NBC to establish broadcast policy regulation institute

Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission NBC has concluded arrangements for the establishment of an institute for broadcast policy and regulations in the country.

Director-General of the Commission Mr Balarabe Shehu Ilelah who announced this during a media parley in Abuja said the institute is to take in the first quarter of 2022.

According to the NBC DG, “the intention is to make sure that we train all broadcasters because at present there is no any particular institution that gives such training.”

“We have been having problems with some of our broadcasters, most of them are not professional, they are just diving into the profession and without getting proper training.”

The NBC DG noted that the institution which is going to be mandatory to all broadcasters would be manned by professionals who would teach and train broadcasters on the ethics and codes of the profession.

Mr Shehu Ilelah explained that NBC has initiated a partnership with the National University Commission NUC and National Board for Technical Education for broadcast curricular accreditation at Nigerian tertiary institutions.

He called on broadcasters to ensure professionalism by reporting facts accurately and fairly.

“We know the harm fake news, hate speech and unprofessional broadcast have cost societies. We must be extremely cautious of the contents we put out there,” IIelah warned.

The NBC Boss used the forum to call on the over one hundred radio and Television stations in Nigeria both the newly licenced and the old ones to offset their broadcast license fee which amounts to about N4 billion.

Mr Shehu Ilelah warned that failure to pay the debts before January 17, 2022, will lead to the withdrawal of their licenses and “reallocating them to new prospective licenses.”

Also, the NBC DG has expressed the commitment of the Commission to ensure the smooth actualisation in the transition of the Digital Switch Over project in Nigeria for better Television content and employment generation to Nigerians.

Mr Shehu Ilelah explained that NBC would continue to collaborate with relevant Broadcasting bodies for a better and professional industry.

(VON)