Nigerian Media 2009: Smiles and sighs

published in the Guardian Newspapers,
Monday, January 11, 2010

Media 2009: Smiles and sighs
By Yemi Olakitan and Michael Orie

IN many ways, the year 2009 was eventful for the Nigerian media. It was both an interesting and sad year in some respects; a year of mixed happenings, both positive and negative. Many issues came up last year that made it so. The year would definitely remain memorable in the minds of all media stakeholders.

For a start, it was the year that Nigeria celebrated 50 years of television broadcasting. The advertising sector also had its 20th year anniversary celebration amidst funfair. It was also in that year that the media had a parcel bomb attack.

The 50th anniversary of television broadcasting coincided with the Nigeria Media Merit Awards (NMMA); hosted by Governor Sullivan Chime at the Nikki Lake Hotel, Enugu State.

Aside the NMMA, there were other awards ceremonies during that year. However, the NMMA was the most interesting because it almost mired as the seemingly lack of preparation by the Enugu State Government was the interesting part of the NMMA event.

Despite these problems, other aspects of the ceremony still went well. One can only hope that the organisers of the NMMA will do a better job in the year 2010 and give Nigerian journalists a befitting award ceremony. Winners of the 19th edition of the NMMA 2009 were The Guardian Newspapers, which bagged the Newspaper of the Year and its editor, Mr. Debo Adesina, who emerged Editor of the Year. There were 47 awards in all, 35 in print, six in radio and six in television media.

As one of the most organised national award schemes in Nigeria, the 2010 edition is billed to hold in Lagos while that of 2011 is scheduled for Borno State in line with an earlier commitment expressed by Governor Ali Modu Sheriff to the Trustees of NMMA.

Another media awards ceremony was the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) held at the Oceanview Restaurant in Lagos. Medals were presented for outstanding performance in print, electronic and online media in various categories. It was well attended by stakeholders from all sectors of the media. The DAME awards did not experience the problems encountered by the NMMA handlers.

Also, The Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting also had a successful outing in 2009. Its aim is to encourage the exposure of corruption and human rights abuses in the country through the mechanism of investigative journalism. It also added another feather to its cap by honoring the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. He received the Anti-Corruption Defender Award.

The bomb blast attempt at Superscreen, a Lagos-based television station was another headline event in 2009.

Another incident was the fire outbreak that gutted the multimillion-naira studio of the African Independent Television (AIT), Alagbado, Lagos. The cause of the fire outbreak at AIT is yet to be ascertained.

As usual, media debt remained one of the major challenges of the sector in the year under review. It has been identified as one of the banes of the media marketing sector. Huge debt in the media has come to remain a consistent issue every year without the possibility of resolution.

It seems to have become a culture among advertising practitioners to owe media houses huge debts running into billions. This practice has come to be accepted by the media organisations themselves, who are helpless about the problem. Their continued patronage means they must succumb to such debts and continue to render media services to the debtor companies despite unpaid debts with the hope that they will pay someday.

Piling up debts affect media houses. It is a way of killing the media sector since media houses cannot continue to run their operations without adequate funds. These debts might also kill negatively affect advertising agencies themselves as it shows lack of integrity and bad management. Advertising agencies must learn to operate within operational parameters of agency commissions and pay media houses as and when due for services rendered.

The Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) was one of the major actors and headliners in 2009. The state government outlet is charged with the responsibility of ensuring sanity and orderliness on roads and streets in Lagos metropolis in addition to adding beauty to these public utilities. It also wants to generate income for infrastructural development.

However, the agency has continued to receive criticisms from the outdoor advertising companies who have not minced words in condemning the activities of LASAA since they were commissioned. LASAA had gone to the streets of Lagos to uproot billboards and signpost worth millions of naira. The act resulted in untold hardships for the outdoor advertising companies. While the objective of the state government seems a noble one, it should however ensure the survival and thriving of outdoor advertising business.

One thing to avoid is oligopoly and unemployment. If outdoor advertising companies fold up, many Lagosians in that sector will become jobless, which will further worsen the economic and poverty situation. This is already happening in the banking sector. LASAA must engage the companies in solidarity, roundtable dialogue and, work together to build a better outdoor advertising sector for all stakeholders in such a way that the companies also prosper.

