The National Broadcasting Commission has begun the process of fashioning a broadcast policy for Nigeria.

The Commission began the process with a stakeholders’ forum held yesterday in Abuja, to collate views from representatives of various interest groups as well as individuals, in order to synthesise them into a policy document.

Public and private broadcasters, academics, students, regulators and NGOs were represented at the forum, which took place at the State House Conference Hall, Asokoro, Abuja.
In a speech of welcome to the event, the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the NBC, Alhaji Ibrahim Najume Musa, explained that the broadcast policy expected from this process should define the character of Nigerian Broadcasting. It should also address issues of national interest and at the same time guarantee equitable access to the larges and the smallest population segments in Nigeria.

The Board Chairman noted that the decision to begin the process of producing a Broadcast Policy for Nigeria was anchored on the statutory responsibility of the National Broadcasting Commission to advise the Federal Government on the implementation of the National Mass Communication Policy with particular reference to broadcasting. 

Beyond this fact, the Chairman said, the desire of the Federal government to place Nigeria among the 20 strongest economies in the world by the year 2020 has made it imperative to have a carefully articulated policy document on broadcasting.

Delivering a keynote speech, the Director General of the Commission, Engr Yomi Bolarinwa fnse, recalled the dramatic shift in government policy to liberalise broadcasting 17 years ealier, thereby creating the National Broadcasting Commission, which has continued to midwife the birth of so many private broadcasting stations in the country.

The Director General noted the rapid development in technology and appealed to the participants to draw from their professional experiences in making effective contributions to this noble project, promising that the Commission will harness every piece of information gathered toward an suitable broadcast policy for Nigeria.

Engr Bolarinwa declared:  “It is only appropriate for us to develop a well-articulated policy framework that will not only accommodate the existing changes, but address our shortcomings in order to accommodate existing changes, but address our shortcomings in order to place the broadcast industry within appreciable global standards.”

The Chairman of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, who is also the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakar Jijiwa, the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN,  a representative of the Community Radio Coalition, Mr. Akin Akingbulu contributed at the forum.  So also did representatives of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Nigerian Film and Video Censorship Board, NFVCB, Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, as well as those of privately owned broadcasting stations.

A select Committee of broadcasters, academics and broadcast regulators has since retreated to Kaduna to consider all the inputs and fashion out the first draft of the policy on broadcasting for Nigeria.