By Danlami Nmodu
#TrackNigeria -The Director General of National Broadcasting Commission,(NBC) Mallam Is’haq Modibbo Kawu has explained why it became imperative to hold a meeting with Nigeria’s campus and community broadcasters. Addressing a gathering Wednesday in Kano, Kawu frowned at the conduct of practitioners over issues bordering on breach of the code for campus as well as community broadcasting .
Kawu said though Nigeria has made progress, there are challenges that need to be tackled. According to the DG, “there are issues that have arisen, that made it imperative for us to call this gathering. According to Kawu , “The Code is very clear about the status of the Campus Broadcaster; it is “ licensed principally to train students in broadcasting and other related fields…and to provide opportunities for practical experience as well as promoting social well-being of the campus community”. And central to the existence of the campus broadcaster, is that it shall be managed “as a non-profit and campus development tool”, according to The Code.
He said further that “The sources of funding are also explicitly stated: “a. subventions; b. spot announcements from within the Campus community (not exceeding 9 minutes in every 1 hour broadcast); c. donations or grants; d. events coverage within the Campus community; e. sale of station’s memorabilia”.
“And in respect of political coverage, The Code emphatically stated that: “the campus broadcaster shall not carry political adverts, campaigns, jingles or cover any political activity outside the campus”. But contrary to the rules of engagement, many campus radio stations installed transmitters with power, far more than they were legally allowed to, under the terms of their licenses. Yet others operate as if they are commercial broadcasters, desperate for advertising and forgetting the imperative of using the stations as basically training platforms for potential broadcasters, being trained in their institutions.
He also identified the challenges the Commission has observed with community broadcasting .He said , “As for the community broadcasters, we have noticed that many operators misunderstand the community imperative central to their licensing. Some basically think they are a money making venture, while some individuals actually think they can own the community radio.
“In the last elections, we received
reports of community stations that were jostling for political advertising just
like the commercial operators. Yet others deviate from assigned frequencies or
want the power of their transmitters to rival those of the commercial
broadcaster. But the position of The Code is explicit: the community broadcaster,
is “a non-profit, grassroots public service broadcast medium, through which
community members are able to contribute and foster civic responsibilities and
integration”.
“And in respect of funding, The Code stated this must come from: “a. resources
of the community raised through levies, contributions and membership fees; b.
donations, gifts or grants; and c. local spot announcements”. We have called
this gathering so that we can explore your experiences of running campus radio
and community broadcasters. We want to hear from you the operators on the
challenges you face, and how your platforms can operate better, within the
context of the laws setting up your operations.
According to the DG, “Our hope is that the campus broadcaster can genuinely assist to entrench professional ethics, through a most focused approach to training, which can then influence the industry in general. There is a huge gap in the quality of training as well as the quality of professionalism in our industry today.
“Similarly, we want to see the community broadcaster become genuinely what they were set out to be: ‘a key agent of democratization for socio-cultural, educational and economic development…owned and controlled by the community’. Please let us use the opportunity of our gathering in Kano, to engage robustly and freely for the improvement of campus and community broadcasting in Nigeria.’