One of the unresolved media issues in the out-gone year is the non-passage of the Freedom of Information Bill (FOIB), in spite of the agitation and aggressive campaign by the stakeholders. It was promise upon promise by the legislators that the bill would be passed. But the introduction of new Media/Nigerian Press Council Bill strained the perceived cordial relationship between the media and the lawmakers when the media stakeholders stood firmly against the new bill without minding the personality of its sponsor, Hon. Abike Dabiri. It is hoped that the issue will be resolved early this year, and the uncertainty that has continued to surround the FOIB will be cleared in 2010.

At present, Nigeria has no law, which guarantees citizens access to public records and information. A situation where many Nigerian laws have secrecy clauses prohibiting the disclosure of information such as the Official Secret Act, the Criminal Code, the Penal Code and many others cannot help democracy. Most public servants are made to swear to oaths of secrecy when employed and the general consequence of this is an entrenched culture of impunity.

However, and in the face of mounting criticism, the National Assembly Committee in charge of issues pertaining to the bill has refuted claims that the proposed law has gotten stuck in legislative limbo. They are said to be fine-tuning aspects that will affect national security.

Last year, there was a lot of advocacy on the benefits of community radio in the country. However, despite the announcement by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) that it will soon launch community radio broadcasting, not much has been achieved in that regard. Nigeria, with its huge population, no doubt requires an effective media, not only for the advancement of its nascent democracy, but also for her economic prosperity.

Radio remains the only medium of mass communication that has the capacity to reach the widest possible communities, even in the remote areas. The expectation is high that the issue of community radio will be resolved promptly this year.

It was also in 2009 that the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) celebrated its 20th year anniversary. The anniversary was held both at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja and the Civic Center, Victoria Island, Lagos. It was a gathering of who is who in the advertising sector. The council also used the anniversary to honour former Military President of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida who signed into law the decree establishing the council 20 years ago.

APCON was established by Act No 55 of 1988 and revised by Act No 93 of 1992 to regulate advertising practice in Nigeria. It also honoured Prince Tony Momoh and Prince Bola Ajibola, who were both ministers under General Babangida when the APCON law was signed.

Other Nigerians who were also honoured included Professor Charles Okigbo, who was the pioneer registrar of the council, Dr. May Nzeribe, who was honoured for being the third chairman and Chief Olu Falomo, for being the second. They were conferred with the APCON Special Recognition Awards. A number of distinguished practitioners also became fellows in 2009. Some of them were Mr. Yinka Adepoju, and Mrs. Bunmi Oke, who became the first female practitioner to rise to such a level in the industry, Mr. Rufai Ladipo and Feyijimi Awosika.

The saddest part in 2009, however, was the gruesome murder of the late Bayo Ohu of The Guardian newspaper. Bayo was murdered in cold blood in his apartment at Egbeda, a Lagos suburb, by unknown gunmen. Ohu was another in the long list of journalists murder in Nigeria since Dele Giwa in 1996, who was killed by a parcel bomb.

The gruesome murder of Ohu has yet again exposed the Nigerian Police for its ineptitude at bursting crime in the country, especially murder cases. In spite of their promise to unravel the mystery behind the murder nothing has happened ever since. The incidents of unsolved murders in Nigeria are worrisome to many, especially to the media that has been a victim on many occasions. Therefore, the Federal Government has been urged to take another look at security issues in the country with a view to safeguarding members of the public.

Another important issue in 2009 was the campaign to facilitate the actualization of the June 17, 2012 deadline for switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting. The Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON), the umbrella body for the electronic media organisations (public and private) in the country dedicated its 51st General Assembly held at the Radio Lagos/Eko FM to the issue.

With the theme Countdown to 2012: Mid-Term Peer Review on Digital Transition, the choice of Lagos as venue was understandable. It has the largest concentration of radio and television stations in the country. Since the bulk of the nation's broadcasting industry and its appendages are based in the state, the success or failure of the nation's quest to transit from analogue to digital broadcasting will begin with high level compliance of radio and television stations that are located the city.

At the Lagos gathering, huge investment in broadcast equipment and manpower training was also advocated as necessary step to enable the broadcast media operators make informed choices and correct judgments in selecting when to move and in what direction.