TheNewsGuru

Tag: Okoh Aihe

  • The case for MultiChoice – By Okoh Aihe

    The case for MultiChoice – By Okoh Aihe

    Major Pay-TV service provider, MultiChoice, is in a situation that needs careful understanding and sorting without emotional recriminations. The fortunes are plummeting and that is not a good testimony for a business that was for a time a valued corporate ambassador for the nation’s business ecosystem.

    Fortunately, it is not all gloom. As they say, the light at the end of the tunnel may shine even brighter.

    Before the annual report last week, there have been talks about Canal+ acquiring the organisation, which is a good story, because current owners may make some good money and it also means that the new owners may inject some new investment to transform its operations. These are conjectures that may prove positive in the long run.

    With $1.96bn on the table by December last year for every MultiChoice share it doesn’t currently own, Canal+, the Vivendi owned company, based in France, is a few regulatory steps away from taking full control of the South African broadcaster. Merger and acquisition always smell very good if it’s a win-win for all parties.

    But last week wasn’t about a win-win situation. It was a reality check for the organisation trying to prevent panic in the pay-TV market. According to the annual report, revenue by MultiChoice Nigeria, went down by 44 percent to $197.74m in the financial year ending March 2025, from $355.93m recorded the previous year due to rising inflation and worsening economic climate, which also triggered a mass exit of subscribers.

    The economic pressure is on everybody apart from politicians who are in the best business ever. Inflation stood at 23.71 percent in April 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    Across the African market, MultiChoice lost 1.8m subscribers with Nigeria accounting for 77 percent, which translates to 1.4m subscribers, since its financial year which ended in March 2023. Just within a space of two years.

    In the subscription market, this is a very bad story in all ramifications. The dim summary is that MultiChoice is haemorrhaging and we don’t need to gloat over it. I have read a few things of people saying this is well deserved by the organisation which they accuse of fleecing subscribers. Quite a few in bad faith also hint at the subtle rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa, adding with a little smirk that MultiChoice can now see the importance of the Nigerian market.

    My elders would always say, it is cruel when you continue to hit a man that is already on the ground, helpless. Thankfully, MultiChoice isn’t totally helpless yet. The financial figures are in the public space because it is a quoted organisation. There are many organisations in Nigeria at various stages of atrophy but are silent in death pangs carrying their secrets with them.

    In clear irony, the Multichoice story is a true reflection of the Nigerian economy, which has very little to do with people dumping Multichoice in protest, although that could be a marginal factor. The economy isn’t kind to anybody. Those who felt safe before are suddenly finding themselves in want.

    There are several conversations going on at various levels – in homes, between couples, between parents and children, and between friends, about television entertainment and the urgency to attend to the overriding needs of life, including: feeding, school fees, healthcare and just anything to hold on to life. While there is total insecurity in some places, others don’t have electricity for months.

    People are not thinking of Multichoice; they are thinking of survival, just to hold on till grandiose ideas conceived by politicians can begin to distill into individual benefits. The present situation in Nigeria is wrapped into the phrase, “rising inflation and worsening economic climate.” The phrase also captures the reality of people living in the margins.

    Calvo Mawela, Chief Executive Officer, MultiChoice Group, also looked at the brighter side of business when he informed during the presentation that DSTV Internet revenue rose by 85 percent, KingMakers grew by 76 percent, DSTV Stream increased by 48 percent, while Showmax saw 44 percent year-on-year rise in active paying customers.

    “Our strategy is shaped by developments in our industry, such as changes in technology which are driving shifts in customer behaviour, as well as the impact of a rise in piracy, streaming services, and social media,” he informed.

    Hitting the nail on the head is cliche but that is what Mawela has done. Modern TV entertainment is not in competition with other operators but more with new technologies, including over-the-top (OTT) operations and internet streaming services, behavioural changes across age demographics, and infinite capacity for service regeneration.

    He was therefore on the right track when he announced that MultiChoice is considering floating a sports only package in order to boost subscription uptake.

    “As part of our product offering, we have always had this project that we ran every year where we look at our packaging structures, similar to what Sky did some years back where they had a basic package, they had a sports package on the side (and) they had a general entertainment package on the side,” Mawela said as he tried to find a path to the future by looking at the past.

