The minister of information and culture Lai Mohammed has said that all
government owned media will give equal opportunity to every party to publicise
their view especially during campaigns. Speaking at his first meeting
with directors of the ministry, Mohammed said although his party, the All
Progressive Congress (APC) was denied access to government media
platforms during the past election campaign, the present administration will
not do the same.
He said no media
platform owned by the government will deny oppositions the opportunity to air
their views. He urged the directors to focus on becoming driving force and
uphold the change mantra of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration. Mohammed said: “It
is true that while we were in opposition, we were treated as outcasts by these
public broadcasters. They denied us the use of their platforms, they rejected
our adverts and even made themselves available for the most abhorrent hate
campaign ever in the history of electioneering campaign in our country.”
“Opposition members are Nigerians, just like members of the ruling
party. Even the ruling party will benefit when the opposition is allowed to air
their views freely, because you learn more from people who disagree with you.
Therefore, let the ruling party and the opposition air their ideas and let the
people, who wield the ultimate power, decide at the end of the day,” Mohammed said.
He lamented the
fact that private owned media is doing better and also more credible than
government ones in Nigeria. “Let me
start with the Federal Government-owned media organizations, the NTA, FRCN and
NAN. Why have you all chosen to play second fiddle in the country’s media
landscape? I ask because the NTA and FRCN of yesterday is not the same as what
we have today,” he said.
The minister
blamed this on lack of professionalism exhibited by the government-owned media.
He said: “It is interesting to
note that these government-owned media organizations complain of financial
woes, forgetting that there is a link between credibility and profitability.
Advertisers will surely flock to more credible media organizations, and of
course it is also true that content drives advertisement.” Mohammed said
the present administration intend to provide leadership for the federal
government-owned media organizations in a manner that will make them to
become the first source of information.
This leadership,
he said will make the media function effectively as a change agent for in line
with the present administration’s mantra. “The combined reach of the NTA, FRCN and NAN, if effectively utilized,
will facilitate the success of the change campaign. But they must first enhance
their own credibility, because no credibility-deficient news organization can
successfully propagate the message of change,” he said.
He also said the
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is committed to the realisation of the
digital switch over in Nigeria due to the inherent opportunities it will help
unleash in news, entertainment and creative industries. “This will in turn create jobs for millions of our teeming youths. The
same is true of the National Film
Corporation and the National Film and Video Censor Board, which are also
key to propagating the change agenda,” the minister added. The European Union having released its report on the 2015 general
election condemned the coverage of campaigns by government owned media
including Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). It also accused Africans
Independent Television (AIT) for its involvement in partisan politics.