President Muhammadu Buhari has
approved the issuance of operating licences to 213 new public and private
broadcasting outfits in the country.
Director-General of National
Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Ishaq Modibbo-Kawu disclosed this on Tuesday in
Port Harcourt at the opening of the 71st General Assembly of Broadcasting
Organisations of Nigeria (BON).
Giving the breakdown,
Modibbo-Kawu said that the president approved 147 new FM radio licences; 23 DTT
Television licences, three new national radio network licences and two national
television licences.
He said the commission had also
received presidential approval for 16 campus radio stations; 24 community
broadcasters and three public organisations FM licences.
The Director-General said that
the total of 213 licences were the single largest number of stations ever
licensed at any point in Nigerian broadcasting history.
He reiterated the importance of
BON as the umbrella body for all the broadcasting outfits in the country.
“Our industry is opening up and
the importance of broadcasting will become greater as a contributor to the
economic fortunes.
“It is also a platform of molding
the values of national development,” he said.
The NBC boss raised concerns over
the spiking of hate and dangerous speech, that was freely broadcast on leading
television networks.
He said the NBC commissioned a
major study of Hate and Dangerous Speech in Nigerian broadcasting, using the
2015 general elections as a case study.
“The Validation Report from that
study has been presented in Kano; Enugu and Sokoto.
“We will similarly present the
report very soon in Lagos and at a big national gathering of broadcasters and
other national institutions in Abuja.
“The NBC has also gathered a lot
of experience from elections in Anambra; Ekiti and Osun states,” he said.
Modibbo Kawu cautioned that as
the country entered the season of heightened political activities, en route the
2019 general elections, NBC would not hesitate to sanction erring stations.
“For us at the NBC, we cannot be
responsible for the statements that politicians make.
“It is important to remind the
broadcasting outfits in BON, that you would be liable for any violations of the
Nigeria Broadcasting Code by the politicians that you broadcast live during
political rallies.
“So, it is your responsibility,
not just to collect those huge sums politicians are willing to pay; but you
must make them remember the liability you carry for decency in what comes out
on radio and television.
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