Broadcasting
MRA Inducts Voice of Nigeria into FOI ‘Hall of Shame’
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has named the Voice of Nigeria (VON) into its Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame, accusing it of failing to promote the FOI Act and ensuring its effective implementation as a public service media organisation as well as non-compliance with its obligations under the Act as a public institution.
In a statement in Lagos, Mr. Ayode Longe, MRA’s director of Programmes, noted that the Voice of Nigeria, as a national radio station established to inform the world on national issues and developments, should ordinarily be at the forefront of promoting the FOI Act and seeking compliance with the provisions of the Law by other public institutions as this would evidently enhance its performance of its statutory functions as well as enable it discharge its duties with greater ease and effectiveness.
He, however, expressed disappointment that the station not only failed to promote the Act or advocate compliance by other public institutions, but has itself refused to comply with its obligations under the Act.
The Voice of Nigeria is the second Federal Government-owned media institution to be inducted into the FOI Hall of Shame since the inception of the programme in 2017, following the conferment of the dubious award on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) on September 11, 2017 for similarly failing to promote the Act, ensure its effective implementation and for its non-compliance with its obligations under the Act as a public institution.
The objectives of the Voice of Nigeria, as provided in the Act establishing it, are to project Nigeria’s positive image externally, to inform the world on national and African issues and developments, to change the perspectives of the world on Nigeria and the black world, to unite Africa and the black world and to engender positive contribution of Africans in the Diaspora to the growth and development of the continent.
Mr. Longe said there was no doubt that the institution’s lack of transparency and accountability had eroded public trust and confidence in it, which would affect its credibility and ultimately, its ability to deliver on its statutory mandate.
According to him, “being a national radio network broadcasting in seven languages, including English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, French, Arabic, Kiswahili and Fulfulde, the Voice of Nigeria is uniquely positioned to overcome the language limitation that most other media organizations have and be able to promote the Act among Nigerians of different linguistic backgrounds. Instead, this national broadcaster has itself been consistently in blatant disregard of its statutory duties and obligations as a public institution covered by the Act, thereby undermining its implementation and effectiveness.”
Mr. Longe stressed that “all public institutions established by Law, including the Voice of Nigeria, are expected to proactively disclose certain types of information listed in Section 2(3) (a) to (f) of the FOI Act, by various means including print, electronic and online sources. But the Voice of Nigeria has not fulfilled its proactive disclosure obligations under Section 2 of the Act as it has not published the itemized categories of information either on its website or anywhere else, as it is required to do by the FOI Act.”
He described the failure of the Voice of Nigeria to designate an official of the institution to whom requests for information by members of the public should be sent as well as its failure to proactively publish the title and address of such an officer as an inexcusable breach of the provisions of the FOI Act, particularly in the light of repeated demands by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation issued to all public institutions to appoint such officials and send their details to the Federal Ministry of Justice, which is the coordinating institution for matters related to the implementation of the Act.
Mr. Longe also noted that although Section 13 of the FOI Act requires all public institutions to ensure the provision of appropriate training for their officials on the public’s right to access information and records held by the government or public institutions as well as to ensure the effective implementation of the Act, the Voice of Nigeria had not organized any such training for its officials since the Act was passed into Law.
He observed that over the last seven years, the Voice of Nigeria has consistently failed to comply with its obligation under Section 29 of the FOI Act, which requires each public institution to submit to the Attorney-General of the Federation, on or before February 1 of each year, a report covering the preceding fiscal year of its implementation of the Act. He stressed that the Voice of Nigeria had not submitted any such report for any year since 2011.
Mr. Longe said: “Such egregious violation of the clear provisions of the Law by a public institution which should know better is certainly unacceptable. The relevant authorities of the Federal Government must make clear that they do not condone such acts of impunity and take urgent steps to rein in public institutions such as the Voice of Nigeria, which disdainfully disregard the Laws of the Land.”
Launched on July 3, 2017, the FOI Hall of Shame spotlights on a weekly basis public officials or institutions that are undermining the effectiveness of the FOI Act through their actions, inactions, utterances and decisions.
Civil Society Organisation (CSO) under the auspices of Open Justice Initiative (OJI), has threatened to drag the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to court if it fails to ban Netflix, TikTok, and others over the alleged broadcast of offensive same-sex content on Nigeria’s airwaves.
The CSO, also urged NBC to ban other social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter, Facebook, etc with regard to the subject matter.
Donald Ayibiowu, lawyer and programme officer of OJI, gave the warning in a letter addressed to Mr. Charles Ebuebu, director-general of the NBC.
