NBC DG Calls for  Broadcast Content that Reinforces  Nigeria’s Democratic Credentials

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Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, Director General of NBC
Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, Director General of NBC

Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, Director General  of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has called on Nigerian broadcast media stakeholders to produce contents that can  reinforce the nation’s democratic credentials rather than those that  negatively impact the democratic consolidation that Nigerians desire.

He said the deepening of the nation’s democratic culture can only redound to the benefit of everyone as professionals and as citizens reminding stakeholders that they have a very special place in this endeavour as professionals. He cautioned them “to always remember that we must have a country first, before we can find the métier to be able to produce content.”

Mallam Kawu made this call in the speech he delivered at the 28th Broadcast Content Development Summit of the NBC which held in Enugu on July 16, 2018.

With the theme, Broadcast Content Development: Deepening Democratic Culture in Nigeria, the event focused on concentrating the minds of stakeholders on deepening democracy and democratic culture.

The DG of NBC drew participants’ attention to the recurrent themes which were chosen to address salient political situations of the time. He pointed out that in 2016 when the event held in Lagos, the theme was Broadcast Content and National Development”. Against the backdrop of the problems that Nigeria witnessed in Jos, Plateau State, when the Summit was held in Jos in 2017 the theme was Broadcast Content Development and Peaceful Co- Existence.

These themes, he said, have explored issues directly related to the socio-economic and political life of Nigeria, including such themes as issues of peace and national security; health care; food security; the environment, conflicts over resources, and so on.

He disclosed that Pinnacle Communications Limited, one of NBC Broadcast Signal Distributors (BSD), was installing facilities for the digital switchover in Gombe state and will follow up with similar facilities in Delta State adding that another set of six states have been tentatively nominated for the next level of migration to digital broadcasting which would increase to about 14 states migrated into the digital broadcasting loop, in a few years.

Digital broadcasting, he said, is opening newer opportunities for Nigerian broadcasters and independent content providers, to challenge themselves, to extend the horizons of the content that would populate broadcasting in this new, digital era.

He noted that the digital process can match forward only on the platform of the highest quality content, in every genre of programming. He pointed out that the yolk or heart at of broadcasting is content.

He called on stakeholders to seize the opportunity provided by the digitization process to create new contents, bring newer generation of broadcasters and content providers to maturity but cautioning them to always remember their responsibilities to Nigeria.

He expressed satisfaction that Ben Egbuna and the intrepid individuals brought together for the summit have rich pedigrees, to explore sub-themes that would help deepen participants’ understanding of the nexus between broadcasting and the deepening of democratic culture in Nigeria.