    That is what service regeneration is all about. Modern technologies allow organisations to monitor consumer behaviour and patterns real time and be able to target them with product design and even individual specific adverts. There is no doubt that a sports only package will be a major hit if there is good pricing creativity.

    Irdeto – global company specialising in digital platform security, particularly for video entertainment, video games, and connected industries – suggests that any pay-TV which wants to win back its audience from other entertainment platforms or grow them should consider the following measures: Adopt a hybrid model; Secure your access to offer premium content; Keep your audience’s attention with personalised content; Offer choice with attractive payment model; and Extend the reach of your features.

    There is no doubt that Multichoice already knows the above and has more information on how to grow its business, but where it has failed inexorably in the past is the payment model which has angered quite a number of its subscribers in Nigeria. They believe that Multichoice is taking advantage of, or simply just fleecing them. There is the need to assuage this thought pattern.

    There is another matter. There is an insufferable arrogance around Multichoice which is not only irritating but, one can argue, blinds the organisation from taking some basic decisions that can stir it away from trouble.

    For instance, MultiChoice has a case with the EFCC concerning the amount paid as annual operating levy to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC),  21/2 percent on income – whether it’s on gross or after tax. Some little details that can be sorted without anybody getting hurt. But on this matter, former directors of the Commission are being invited to explain their roles in taking a decision they thought they were empowered by the NBC Act to take as a regulatory agency.

    Would it matter here to state that for years, MultiChoice was the only organisation in the broadcast industry making the payment and joined momentarily by Startimes? There are ways to get around regulatory hurdles without infusing the kind of language that hurts or without being contemptible.

    MultiChoice has to deal with the rising tide of new technologies to enjoy a business renaissance. It has to send the right communications to stem the anger welling up in the people. The organisation must also manage its corporate pride. It is not only irritating but also attracts unnecessary attention to its operations.

  • For the regulator, little things that matter – By Okoh Aihe

    For the regulator, little things that matter – By Okoh Aihe

    There is something they say about digging yourself into a hole. It usually takes more  time to claw your way back. That is, if you ever want to see light again.

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) did not intentionally dig itself into a hole. Some people, given the responsibility to curate the day-to-day operations of the regulatory authority, dug the system into a hole. The Commission has been trying to fight its way back ever since, although it will take a longer time because of the absence of a board.

    I was recently informed that the regulator will institute the Telecom Identity Risk Management Platform (TIRMP)) by the last quarter of this year, to streamline the activities of churned numbers in the industry. That may not seem much but it’s one of the several actions the regulator is taking to fight its way out of the abyss. I am pretty sure that, at the end, people will be happy that such a step was ever taken. In the meantime, let’s do a little flashback to prove that, also in the last quarter of last year, the Commission executed some actions to demonstrate a seriousness that was more positive than pretentious. I will state just two.

    One. Early last year, the regulator revised its telecommunications statistics to reflect Nigeria’s updated population estimates of 216,781,381, as projected by the Nigerian Population Commission (NPC) in 2022. The adjustment replaced the previously used 2017 population estimates of 190m.

    There was only going to be one sure outcome. The teledensity dropped from 115.63% to 102.30% as the subscriber base also plummeted to 154.6m. It was a bold decision that jolted the industry into reality, an action that could hardly be contemplated previously when it was needed most.

    Two. And this is connected to the foregoing. At the conclusion of the NIN-SIM regulation exercise, a much criticised programme,  jointly executed by the NCC and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the number of lines on the mobile networks dropped to 154m, with one operator losing as much as 40m lines. The announcement was made in October. It caused a lot of discomfort and business reimagining.

    One would say that such an industry would have a lot of churned numbers. But it is much more than that. There are other reasons. At the dawn of the mobile industry, it was a thing of prestige for one subscriber to carry as many phones as the pouch can accommodate, those who wanted to enjoy the full expression of conspicuous consumption, although it was more of the limitations of the networks that were having a lot of headache in rolling out services after being jilted by a government that had promised so much.

    The story has changed. Growth has plateaued and the economy has not been any kinder. For over a decade now, there are so many people slipping into multidimensional poverty for whom telephony means very little. For these people, it is a matter of the stomach first, the art of the mastery of survival in challenging times, while for the rest of us who had luxuriated in class, the economy has levelled everybody. Without seeking economic lessons, a number of subscribers have resorted to using one phone. So, there are more reasons for churn numbers in the industry; which is why it is salutary that the regulator has taken a decision to sanitise their use.

