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Tag: stations

  • NBC angry with stations over N4.3b debts

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has held a meeting with owners of stations at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, over the huge debts they are owing the NBC. Assistant Editor Arts OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.

    National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Director-General Mallam Is’haq Modibo Kawu is angry with owners of radio and television stations over the huge debts they owe the commission.

    At a meeting with the stations’ owners at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Kawu said: “One and a half years after, licencees have continued to owe the NBC over N4.2 billion. The consequence is a near paralysis of the operations of the commission. The NBC carries out its statutory functions on the basis of the obligatory licence fees that broadcasters pay. But the pattern is refusal on the part of licencees to pay, and in some cases, a few arrogantly tell us they cannot pay, because the sums are too high; or they claim that the business environment is not good enough, so NBC should accept whatever they choose to pay!”

    At the meeting were members of the newly inaugurated board of the commission, such as Alhaji Ikra Aliyu Bilbis (Chairman), Mallam Nasir Danladi Bako and Salihu Bandele Aluko. Licencees from the academia, public and private sectors such as Prof Raph Akinfeleye (Unilag), Prof. Oladokun Omojola Covenant University), Tony Akiotu (Daar Communication), Olutayo Somide (Faaji FM),  Abbas Dalhatu (Freedom FM, Kano) and Oyebisi Ashimolowo (Splash FM, Ibadan) among others were in attendance.

    The battle to retrieve the debts has been long, according to the commission. But, there is unwillingness by the stations to redeem their debts. Kawu described refusal to meet their licensing obligation as persistent.

    The meeting, a follow-up to last year’s gathering on February 27, provided an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss payment plans before the September 15 dealine. For over one hour, speakers painted gloomy pictures of the industry and their inability to pay their licence renewal fees. Their excuses ranged from huge overhead cost to low returns, low patronage from advertisers, shrinking listeners and stiff competition from major broadcast outfits, including foreign stations, such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA).

    Interestingly, none of the speakers offered possible options on how to redeem their debts until Prof Oladokun Omojola of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State stirred the hornets’ nest. He challenged the stations to make effective use of marketing research to drive their programming. According to Omojola, with a dynamic marketing backed by research on target audience, stations will have no business complaining of paucity of funds. This, however, drew the ire of many speakers.

    Unimpressed by licencees’ excuses, the commission declared that no persuasion would change the deadline for the repayment, adding that failure would amount to removing debtor stations off air.

    Kawu, who disclosed that N4.368 billion was being owed the commission by some stations for licence renewal fees, advised defaulting stations to work out repayment plans as the commission will keep to the September 15 deadline for payment of renewal of licence fees.

    He stressed that such stations must show commitment to paying before the 2019 elections, otherwise the commission would take them out before the election’s adverts start coming in. “The payment plan between now and September 15 will not change. There must be undertakings by the stations,” he said.

    “Licence fee is a mandatory fee you must pay for you to operate the business of  broadcasting. And I cannot do anything about it. I am not a supporter of capitalist business, but in business there are no emotions. I don’t enforce emotions. I enforce the laws. You get fined if you violate the commission’s code.  On a quarterly basis we bring out report on this.  I deal with objective reality, which is that you owed the NBC. And you must pay. The obligation to pay has nothing to do with the profit you made. People confuse the two, they are not the same,” he said.

    He described licence fess as basic, obligatory and non-negotiable, noting that the plea that the economy was in a bad shape was unacceptable.

    Referring to his statement last year, Kawu said: “The first is the situation whereby many stations have refused to pay their licence fees; even the statutory act of informing the NBC, six months before the expiration of license and signifying intention to continue as a licencee is ignored. Our licencees carry on, as if they have their licences for keeps and the NBC cannot withdraw the licences.

    “It is important to remind us all that all licences are PROVISIONAL, no matter how long you have held them. And for emphasis, I want to let you know that stations are owing over N5billion as licence fees. I will like to use this medium to inform you, that the NBC would be invoking the relevant laws against erring stations. Consequently, stations without exception, are expected to complete all payments owed to the Commission by the 15th of March, 2017.”

    He recalled that, in the past, some licencees exploited their political connections and got the Presidency to lean on the NBC, to look the other way, while they operated as if they had veto power over the regulator.

