Lai Mohammed To Re-jig NTA, FRCN, Others

There are indications that Nigeria’s new Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, would soon begin the process to repositioning all the Federal Government-owned media so that they compete favourably with private media in the country.

Mohammed, who spoke on Thursday during his first meeting with heads of parastatals under his ministry, specifically mentioned that Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, as well as the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, have not been completely professional in their activities resulting to loss of credibility and integrity.

As a result, he said, many Nigerians now rely on private media houses to get their information further boosting the image of such private media and attracting them to advertisers while the Federal Government-owned media grapple with the challenge of not being patronised.

The government-owned media are known to have lost some credibility over time and this got worse during the 2015 general election when the NTA aired damaging documentary on then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, who eventually won the election.

There were also allegations that government-owned media shut out the opposition by refusing to air their activities.

Mohammed, who did not mince words while addressing the heads of parastatals, queried: “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. Whereas most broadcast journalists of note in our country today passed through the NTA and the FRCN, there is no denying the fact that the private radio and TV stations are doing much better, at least going by the fact that most Nigerians prefer them to the public broadcasters.

“Indeed, most Nigerians find the private broadcasters more credible.

“The reason for this is not far fetched. First, the public broadcasters have thrown professionalism to the wind while also showing total disregard for editorial independence.

“They have mortgaged their credibility on the altar of political correctness. Yet, these Federal Government-owned media establishments are endowed with highly-trained and well-qualified personnel, better infrastructure and a wide reach.

“It is interesting to note that these government-owned media organisations 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.

“The same law of diminishing returns also apply to NAN, which was once the leading national news agency in the whole of Africa, boasting of the best professionals in the news business.