Issues
Prospects Of Digital TV Broadcasting In Nigeria
Minister for Information, Mr Lai Mohammed (left) with the General Manager, Integrated TV Service, Mr Rotimi Salam, during the minister’s inspection of NTA digitisation facilities in Jos recently.
Nigeria is at the
threshold of migrating from analogue to digital television broadcasting to keep pace with other nations that have switched over to digital broadcasting.
However, many Nigerians have asked what does the DSO mean and what are its benefits to Nigerians.
Many developing nations, including Nigeria are faced with the challenge of economic and social disparity including not getting access to television with optional channels, rich contents, quality pictures and sound.
Many Nigerians with television boxes in their homes can only access few channels with poor picture and audio qualities.
The digital television outfits such as DStv, GOtv and StarTimes have exploited this situation, providing subscribed channels with mostly foreign contents and its attendant implications.
More worrisome is that many of the stations attract high subscription fees that are affordable by few Nigerians.
The pay television stations have therefore become somewhat status symbol, creating a class between the rich who can afford them and the poor who have to make do with the few channels provided by analogue system.
During a recent visit to Jos, the minister explained that the DSO would address this disparity as many Nigerians would have access to at least 15 free-to-air channels with rich contents.
The minister, who led members of the Ministerial Task Force on DSO on a courtesy visit to Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, said it would “liberalise access to media information.’’
Specifically, Mohammed observed that with the pilot scheme, no fewer than 200,000 television households in Jos would have access to free television channels.
According to him, the DSO is expected to be completed to cover the entire country by June 2017.
He said that Federal Government had made provision for distribution of free Set-Top Boxes (STB), satellite receiver that would facilitate migration to digital to be used for the pilot scheme.
The minister said: “We are actually targeting about 200,000 television households in Jos alone, who will be able to get their STB.
“These boxes will be fixed to their televisions and when they switch on their television sets on that date, they will be able to view, free of charge, 15 channels as opposed to four or five that they see today.’’
The minister said that the DSO would create jobs in the areas of content and software development and provide the platform for film producers and musicians to release their productions directly to households.
Mohammed reiterated that the issue of going digital was not a matter of choice because the International Telecommunication Union had given another deadline of June 2017 for the country.
He said failure to meet with the deadline would mean a violation of international treaty while the nation’s broadcast system would also be at the mercy of interference.
He recalled that Nigeria had missed the opportunity of DSO twice, stressing that the June 2017 deadline was sacrosanct.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Prof. Sonnie Tyoden, described the DSO as a milestone in broadcasting.
He said the DSO has come to “demystify access to media and information by giving opportunity to those who do not have the wherewithal to afford pay television’’.
The Chairman of the Ministerial Task Force on DSO, also known as Digiteam Nigeria, Mr Edward Amana, explained that the delay in switch over was due to lack of commitment on the part of previous administrations.
“The scheme was not funded from 2012 when Digiteam was set up until towards the end of last year when funds were made available for us to start.
“There was not much of a commitment to the transition by the previous administrations; but now we have a minister that is directly taking charge of the operation himself.
“If we do not transit there will be no protection to our existing analogue stations because our neighbours who would have gone digital can cause interference.
“If the June 2017 passes and we fail to transit, our analogue transmission will also cause interference to the digital mode of our neighbouring countries and we could be held liable,’’ he said.
Amana said that the STBs were fundamental to the scheme, being the principal equipment that would enable households to receive digital transmission on their analogue receiver.
In addition to making the boxes available free of charge to the poor, he said government would subsidised it to others at N1, 500 per box.
In his speech, Mr Godfrey Ohuabunwa, the Chairman of the STBs Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, commended the administration of Buhari for its commitment to the project.
According to him, not less than 10 factories are setting up for the production of STBs which will create more than 10,000 direct jobs.
He said the Bank of Industry was also supporting his group by providing loans for the setting up of factories for STBs production.
He said the DSO would create employment opportunities in the production sector as more television stations would be licensed and encouraged to come on board by the NBC.
Ohuabunwa explained that STBs would provide access for premium contents such as specialised movies and sports which could also be used for collation of data and collection of revenues.
“The beauty of the digitisation is that the box allows for top-up. Besides the free channels provided by the box, you will see latest movies and football matches and other sports which could be watched by paying between N30 and N50.
“Payment for the top-up will be through airtime and other available means and the box also has provision for return path.
“In such a return path, an institution such as the West African Examination Council can create channel for education on its curricular where students can learn free of charge and have access to information.
“The box can be used for e-voting and collation of other data. Advertisers who put their products on the box will be able to reach out to much audience,’’ he said.
Ohuabunwa, nonetheless, said that DSO would not pose unhealthy competition to pay- television outfits but rather boost their business by increasing their subscriber-base, if they put their contents in the box.
All in all, observers commend the present administration for giving priority attention to DSO programme to have unhindered access to information, entertainment and education programmes. Ijikanmi is a writer from News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Rotimi Ijikanmi,
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