    “As Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, I will have to own up to the fact that there was a historic pattern of relationship between regulator and licencee, which was based upon a notion of “nurturing” their stations. This was at the beginning of a deregulated broadcasting industry, when there were just a few private operators in the business. So, a notion emerged, that they should be “nurtured” and not allowed to go down under.

    “So, a rigorous regime of licence fee payment was not enforced. That approach might have had an altruistic motive, but was immediately seen as a point of weakness by licencees, who then began to proffer all manner of excuses, as to why they cannot pay their obligatory licence fees, either on time, or in many cases, at all,” he said.

    Kawu noted: “We cannot have anarchy in a business environment like broadcasting. There is no obligation to go into a business if you cannot afford to do it.”

    On unused licences, he said it is not what any investor should laminate and keep in his wardrobe.

    He warned broadcasting stations to desist from using foul languages to create disharmony and tension among Nigerians, saying NBC will not hesitate to sanction any station that uses broadcasting to destabilise the country.

    On the closure of Ekiti Radio, he said the station was shut for violating the commission’s code, particularly for allowing the government to announce election results instead of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the authorised agency.

    “You will recall that in 1983, it was the announcement of election results not by the lawful authority that led to the mayhem in that part of the country. We saw that there was going to be a likely repeat of such scenario, so we forestalled it,” he said.

    He however assured that the commission was working hard to reopen the station after it agrees to obey the NBC code. “It must meet all its obligations under the NBC code and give us an undertaking that it will respect the NBC code and pay all money it owes the commission. When that is done, certainly we would allow them to go back on air,” he added.

    On the purported NBC’s banning of the music by a young Nigerian musician, Falz, Kawu said what NBC frowned was the line: ‘This is Nigeria… we are all criminals.’ Unfortunately, Falz’s father Femi Falana (SAN) is not a criminal and he is one of my closest friends. So, if you generalise, we cannot afford to have such on our airwaves. In fact, we do not ban songs; what we do is issue to our licencees songs that must not be broadcast because of the lyrics or videos.

    The commission’s former DG, Mallam Nasir Danaladi Bako stressed that some stations owed the commission. He said NBC will not take responsibility for “you after taking licence to employ a chemical engineer to run your station because he is your in-law and you can’t make money”. He challenged the stations to improve and review their contents to attract quality advertisers.

    “Go and wake up and do your homework. Put on your thinking cap and improve your contents,” he said.

  • DPR sanctions seven stations

    DPR sanctions seven stations

    The Warri Zonal Office of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has sanctioned seven petrol stations in Delta State.

    Head, Downstream Operations, Warri Zonal Office, Mr. Onyenefa Chuks, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Warri yesterday that two of the stations were sealed off in Asaba.

    Onyenefa, who led a surveillance team to the stations, said five others were shut in Warri for sharp practices, including over-pricing, under-dispensing and diversion of petroleum products on Tuesday.

    He said eight filling stations were compelled to dispense products at the government approved pump price of N145 per litre to customers.

    Onyenefa said a retail outlet in Asaba was sealed off for diverting over 12,000 litres, adding that a major marketer was sanctioned in Isele-Uku for over-pricing.

    “A retail outlet belonging to Mobil in Asaba was shut for allegedly diverting over 12,000 litres of fuel.

    “An outlet owned by Rainoil in Isele-Uku was sanctioned for selling above the government approved pump price of N145 per litre.

    “The level of compliance is getting better. We visited over 11 stations in Asaba and most of them dispensed at the controlled pump price without being compelled to do so.

    “We sealed off Mobil filling station because it received products on Saturday, sold over the weekend according to them, but could not provide the sales book when we asked for it.

    “They will come to our office with evidence that the products were sold and then we will unseal the station.

  • The battle of F.M. radio stations

    SIR: The battle of the F.M. radio stations, especially in the South-west and specifically Ibadan is becoming not only more and more interesting but also comical. They spew out all sorts of slogan to boost their ego and increase their listenership.

    These claims include being the first in Nigeria, the first in the Western part of the country, being the most listened to in the world, being at the top of the ladder, and setting new standards in broadcasting.

    Unfortunately there is nothing much to write home about many of them. Their programmes are very similar, with many being copy cats. Their programming often coincides and their wavebands are so close that they sometimes overlap.

    There is a bright side to more F.M. stations however; the creation of jobs in the broadcasting sector.