    For more understanding of the churning process, the regulator explained that “when a phone number (MSISDN) has not carried out any Revenue Generating Event (RGE) – outgoing or incoming calls or SMS, charged USSD sessions, data use, or any other activity on the line that generates income for the operator – for over 180 days, the MSISDN is deemed as inactive. If this inactivity continues for another 180 days, that is a total of 360 days, the line becomes eligible for churning, and recycling.”

    Literally, the number has gone into a recycling bin where it can be retrieved by the operator and reassigned to a new subscriber, according to the QoS Regulation and Business Rules 2024.

    But that’s just the beginning of a new journey as the dangers are embedded in the old number which could be harmful to the previous owner or be put to some unsavoury use by the new owner.

    According to the regulator, the recycling of lines presents challenges, particularly when the previous owners of the reassigned numbers still have those numbers linked to services they used before the numbers were recycled. It presents issues of security and integrity of phone number ownership.

    This is the reason the TIRMP is being put in place, to serve as some kind of clearing house for those numbers, help maintain their integrity and prevent innocent phone users from being harmed.

    An NCC source gave further understanding. Any time a number is recycled, sensitive details of the previous user, like bank details including balances, fintech details and even health, could still be in the number that can be manipulated by unscrupulous individuals. The Commission, according to the source, is therefore working with all the stakeholders, including the Security Agencies, the Central Bank, Banks, Fintechs and Telecoms Service  Providers, to ensure that every churned number will go to the platform which will automatically notify all the stakeholders. Is that what they call flagging?

    The NCC is only acting within its regulatory powers to ensure that industry phone users are protected. For instance, in  the UK, Ofcom, the communications regulator, is responsible for overseeing the recycling of mobile phone numbers.

    In the UK, an MNO is allowed to deactivate an unused number, which is given a dormancy period of between 30 to 90 days, depending upon the carrier, before the number is reassigned. Although the operator is allowed to reset or erase data linked to the number, it is generally accepted that traces of its history can still be present, especially with online services that use SMS-based two-factor authentication.

    Numbers are a limited resource which are strictly managed by the regulator and assigned to the operator. As it is in Nigeria, so it is in the UK where Ofcom ensures the reassignment of numbers by operators after the dormancy period due to the limited pool of available numbers.

    But the Federation of Communications Services (FCS) of the UK has published procedures for mobile phone recycling that aims to discourage fraudulent activities and provide a clear defence against charges of handling of goods. A feature of such procedures is to ensure “that operators will place blocks on the records of devices for a wider variety of reasons.”

    A clear point here, however, is to ensure that subscribers are preserved and that operators do the right thing by going through the platform which the regulator is putting in place. It portends a win-win for all stakeholders, including the subscribers.

    “It will reduce fraud risks and improve our digital and financial services by enabling service providers to proactively detect and act, particularly to high-risk numbers, while updating customer KYC details where applicable,” the regulator said.

    It is a good step in the right direction to checkmate the little demons that usually coalesce into giant forces to trouble the wider ecosystem. Much like the journey of a thousand miles beginning with one step. The challenge is to take the step at all, and that’s what the NCC has done.

  • What does The Big Picture mean to DSO? – By Okoh Aihe

    What does The Big Picture mean to DSO? – By Okoh Aihe

    The news last week that the Federal Government is seemingly finalising plans to put the Digital Switchover (DSO) on an accelerator that can immediately take it to about 10 million people, was very elevating and, for me, it marks a good turn for the Tinubu administration.

    The story which has been in gestation but only broke last week, is the fruit of a relationship between the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and NigComSat which have both agreed to deploy their available capacity and resources to resolve the DSO impasse.

    The NBC which is the nation’s broadcast regulator is the arrowhead of DSO implementation in Nigeria (migration from analogue to digital television broadcasting), while NigComSat is charged with providing satellite capacity for the nation and beyond, and has a satellite, NigComSat – 1R in the geostationary orbit. However, the story of DSO in Nigeria has not been very inspiring, resulting in the nation missing the ITU implementation targets twice. Before this development, the process was in hibernation, giving the impression that Nigeria cannot even implement a simple process.  Simple?

