Worried
by the increase in hate speeches in the country, the Nigerian government
directed the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, which regulates the
electronic media in the country, not to spare radio and television stations
found culpable.
Speaking
during the 3rd Annual Lecture Series of the NBC in August, the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the NBC must ensure that broadcast
stations adhere strictly to the Nigerian Broadcasting Code and errant stations
should be sanction accordingly to deters others from allowing propagators of
hate speech used their stations to spread incendiary messages.
“As a
matter of fact, the challenges facing the NBC have never become more daunting,
considering the increasing propensity of some radio and television stations
across the country to turn over their platforms to the purveyors of hate
speech. It is the responsibility of the NBC to put these broadcast stations in
check before they set the country on fire,” Mr. Mohammed said.
“The
nation looks up to the NBC to restore sanity to the broadcast industry. The
commission cannot afford to do any less at this critical time. It cannot afford
to fail the nation,” he added.
Also,
earlier in the same month, after a stakeholders meeting at the NBC’s zonal office
in Lagos, participants released a communique including news rules meant to curb
hate speeches. The new regulation include provision such as a fine of N500,000
on stations allowing callers to air comments perceived as hate speech.
Stations
must also pass calls through a screener before airing them. Broadcast stations
were barred from airing newspaper reviews more than once daily. Stations are to
be limited to airing no more than 5 call-in per day and the cost of the calls
were to be borne by the stations. The provision also barred stations from
discussing ongoing court cases.
The
announcement of these provisions raised concerns that the NBC was trying to
censor the media and hindering free speech. But the NBC has refuted such claims
arguing that the content of the communique, was agreed upon by stakeholders
including radio and television channels. It also stated the provisions have not
been added in the Broadcast Code, which is being reviewed at the moment.
SANCTIONS
AND PENALTIES
So
where does the NBC get its mandate to regulates the electronic media? The NBC’s
rule book is the Nigerian Broadcast Code, which few know how it is put
together.
Speaking
at the August meeting, Mr. Mohammed directed the commission not to spare
stations caught propelling hate speech. But, how does the NBC sanctions erring
broadcast stations?
The NBC
was mandated by Section 2 subsection (1) of Act 38 of 1999 as amended by Act 55
of 1999 to license, monitor regulate and conduct research in broadcasting in
Nigeria. The commission is also tasked with the development and accreditation
of mass communication in tertiary and other related institution in the country.
Though
the approval of broadcast stations is at the prerogative of the president of
the country, the NBC handles the entire process of licensing from the
indication of interest, the procurement of application form to the final
recommendation for the president approval.
In
carrying out its primary function of monitoring broadcast stations in the
country, the NBC uses the Nigerian Broadcasting Code. The spokesperson of the
NBC, Maimuna Jimada, told PREMIUM TIMES that the code is reviewed every four
years, with the help of broadcast stations, members of the public and other
stakeholders.
“This
code is available to all broadcasters. In fact, when you purchase your
application form the document is part of the documents you will get from the
NBC. When you get your license, you sign an undertaking that you have read the
code and will abide by it.,” she said.
“It
contains all the dos and don’t of broadcasting in Nigeria along with the
sanctions you will get if you do what you are not supposed to do. So, there is
no new thing the NBC will pull out of the air if you do what you are not
supposed to do”.
Nigerian
Broadcast Code also stipulates different penalties to be meted out at erring
broadcast stations according to classes of infringement committed. Penalties
for Class A offences such as transmitting content deemed to be detrimental to
national security are the severest. According to the broadcast code, penalties
of such an infringement includes, the suspension of licence and immediate shut
down/seal up of transmitter; or revocation of licence, seizure and forfeiture
of transmitting equipment.
Penalties
for Class B offences such as the distribution of signals not meant for the
Nigerian territory, ranges from warning to the offending station to remedy the
breach within a stipulated time frame or a reduction of broadcast hour. A
license of a repeated offender can be suspended for up to 30 days.
Class C
breaches such as the failure of presenters to properly moderate phone-in
programmes, are the least type of breaches and are usually punished with verbal
or written admonition which can be followed by a light fine for repeated
offenders.
The
fines imposed on broadcasters range from N250,000.00 to N20 million for very
severe breaches.
Mrs.
Jimada explained that though the offences and penalties they attract are
clearly spelt out in the broadcast code, the commission gives offending
stations time to remedy the breaches and is only forced to punish recalcitrant
offenders.
“Most
of the breaches, the officer in charge of the areas you are broadcasting from
will call your attention to the breach. Usually they would say ‘oh sorry it’s
an oversight. we won’t do it again. Usually, there is a first instance, a
second instance and there is a warning before you go into formal sanctions,”
she said.
Mrs
Jimada said though she cannot recall the frequency of penalty imposed on
broadcast stations, almost all stations in the country have been sanctioned in
one way or the order. She, however, advised stations to delay live programmes
for a few second to allow them moderate comments from guests and callers as
they would be held liable for any comment said on their stations.
Regulation
is Needed to Curb Hate Speech
In his
article on curbing hate speech, Chidi Odinkalu, the former head of Nigeria’s
human rights commission, called for more honesty and transparency in government
operations, arguing that Nigeria already has enough laws to curb the menace.
“Effective
and even-handed law enforcement can help. Government communication needs to be
more honest and transparent. To achieve that, it will need to be conducted more
in verbs and less in adjectives,” he said.
Jimi
Disu, a talkshow host at Lagos radio station, Classic FM, said NBC regulation
of electronic media is necessary to maintain sanity in what is aired to the
public and to avoid the spread of hate speech.
“You
cannot have a free-for-all society. We have a situation where too many people
believe democracy means complete freedom to do as you wish. The spoken word is
10 times worse than the written words. The newspapers have found a way of
regulating themselves but to be honest with you the same cannot be said of the
electronic media,” he said.
Mr. Disu,
the former editor of a national newspaper, said regulation shouldn’t be
translated as muffling free speech. He said without regulation of broadcast
media hate speech will abound which will likely cause serious security
problems.
“When
we are talking about hate speech, we are expressing security concern, where
people for example would go on air and completely run down another tribe, and
completely run down another nationality and say they are going to bring the
country down. These are things that are completely unacceptable to me. What the
government is saying is that we cannot in a situation whether on radio or
social media you can say what you like that can lead to security concern,” he
said.
Jones
Usen, who has worked as a broadcaster for more than 40 years, advised radio
stations and presenters to stop “playing to the gallery” to avoid NBC’s
sanctions.
“You
must admit that the medium of radio has the advantage of immediacy. A number of
radio stations are known to have flouted rules all because they were playing to
the gallery just to catch the eye of the owner,” he said.
Sope
Martins, a host of a breakfast programme on Smooth FM, Lagos, acknowledged that
the NBC has raised issues about her in the past but they have always given her
the right of reply.
“The
NBC has sent us letters again and again about certain issues and we have been
able to reply. We have had issues with them on my show and they have been
mostly from our contributors, but it is definitely not a case of them breathing
down our neck.
She
said the NBC regulation is necessary as it helps to check the spread of incendiary
comments.
“I
cannot express to you enough how much I think hate speech and unguarded
utterances can shape things and have devastating consequences. The nature of
calls we get on our show are such that if the NBC wasn’t monitoring us we would
need to monitor ourselves.”
She,
however, said NBC is too conservative about what they tagged vulgar language.
She complained that the NBC is rigid and does not move at the same pace with
changing societal values.
“We are
seeing a society that is changing in value and I am not sure that the code is
addressing that,” she said.