    Unfortunately, there is also a downside. This is the falling standard of broadcasting. Pronunciations and sentence construction by many of the presenters are atrocious and very discouraging even amongst the so called popular ones. Many do not know the difference between “O” the alphabet and zero “0” the numeral when giving out telephone numbers.

    Nor do they know the difference between “t” and “th”. “Ask” is pronounced “axe”, “world” is pronounced “word”, “salt” is pronounced “sort”, “mother” is pronounced “moda” or “murder” and you hear “talkless of” instead of “not to talk of “ etc.

    Yes, it is true that English is not our mother tongue but do we have to murder it? Furthermore English is still a compulsory subject in WASCE and NECO and other examinations. Students writing these examination listen to these presenters and they can be adversely influenced and confused.

    The situation among the Yoruba and Pidgin English broadcasters/presenters is in no way better, and could be regarded as even worse. Many make no attempt to learn how to pronounce foreign (non-Yoruba) names and words.

    To worsen matters, their review of the dailies and presentation of special news or unusual happenings is no longer comical or funny. It has become obscene, obnoxious and insensitive. Or how else will you describe someone who jokes about people being raped (including minors) about kidnapping, about robberies, about disasters and mutilations?

    They describe these occurrences in graphic details with lots of embellishment and laughter. They are so insensitive but believe they are being funny. They show no human feelings, compassion, consideration or sympathy for the victims or their family.

    Are there no standards anymore? Who monitors broadcasting? Is there not supposed to be a Board of Control that can sanction?

    The days of Anike Agbaje-Williams, Kunle Olasope, Nelson Ipeya and other great and decent broadcasters appear to be long gone.

    I wish to appeal to the owners of these F.M. stations, and other radio stations to organize seminar for their staff on enunciation, elocution and how to conduct themselves on the air. Each station can lay down, monitor and enforce its own code of conduct. The standard of broadcasting should not be allowed to fall.

     

    • Dr. Bode Falomo,

    Oke-Ado, Ibadan.

  • Boko Haram hit four police stations in Gombe

    Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have destroyed four of the five police divisions under the Bajoga Area Command of Gombe State in the last one year, the Area Commander, Abimbola Sokoya, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), has said.

    Sokoya spoke at Bajoga in Gombe North Senatorial District during an inspection and assessment tour of the area command’s headquarters by the new Police Commissioner Austin Iwar.

    He said: “Our challenges are not hidden. The visits of insurgents to our communities were quite devastating. But thank God that we can shout. It is by His mercies that we were not consumed.

    “Out of our five divisions, we lost four stations to inferno orchestrated by the despicable acts of insurgents.

    “If we estimate the cost of the lost property, the loss of our gallant officers and men is incalculable.”

    The area command said none of the divisions had been rebuilt.

    He urged the state government, through the new police chief, to help “rebuild the stations as well as renovate the area command’s headquarters, which is almost collapsing”.

    Sokoya added: “Manpower depletion is a big challenge. Many of our men have found their way out of the area command. We are pleading that our strength should be strengthened.”

    Iwar, who called for a minute’s silence in honour of fallen officers and men, commiserated with the area command.

    The police chief urged the officers and men to remain strong since the war against insurgency would soon become history.

    He urged them to establish a robust relationship with their communities as part of efforts to drive the police/public partnership.

    To the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs), Sokoya said: “You should spend 80 per cent of your time outside your offices and 20 per cent in the office. In like manner, deploy 80 per cent of the workforce to the field and retain only 20 per cent in the offices.”

  • ‘Sanction erring stations’

    ‘Sanction erring stations’

    The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Advertising Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria (APCON) have been urged to sanction television stations and newspapers disseminating damaging documentaries and hate advertorials.

    The APC accused the organisations of partisanship and protection of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which it alleged was desperate to remain in office.

    APC’s spokesman in Lagos Joe Igbokwe accused a particular television station of engaging in false and desperate propaganda sponsored by agents of the ruling party.

    In a statement, Igbokwe said the station undermined decency and decorum in its desperate effort to partake in PDP’s grand looting of the nation’s oil wealth.

    “What the station is doing for the collapsing PDP is akin to what similar organisations did for the military in the days Nigerians struggled against dictatorship.

    The station is doing this nefarious activity, irrespective of the dangerous consequences these hate propaganda bode for Nigerian even after the election.

