Protocol

I am highly pleased to welcome you all to the 50th General Assembly of BON holding in Lokoja, the capital of the Confluence State, Kogi.  The confluence, although geographical – it is also philosophical.  It is the symbol of our unity as a nation, united and working in synergy just as the Niger and Benue Rivers combine to give a unique identity to Nigeria.  The other symbolism of Lokoja, as a colonial bastion from where Lord Fredrick Lugard first ruled Nigeria is also relevant.  This is a city Nigeria and indeed Nigerians should celebrate and there is no better place and time than now.

This general assembly is particularly important because it is the first to hold in this historic state since it was created eighteen years ago. It also marks the celebration of fifty (50) uninterrupted General Assemblies of BON since the organisation was resuscitated in 1988, having been comatose for several years after it was first founded in 1973. This is indeed worth celebrating.

Again, this BON General Assembly is coming shortly before the 50th year commemoration of the establishment of the first Television Station on the whole continent of Africa pioneered by the defunct Western Regional Government of Nigeria on October 31, 1959.  This is an epoch-making event that must not be allowed to slip away without a celebration.

In the light of these positive scenarios, BON decided to use this forum to honour our past chairmen for their immense contributions to the growth and development of this association, nurturing it and ensuring that it did not falter into non-existence or relapse into paraplegia.  This is worth celebrating.

Hence our theme: “Celebrating Broadcasting”, for the 50th General Assembly essentially captures the dual celebration of our Golden Jubilee of TV Broadcasting in Africa and Nigeria as well as this 50th uninterrupted General Assembly.

While we celebrate the coming of age of our nation’s broadcasting industry, we must not forget that it has faced immense challenges and problems.  Indeed, it has been criticised for being overtaken by other nations that established television stations several years after Nigeria.  However, I posit that the broadcasting landscape in Nigeria is thriving and bubbling with vibrancy and vitality, with the growth of publicly and privately owned radio and television stations since the 1994 deregulation of broadcasting in Nigeria.  This is worth celebrating!

Indeed, there are immense challenges ahead: Nigeria has fixed 2012 as the deadline for transition from analogue to digital broadcasting in the country.  With the preponderance of the analogue technology in most Radio and Television stations in Nigeria, and huge expenditure required to transit to digital technology, can Nigeria broadcasters beat the deadline?  It is for this reason that the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the statutory body charged to midwife the transition, is attending this Assembly to give us an update on the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting in 2012.

The Federal and especially State Governments must have the political will to modernise the broadcasting equipment of their stations.  The present condition of broadcasting equipment of most state-owned stations is pathetic and only fit to be in the broadcast museum.  State Governments must commit adequate funds to rehabilitate their Radio and Television stations in readiness for the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.  While the private media has considerably been very proactive in the acquisition of the digital technology, they must not rest on their oars to complete the digital transformation of their facilities.

Another challenge that the nation’s broadcasting industry must address as we mark the Golden Jubilee of broadcasting in Nigeria is the welfare of the staff of broadcasting stations.  Reports reaching us show that members of staff of a few Radio and Television stations are owed across the divide, that is in both publicly and privately owned broadcast stations.  This hydra-headed malaise has adversely affected the morale of staff and consequently their productivity.

Media outfits that are beating their chest and showing off their huge technological feats must also be proud to tell us how much they have invested in capacity building and generally raising the morale and productivity of these personnel.  The attitude of some media outfits today is nothing short of “slave-labour” through several months of unpaid wages, use of casual labour and constant hiring-and-firing of personnel in the name of restructuring.

BON will also use the forum of this Assembly to concretise a sustained training and re-training of staff of broadcasting stations.  This will be done through routine training organised by BON in collaboration with donor agencies; zonal trainings to be organised along the six BON Zonal structure as well as in-house training organised by individual broadcast stations, which BON would be willing to support and provide technical assistance.

The Assembly will also focus on staff and programme exchange among member stations as well as joint production of programmes by member stations.

The 50th General Assembly will also discuss other domestic issues affecting the efficient and effective operations of broadcasting stations, among which is how to reduce the huge advertising debts that have almost crippled the operations of some broadcasting stations.  Our deliberations will take due cognisance of the fact that efforts to redress the current debt profile has been in progress, with the active intervention and support of Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), I am glad to report back that significant progress on this has been achieved.  This is worth celebrating.

I am happy to report back that BON has secured FIFA rights for the territory of Nigeria, which has been carved out of the Sub-Sahara Africa block.  This has also shielded us from hitherto obscure and shylock private media rights owners, who exploited our members and made them pay unacceptably high fees for media rights.

Therefore, during the two-day deliberations, delegates will appraise our readiness to jointly transmit the forthcoming Under-17 FIFA World CUP holding in Nigeria in October this year.  Since BON has the media rights for this event, we will ensure that the nation’s teeming football lovers witness the event in all the nooks and crannies of the country.

BON recently in Lagos interacted with the cream of the nation’s advertisers and advertising agencies, when it formally presented the media rights properties that we acquired on your behalf namely: South Africa 2010 World Cup, FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria and FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt etc.

The objective of the event was to jointly solicit for patronage from Advertisers and Sponsors so that the huge investment BON member stations made in the acquisition of these rights could be recouped.  The signals we are getting from sponsors and advertisers are encouraging and it is clear that our advert bouquets would be a sell out. This is worth celebrating!

BON member stations’ recent collaborative ventures especially in the on-going English Premier League (EPF) collaboration rights have been financially rewarding to investors which are also member stations of BON.  Hence, we want to sustain these global collaborative ventures to enable Radio and Television stations realise enough revenue thus strengthening their financial muscle to run their outfits, a win-win situation for all.  This is worth celebrating!

May I use this forum to commend the Executive Governor of Kogi State, His Excellency, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris for his friendly disposition towards the media, a disposition that has impacted positively on both broadcast and print media in the state.  Indeed, the consideration of Kogi State as the host of the Assembly was based on the huge achievements that the State Government under your Excellency, has recorded in the provision of infrastructure in the state. This is worth celebrating!

Your effort to develop the state is in tandem with the clarion call for re-branding Nigeria, championed by the Ministry of Information and Communications under the able leadership of our amiable and agile Professor Dora Akunyili.  Radio and Television stations in Nigeria will continue to support the success of the re-branding project through their daily programming to re-orientate the citizenry and make them better citizens.

Finally, on behalf of the Central Working Committee (CWC) and Chief Executives of radio and television stations under the platform of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), I wish to thank His Excellency and members of his Executive Council for attending this memorable occasion.  May God bless you and guide you in your administration of Kogi State.