By Richard Oduma PhD.
In the court of public opinion, it is common knowledge that one can’t be a judge in his own case. Due to the possibility of vindicating oneself of all wrong in every decision and becoming a demi-god. Peer reviews and independent checks help to curb people’s excesses especially if their actions are capable of harming the public. The famous nineteenth-century English historian Lord Acton (1834–1902) is credited with the saying that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is the basis for enacting checks and balances on all human systems. History has shown that the cruelest acts where done by people who felt they were pursuing noble causes regardless of the uproar from others.
First and foremost, it’ll be like authoring confusion if two bodies are established to monitor one sector. It has never been done and it’ll certainly create a chaotic situation if the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission and Society of Nigerian Broadcasters are all authorised to regulate the media sector. Worse still, it’ll be disastrous for the broadcasters and media community to regulate themselves. The result will not just be chaos but utter confusion, avoidable industrial disputes and a series of litigations because of cases of encroachment into the duties of multiple regulators. If we cannot allow political parties to regulate themselves and decide when to start campaigns and end as well as other sundry issues when there’s a statutory body like the Independent National Electoral Commission then we can’t allow the SNB bill to pass when NBC is already in existence and very proactive in regulating the broadcast sector.
To argue that NBC should only be responsible for issuing licences and giving guidelines to media houses while the SNB should focus on the conduct of members and the quality of work is like saying the government should build schools, and employ teachers and then allow the teachers to supervise themselves. NBC is not just a licensing organisation for broadcasters but also a quality control mechanism for professional broadcasting and media practice in Nigeria. That covers all media organisations.
It should be noted that NBC is empowered by law to establish a Broadcast Institute, the same as what the Society of Nigerian Broadcasters bill is canvassing. It will be against the existing laws if the SNB bill scales through. Broadcasters and media practitioners should rather rally around NBC to enable it to achieve the mandate it was established to fulfil including the establishment of the Broadcasters Institute rather than bringing parallel organisations whose duties are certainly going to conflict with and contradict the good work the NBC has already been doing.
Arguing in favour of self-regulation and calling for the amendment of the NBC Act seems to have a sinister motive. Any attempt to take the government out of regulating the media will lead to abuses as it is difficult to be a judge in one’s case. It is misleading to say the NBC has not shown any hope of regulating the media in Nigeria. It is on record that several media houses have been sanctioned for violating the Nigerian broadcast code. Expecting the NBC to be involved in in-house disciplinary actions against erring staff members is asking for too much. Staff mentoring and professional competency assessment should be done by the Nigerian Union of Journalists and Guild of Editors and not necessarily through another body to avoid conflicts.
While those arguing in favour of self-regulation of the media are drawing parallels between doctors and engineers and lawyers, it must be noted that the rigorous training and practice of medicine and engineering are different from journalism. In Nigeria, broadcast practitioners come from diverse fields like Journalism, Mass Communication, English, Linguistics, Sociology, History, Philosophy Political Science and even the natural sciences. With advances in social media, people who could afford a piece of tablet or android phone and can post anything online call themselves journalists, bloggers, media men or broadcasters. Yet, the foundational values which produce a professional media man or broadcaster are lacking in them and, therefore, it will serve no useful purpose to allow such a group of people to self-regulate their own activities when, in a practical terms, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) empowered to regulate the activities of broadcasters, has been doing excellently well.
Again, an African proverb says he who plays the pipe, dictates the tune. Those arguing for self-regulation might be persuasive but the fact remains that broadcasters in Nigeria can’t regulate themselves for obvious reasons. For example, some people take to media as a means of survival even without any training. Very few media men are actually trained and passionate about their trade. Allowing broadcasters to self-regulate will make them willing tools in the hands of rogue politicians and businessmen who will dictate what should be reported about their activities and others who are opposed to them as well as competitors. This will erode any form of ethical considerations and the prestige that is associated with journalism. In fact, having a parallel professional body to self-regulate the activities and conduct of its members will pose a risk in the industry as they will subvert the processes already entrenched by the National Broadcasting Commission. Indeed, the bill is a mere duplication of function already assigned to the National Broadcasting Commission, which gives its unhindered latitude to make regulations, monitor broadcasters and establish an institute for the development of professionalism among broadcasters in Nigeria.
The media must be censored to avoid a repeat of what happened in Rwanda and to avoid cases where enemies of the State will undermine national security with sensational reportage and utterances. Dealing with fake, biased and one sided news is bad enough, giving it some form of legality will cripple our already fragile and tensed nation. It is rather unfortunate that a very prominent Nigerian academic and an astute administrator in the person of Professor Tony Iredia, the former Director General of NTA is behind this unpopular bill. Regardless of his pedigree and motives, this bill must not be passed as it’s not in tandem with the realities on ground. Well-meaning Nigerians should therefore show patriotism by supporting the NBC rather than sponsoring rogue bills that will rather harm the country.
Oduma is a public affairs analyst and writes from Abuja.