    “We wonder why the NBC that has been hounding opposition parties and candidates for expressing their views has turned a blind eye to the dangerous and notorious lies and fabrications this station has made its primary business.

    “We wonder how a self-respecting broadcasting station could allow itself to be employed as a purveyor of blackmail and slander against those it feels constitute threats to its livelihood.”

  • APC petitions NBC against abuses on Ekiti stations

    APC petitions NBC against abuses on Ekiti stations

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has petitioned the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) against “acts of unprofessionalism and abuses” in the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES).

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, the party called the NBC’s attention to the poor quality control mechanism arising from poor staffing in the leadership cadre of the television and radio stations.

    “We have discovered that the core professionals who can advise on the quality control mechanism of the two stations have been sidelined in favour of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s cronies, who do not have requisite qualification to hold their positions.

    “For instance, apart from the avalanche of contract staff who were hired on the basis of partisan solidarity, the Acting Director General of BSES, Lere Olayinka, has never practised in any reputable newsroom of any print or electronic media anywhere across the country.

    “At best, he is a political journalist without any basic grounding in media practice and he is often used by politicians to malign innocent opponents.”

    He said Olayinka’s lack of requisite qualification had adverse effects on quality programming and professional touch in the running of the radio and television stations.

    The APC spokesman urged NBC to apply its standard to ensure and promote ethics and professionalism in the sensitive profession of electronic communication at BSES.

    He urged NBC to investigate Olayinka’s qualification, pointing the agency’s attention to various abuses arising from political partisanship and unprofessional conduct at the two stations.

    He listed the alleged directive by Governor Ayo Fayose to ban paid APC adverts and jingles in the stations with Olayinka  turning the stations to his boss’ megaphone to malign senior citizens and political opponents.

    “The stations in one of their news bulletins in November accused the Chief Judge, Mr. Justice Ayodeji Daramola, of collecting N200 million from APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to influence the judge sitting on Fayose’s eligibility case to rule against him.

    “About the same time, an allegation that the 19 APC House of Assembly members demanded N135million from the governor was also broadcast on the stations. All these were without evidence,” Olatubosun explained.

    He added that in another news bulletin, the chief judge was accused of collecting N20 million from Governor Kayode Fayemi’s administration to prevent Fayose’s inauguration, noting that in January, the stations broadcast the allegation that Fayemi donated N1.5 billion to Buhari/ Osinbajo Campaign Organisation without any proof.

    Olatubosun said: “The stations also accused Fayemi of an attempt to transfer N950 million from a bank in Ghana but which the Ghana Central Bank stopped.

    “These are all lies aimed at denting the image of these decent Ekiti citizens.

    “The BSES is in the habit of copying social media gossips and broadcasting same in the stations’ news bulletins.”

    The APC spokesman also accused Olayinka of unprofessional conduct by approving fabricated stories for the private producers and presenters of a popular Yoruba newspaper review programme, Lati Inu Aka.

  • Indecent music: NBC blames broadcast stations

    Indecent music: NBC blames broadcast stations

    Following public reaction to the purported ban of some Nigerian songs, including Wizkid’s ‘The Matter’ and Phyno’s ‘Man of the year’, the National Broadcasting Commission has blamed the influx of indecent lyric songs on the laxity of most Nigerian broadcast stations.

    Speaking to The Nation exclusively, Mr. Awalu Salihu, the Public Relations Officer of the NBC, said his Commission has discovered that instead of the radio stations to help in discouraging songs that fall under the Not-To-Be-Broadcast list, they sometimes look the other way, perhaps for commercial gains.

    Anger was generated on the social media wherein fans of the musicians whose songs where affected wondered why some equally indecent songs were not on the list of the Commission’s prohibit songs.

    “I do not have a definite paper before me now on any particular music that has been banned but what we do is to encourage the broadcast stations that there are certain words which, if found in some lyrics, automatically renders the song unacceptable for airing.” He noted that verses that could render a song unfit for broadcast include abusive and vulgar words that are considered indecent for people to say in a social gathering. “These should not be used when they are noticed in a song.” He said.