    Details of information released May 29, 2025, by both organisations are very uplifting and can stir any soul. Titled, NBC and NigComSat Unveil Nigeria’s Satellite-Driven Digital Switchover: “The Big Picture,” it says, “In a bold move to redefine Nigeria’s digital future, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NigComSat) have launched The Big Picture – a revolutionary upgrade to the country’s Digital Switchover (DSO) strategy.”

    Highlights of The Big Picture include: Satellite Over Terrestrial – no towers, NigComSat 1R to beam Direct-to-Home signals across Nigeria instantly; Immediate Access – Over 10 million Nigerian households with satellite-ready TVs or DVB-S2 set-top boxes can access 100+ Free-to-Air television channels; Hybrid Smart Boxes, which combine satellite channels with streaming apps; and Content for All – 40 percent of all channels slots are reserved for independent and regional producers.

    The proposition fascinates to no end. It means that a nation whose entertainment sector is booming across the world, will have more of her contents on digital TV, it means more job for Nollywood and and an auspicious opportunity to saloon its abundant talents, it means ordinary folks can have access to digital contents, and it also means more channels for Nigerian to ventilate their spleen on the state of the nation sans freedom of speech.

    But every story has a flipside and this is needed for the understanding of the unfolding picture in the broadcast industry. The broadcast channels in the country are run on frequencies allocated to broadcast operators by the NBC. It was so in other parts of the world, although the story has gradually changed as a majority have completed their switchover.

    It is often said that frequencies are a scarce resource which are managed from the global platform of the ITU. Since both TV and Telecommunications can use the same frequencies, and frequencies are a scarce resource, mind you, the thinking of the ITU in 2006, was for broadcast channels to move operations to digital platforms that could accommodate as many channels as imagination can guess. The movement will free up their frequencies for telecom operations; this will impact on broadband service deployment and cost of service acquisition.

    While about nine countries in Africa, including Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have completed the switchover, the process in Nigeria has been so convoluted and too woollen to pass a transparency test. That was until last week or is it?

    An industry source told this writer that the satellite option is very attractive and should be encouraged. Afterall, Morocco did it by taking about 90 percent of their switchover through satellite while the remaining 10 percent was terrestrial, perhaps because of their terrain. The source suggested that Nigeria can also adopt the hybrid approach of terrestrial deployment in the core cities while using satellite in remote areas, more because of pervasive insecurity than mountainous terrains. The satellite option may escalate the process of harvesting the digital dividends.

    But another source which is more in the hardware area in the switchover ecosystem, pointed out that the protocol of the switchover is based on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and not Direct-to-Home (DTH) which has existed in Nigeria since the coming of M-Net, and then Multichoice before being joined by Startimes. DTT relies on towers/masts unlike DTH which is space inclined.

    The source observed that the proposition which looks beautiful doesn’t seem to accommodate previous history of the process and the stakeholders involved in it.

    Let’s interrupt the above thought. For the DSO to take off in Nigeria, the NBC licensed ITS and Pinnacle as signal carriers for broadcasters, while a number of companies were also licensed to manufacture set-top boxes (STBs) that will convert digital signals for the use of anologue television. The STB prevents analogue TV sets from being junked!

    Investors were encouraged to come into the industry. While Pinnacle, for instance, paid over N600m for a carrier license (don’t ask me how much ITS, which is linked to NTA paid, just like NITEL and GSM license – they always don’t pay), the STB manufacturers shelled out N50m each to become pioneer players in the switchover process.

    Quite some money have gone into the process. The Nigerian government in demonstration of good faith may have put in about N50bn while the other payers – Pinnacle, ITS and the STB manufacturers may have invested another N20bn in equipment or platform installations and manufacturing, according to industry sources. There are hundreds of thousands of STBs in warehouses across the country. The other day, a voice called this writer from up north to complain that his investment in the distribution of STBs has ruined his life! The past cannot just be interred and papered over with the fantasy of beautiful ideas.

    Back to the story, there are complaints from different stakeholders in the ecosystem  that they have hardly had any interaction with thier regulator or even the other party involved in The Big Picture.

