Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says if the $500
million loan his ministry is seeking is approved, the Nigeria Television
Authority (NTA) will compete with the likes of Cable News Network (CNN).
The Guardian quoted the minister as saying this when he
appeared before the senate committee on local and foreign loans.
The $500 million is part of the $30 billion loan President
Muhammadu Buhari is asking the national assembly to approve.
Mohammed said NTA can only achieve this feat when it is
digitised, and that there is already manpower in place.
“If this project is approved, there will be more visibility
for our people in the music, fashion and film industries,” he said.
“In 2014, we made $23 million from music alone and about $53
million in 2019 and we are looking forward to making $83 million in 2025.
“You can imagine the kind of growth we will have if only we
digitise all the NTA stations in the country.”
The minister also said the creative industry is a major
employer of the youth.
“Apart from agriculture, which is the largest employer of
labour in Nigeria, especially the youths, the next largest employer of labour
is the creative industry,” he said.
“The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2006
gave June 17, 2015 as deadline for all members of the organisation to migrate
from analogue to digital.
“Regrettably, we were unable to meet the deadline along-side
most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the deadline was moved to 2017, which was
not reliable and today the target is June 17, 2020.”
NTA competing with CNN? Pipe dream! CNN's not a government established company, but, private. NTA'll remain where it's, we know his it's development had always been with money spent. Wasn't Ben Bruce, who owned a private TV station made DG sometimes a go. He couldn't make a change, yet his private TV investment grew. Stop fooling Nigerians, no matter how much is pumped into NTA, it'll not show, because, sabotaging will be the order of the day.
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