There appears to be a covert war against Northern based radio stations going by the constant clampdown on them by the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) through fines and reprimands. The radio stations, namely, Abuja based Vision FM, Liberty Radio in Kaduna, Nagarta Radio, Kaduna and Freedom Radio in Kano, have come under the NBC’s hammer, even when there is no clear case of violation.
In an interview with this newspaper recently, Dr Ahmed Tijani Ramalan, the Chairman/Chief Executive of Kaduna-based Liberty Radio, explained how his station, a relatively new one, was fined N3 million. “We got a letter just last week from the NBC saying that we should pay N3 million; the N2 million which was not paid last year and also the additional N1 million fine for one of our live political programmes where we featured Dr. Usman Bugaje. We looked at the letter professionally and found out that we did not do anything to breach the provisions of NBC.
“They were challenging us that we covered a seminar on corruption organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC). But we drew the attention of NBC that we also covered the rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when Mr. President, Goodluck Jonathan, came to Kaduna for the zonal rally of the party. We covered the PDP rally free as part of our corporate social responsibility. We were fined N1 million for covering the APC seminar, why were we not fined for covering PDP rally free?
“Liberty Radio is not pro-government or opposition; we are a voice for all. We provide platform for everybody to air his views. I do not think we should be classified as radio that is against anybody. I do not share that point of view that the NBC, our regulatory body, goes after any northern radio station because of that,” he said.
It is instructive that similar complaints of arbitrary and obnoxious fines by the NBC have also been made by Vision FM in Abuja, Nagarta Radio in Kaduna and Freedom Radio in Kano. It would appear that allegations of bias and discrimination against the NBC emanate only from radio stations in the North.
Slamming radio stations doing legitimate programmes – pro or anti – with fines is not only contrary to the tenets of democracy but it also contravenes the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Electoral Act 2004 and the Freedom of Information Act 2011. Chapter II section 22 of the 1999 constitution, stipulates: “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people”.
This provision implies that the press shall be a watchdog over the excesses of government, and shall ensure that government delivers its promises to the people.
Clearly, the NBC’s action is part of the plot to muffle the voices of real or perceived opposition to the PDP in the countdown to the 2015 general elections. It is unfortunate that the NBC has jettisoned its supervisory and regulatory role, and is now delving into the political turf. This is unhealthy for the growth of the media sector, particularly radio, which has a wider reach and appeal to the grassroots.
We, therefore, appeal to NBC not to allow itself to be used by politicians to truncate the nation’s fledgling democracy. We are also in tandem with the advocacy of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) that the FoI Act be incorporated as an integral part of the 1999 Constitution while the obligation of the mass media in Chapter 2 should be relocated to Chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution to make it justiciable. This is necessary in order to bring about good governance and dividends of democracy.
