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.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
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 2015general 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.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
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 2015general 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.
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