By Yemi Olakitan
The switch over date for the digitization of Broadcast Media from analogue in Nigeria as set by the late former President Umaru Musa Yar Adua is June 17th, 2012. Few months to the date, Nigeria is still miles away from realizing the target. Yemi Olakitan examines the need for stakeholders to wake up to the task and deliver on the promise of excellence in broadcasting which is required for national development.
Aside from the importance of broadcasting to education, entertainment and information, the society cannot maximize its development and prosperity without a strong broadcast media which is also required for developing nations to move to the level of developed nations. Broadcast media organizations such as CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera have contributed immensely to the economic strength of their host countries. Few can deny the power of the media in shaping the destiny of any nation. Powerful media entities have often shaped global perspectives concerning an issue, a person or a nation. Experts have opined that the fine national rebranding efforts of former Information Minister Professor Dora Akunyili failed to have the much desired impact because Nigeria do not have a major media that was globally strong enough to shape international percep
tion of the nation as a positive brand.
Mass communication scholar, Dr. Ibrahim of the University of Lagos, said in a recent lecture that the potentials of the media as a tool for political and economic power cannot be easily measured. This is why nations around the world are moving fast towards the digitization of broadcast media. The global drive is so crucial because, digital format of broadcasting is of higher quality than analogue. According to experts, it enhances sound and picture quality and makes multi channel viewing easily accessible. The introduction of digital television, observers concur, represents the most significant innovation since the advent of television itself. Digital broadcast delivery, in addition to multiplying the number of available channels, will also transform the very nature of the television medium by making it interactive. The process of digitization merges technologies commonly used in broadcasting, computing and telecommunications and offers the potential for a whole range of new applications, such as electronic retail services, Internet access and pay-per-view facilities. The International Telecommunication Union has been on the vanguard of ensuring that all its members made the switch with a deadline fixed for June 17th 2015 and Nigeria has fixed its deadline to June 17th 2012. However, few months to the deadline, Nigeria is still miles away from the dreamland.
Former Minister of Information and Communication, John Nweke Jnr. announced deadline of 2015 as the year for full digitization. In 2007, the late President Umaru Musa Yar-Adua approved that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) pilot the country's migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT) with a new switch-over date of June 17, 2012. The 2012 deadline is an attempt by Nigeria to meet the deadline three years ahead. However, it seems that the late former President was wrong in his assessment of the situation.
The nation faces many daunting challenges. One of the challenges of the switch over date is that of ignorance. Most Nigerians are unaware of the situation and many do not know that their fantastic television sets may no longer be in vogue a couple of months away since they will have to buy either a digital set-top box decoder or a new television. The costs of these can be best imagined among poor Nigerians. It means that all analogue television sets will no longer be useful for the consumers except they get a set up box. This is because for consumers to enjoy the benefit of the migration new television sets would have to be bought by television viewers through pay TV subscriptions. The United States of America has reportedly completed her own switch over about four years ago. Reports say that, even the US had to subsidize the purchase of a decoder for Americans. The project cost the US government about $2Billion. The situation in Nigeria, under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan does not show that the government is ready to invest in such subsidy for the teeming population of Nigerian radio and television consumers. Observers say, the problems of insecurity, particularly, the Boko Haram saga is enough distraction for the Federal Government. The issue of subsidy removal and the huge corruption in the public sector are some of the problems that might hinder Nigeria from meeting the June 2012 deadline. Besides, the Nigerian media has not given the subject much publicity.
Furthermore, The Federal government’s Advisory Committee on Digital Broadcasting had submitted a report, recommending the adoption of as new broadcast model. President Goodluck Jonathan had on receiving the report, resolved to present it to the National Assembly. The White Paper on that report is still being awaited. This means the federal Government has not given the transition a legal backing yet. Nigeria’s approach to the digitization project seems slow compared to other countries in Africa such as Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Ghana. Nigeria needs to learn from the experience of some countries that began early digital migration and found the analogue switch-off date unachievable because of low consumer switchover capacity as well as others huge investment the sector requires to be success. Australia had originally planned a switch-off in 2008 but has had to delay to a date to be determined between 2010 or 2012. Another problem is the sole management of the digital transition project by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), a government agency and the exclusion of key stakeholders such as the broadcast companies themselves.. The Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) must urgently engage the private and public sector in the digital transition project. They must also involve all the state governments who own mostly analogue television and radio stations in order to work on the transition. The federal Government must rise to the challenge so that Nigeria can meet up to global standards of high quality professional broadcasting in the new computer age,
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