    According to Awalu, the other angle of sensitisation which the Commission is tackling is the recording companies: “We are trying to make the record companies to understand that in other countries of the world, what they do is that they produce two versions of a song, if need be. There is the club version, and there is the broadcast version. Whatever you say in your club version, we don’t have problem with it because it is for parties and private use. But when you now have such for broadcasting, that is where the public is involved and that is where the Commission will not allow you to play music which contains offensive words. That is what we are trying to do, and that is the position of the Commission.”

    Describing the attitude of most broadcast stations as weak, the NBC spokesperson said; “what has been happening is that the stations themselves have been cowardly in the way they have been treating the matter. Instead of saying, ‘look; this is against the law, we shouldn’t do it’, they will try to exonerate themselves by saying ‘NBC said we should not do this’. It is not right,” he said, adding that any station which falls short of the NBC guidelines, risks being sanctioned.

  • NIPCO moves to check sharp practices in filling stations

    To ensure that customers get value for their money for purchases at the retail outlets, the management of NIPCO has created a unit in the company that will oversee activities at its filling station across the country.

    Managing Director of the company,Mr Venkataraman Venkatapathy, who spoke with reporters, said the essence of the unit is ensure that no sharp practice is carried out in any of its filling stations.

    He said: “A department was set up in October last year to monitor activities at the stations, ensure that calibrations are properly done and right pump price and right practices always maintained.”

    Venkatapathy, who spoke on other activities of the company slated for this year, confirmed that it has not been easy for the downstream sector of the petroleum industry especially last year.

    He said: “Since the past two years, the industry has been undergoing challenges. Last year was particularly a difficult year because the industry is going through transformation and I must say that the government meant good and doesn’t have any negative intention.”

    He noted that NIPCO had been stable and stronger because it applies world best practices in its operations.

    He highlighted some of the projects the company plans to accomplish this year to include expansion of its compressed natural gas (CNG) for fuel programme. The first CNG programme approval given to the company is Benin but it has got approval to extend the programme beyond Benin.

    Venkatapathy, however, noted that the areas that should benefit from the expansion is still being kept secret and would be made known to the public in two months.

    He also said the company would increase its retail outlets this year as well as its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) retail outlets. He said company plans to increase its LPG retail outlets from six to 20 this year, adding that it has the largest LPG retail outlets in Abuja.

    The company is also setting up LPG plants in Yola and Abeokuta and looking at setting up one in the east but the eastern plant arrangement hasn’t be concluded, the NIPCO boss said.

    NIPCO has been in the forefront of campaign for increased consumption of LPG (cooking gas) in Nigeria. Venkatapathy had at a summit held in Abuja, said his company supported the meetings and summits as part of its conscious initiative of deepening the LPG market through a well-articulated policy for the benefit of stakeholders.

     

  • Kano DPR closes 10 petrol stations

    The Kano office of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has sealed and sanctioned 10 petrol stations in Kano and Jigawa states for selling petrol above the government-approved N97 per litre pump price.

    Its Operations Controller, Alhaji Sayyadi Suleiman Abubakar, said this would sanitise the operations of filling stations in both states during the Yuletide period.

    Abubakar said petroleum product marketers have started importing diesel and kerosine from neighbouring Niger Republic into Nigeria.

    He explained that this is because they are deregulated products while petrol has not been approved for importation.

    According to him, the DPR has also begun intensive surveillance on the distribution of petroleum products to ensure that long queues, particularly during the Christmas and New Year period, disappear.

    He said the department plans to ensure that the products get to the consumers without stress.

    Abubakar added that the DPR office in the state had sent warning letters to suspected racketeers while the others were reprimanded.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • NBC threatens to suspend licences of two stations

    The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) yesterday asked ADABA FM, Akure and Ondo State Radiovision Corporation to desist from unwholesome programming or face sanctions.

    In a statement in Abuja, NBC noted with grave concern, the unprofessional conduct of the Continental Broadcasting Services Ltd, operators of ADABA FM, Akure and Ondo State Radiovision Corporation (OSRC) in the ongoing campaigns.

    According to the statement signed by NBC’s Director- General, Mr. Yomi Bolarinwa, the two stations have breached the provisions of the National Broadcasting Commission Act and the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

    The code stipulates: “In adherence to the principles of pluralism, equal airtime shall be provided to all political parties or views, with particular regard to the amount of time and belt during political campaign periods.”

    NBC said despite several warnings, one of the stations continued to exhibit bias in political coverage and broadcast of jingles in favour of a political party.