted at developmental purposes are not diverted or embezzled by corrupt elements.
The seeming enmity between the media and politicians, he said, was due to the fact that the media uncovers certain things which make politicians, and sometimes security agencies uncomfortable, and which sometimes lead to the "feeling to kill, destroy journalists or close down media houses".
This enmity, he said, is unnecessary because both the media and the security agencies have one goal, which is nation building through protecting the citizens; while security agencies carrying out this role through providing security and intelligence gathering, the media does it by ensuring accountability of the government to the people.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