The certified true copy of the letter titled: “Need to ban and bar the continuous broadcast of offensive same-sex contents on Nigeria’s airwaves by Netflix and other specialised broadcast outlets”, made available to newsmen in Abuja, was received by the Commission on April 23, 2024.
The letter said, “We write to draw the esteem attention of your commission to some obnoxious and repugnant same-sex contents being aired or transmitted by some broadcast outfits operating within the Nigeria broadcast space, which platforms includes Netflix and some social media entities.
“These abhorrent contents being campaigned about borders on the promotion of amorous relationships between persons of same sex on the said platforms.
“We received complaints on this topic from well-meaning Nigerians and religious organisations and further discovered that the broadcast contents/materials on these platforms are laced with embedded scenes/episodes where same-sex relationships are practically being propagated.
“We also conducted research on some social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter (X), Facebook (Meta), etc with regards to this subject, and found same hazardous and illegal same-sex content being promoted and transmitted.
“It is clear that there is an agenda to surreptitiously lure the unsuspecting young population of this country to this satanic habit/lifestyle of same-sex practice in Nigeria by subtly introducing same through entertainment and showbiz industry, albeit through the airwaves.
“It is now commonplace to see some of these illegal contents being conveyed on social media and specialised platforms in Nigeria.
“We wish to point out that these contents are clearly being aired or transmitted in contravention of our extant laws such as Sections 4(2) and 5(2} of the Same-Sex Mariage (Prohibition) Act, 2013,” he said.
The lawyer said the act being subtly propagated and promoted via the mediums was targeted at destroying the moral fibre and rectitude, erode, dislodging and polluting the society with unacceptable inhuman values.
He said it was also to erode the age-long cultural practices and sacred religious belief system of male and female gender only as created by God Almighty.
Ayibiowu said, that if the commission failed to block, restrict or scrap the same-sex promotional material/contents from Nigeria airwaves, “we shall proceed to seek further redress in pursuit of our goal of saner Nigeria airwaves”.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has promised to review recent price increases in MultiChoice cable subscriptions to ensure subscribers in Nigeria get value for their money.
Recall that the leading pay TV operator, recently announced increase in the subscriptions for its DStv and GOtv packages by at least 25 per cent.
Multichoice announced the increase in tarrifs in a message sent to subscribers on Wednesday and said that the new regime will be effective May 1.
The company stated this in the statement signed by John Ugbe, chief executive officer was titled, ‘Price Adjustment on DStv and GOtv Packages.’
The pay-TV firm cited the rise in the cost of business operations as the rationale behind the price increase.
The company said, “We understand the impact this change may have on you – our valued customer, but the rise in the cost of business operations, has led us to make this difficult decision.
“It remains our mission to provide the best entertainment and viewing experience to you and are committed to continue to deliver high-quality content and unparalleled service. So, from Wednesday, 1 May 2024, the price adjustment will take effect.”
But Adamu Abdullahi, acting chief executive officer, FCCPC, in a chat with Channels Television on its Dateline Abuja programme on Thursday, provided an update on the summons issued to the owner of a Chinese store in Abuja accused of discriminatory and sharp practices.
He also commented on the adherence to the order given to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, stating that sanctions are imminent for all verified infractions identified by the agency.
The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has called for effective collaboration with the media in the country towards tackling the menace of copyright infringements.
The Director-General of the commission, Dr. John Asein, who made the call at a media parley in Ibadan, said while the commission has the power to arrest and prosecute people involved in copyright infringements, it still needs the support of journalists to achieve its aims, maintaining that copyright infringements have negative impact on authors and the society as a whole.
He said: “We need your support to stamp out copyright infringements. This means we all have responsibility.
“We have the power to search, arrest and prosecute. But, we rely on police, NSCDC and other security agencies so as to get it done. We have a good working relationship with the security agencies. The problem of enforcement is real.”
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Publishers Association (NPA), Mr. Emmanuel Abimbola, in his contributions, urged governors of Southwest states to reduce fees charged on book review for publishers, stating that this will reduce cost of books in the markets which has become a burden to most parents in the country.
He insisted that fees charged on book review by government agencies particularly in the region is becoming exorbitant.
According to him, an official of one of the states once said that the exorbitant fee charged was a means of generating revenue which should not be so because education must be seen as a social service.
He said: “We don’t really have much problem with the government of other region because some of them only charge flat rate for the book review which we publishers are ready to cope with.
“However, we are calling on the government of states in the Southwest to stop the exorbitant fee, it is becoming too much, a situation whereby we are asked to pay N10,000 or N12,000 per book title, by the time you calculated it, it will be going to N2 to N3 million.
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