    There are always stakeholders in an ecosystem. I will want to observe that the stakeholders in the DSO process are: the government, regulator, industry – broadcasters, signal carriers, STB manufacturers, and the viewers which have been aptly identified in The Big Picture as households, with 10 million projected in the first instance. There is an addition – NigComSat! To be frank, the households are powerless in the process until the big boys have sorted out themselves.

    I will want to suggest here that the regulator should play more with the stakeholders because a regulator without stakeholders is like a general without troops or a king without chiefs or people. The stakeholders must be embedded in the dreams of the regulator.

    A former regulator (there are so many of them because there was churn in that area) suggested that to avoid a disconnect and unnecessary acrimonies in the DSO process, the regulator may need to properly engage the STB manufacturers in cnversation to determine their technology capacity, financial exposure and even the amount of goods they have in their warehouses in order to find an intervention that can assuage all parties.

    “It is important that they are taken into consideration because they have made sizeable investments,” the source counselled.

    Charles Ebuebu, Director-General of the NBC says: “We’re not just digitizing TV. We’re redefining access, storytelling and how Nigerians connect.”

    That sounds like  good music that can titillate any ears. However, here is my final observation. NBC is a regulator and cannot be involved in the day-to-day running of a broadcast platform. NigComSat is a satellite service provider that should be more into transponder leasing, among other services. NigComSat is not a last mile service provider. It’s struggles to do last mile services in the past created a lot of disaffections in an ancillary sectors. Just like a guy carrying an elephant on his head and attempting to sell cricket meat!

    Who will run The Big Picture platform? The razzle-dazzle idea may deserve more intentionality by the promoters and more scrutiny by relevant stakeholders, because it is quite easy for investment in broadcasting, including entertainment, to go kaput. History does not lie.

  • Like NCC, let transparency be the equalizer – By Okoh Aihe

    Like NCC, let transparency be the equalizer – By Okoh Aihe

    The directive by the Nigerian  Communications Commission (NCC), that telecom operators should pay compensation to their subscribers for prolonged network outages and also report such outages on the Commission’s Major Outage Reporting Portal, is a good one which aligns completely with the transparency garb the Commission has adorned over the years.

    “By providing consumers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotage to telecommunications infrastructure,” said Engr Edoyemi Ogor, Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity.

    The three types of network outages identified in the Directive on Reportage of Mobile Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), are as follows: Any network operational condition such as fibre cut due to construction/access issues/theft and vandalism and force majeure that impacts five per cent or more of the affected operator’s subscriber base or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs); having an occasion of unplanned outage of, or complete isolation of network resources in 100 or more sites or five per cent of the total number of sites (whichever is less) or a cluster that lasts for 30 minutes or more; and lastly, any form of outage that can degrade network quality in the top 10 states based on traffic volume as specified by the Commission from time to time.

    According to the Directive, service providers and other operators that provide last mile services, will have to provide proportional compensation, including extension of validity, as may be applicable and in line with the provisions of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations, where any major network outage continues for more than 24 hours.

    The NCC is only walking on familiar terrain in pushing the frontiers of its transparency policies with the expectations that they can improve the subscribers’ quality of experience on the various networks.

    For instance, after a rebasing of the telecommunications industry following the conclusion of the NIN-SIM Linkage Policy  of the government, the subscriber base of the industry tumbled from 219,304,281 in March 2024 to 153,323,316 in September of the same year. It was a most audacious step taken by the regulator, like treading in a terrain where only eagles dare.

    Without being mischievous, rebasing in this part of the world is a euphemism for cooking up figures, where inflation figures crash to the earth but pangs of hunger increase in the stomachs of the populace as many more slip into multidimensional poverty. Rebasing is like telling the untruth to make the relevant authorities happy. But the NCC broke ranks as it did something shockingly different from a tradition encouraged in the past. The regulator captured the development as a discrepancy in data submitted by a mobile network operator. Looking back now, it was much more than that because there were losers across networks.

    The loss by Globacom Nigeria (GLO) was the most substantive, shedding a whopping 42m lines. The organisation accommodated the development with unexpected equanimity and started a rebuilding process. The brand remains as strong as ever as it has managed to stave off what would have been very damaging to a comprehensive effort by a Nigerian organisation to rule the telecommunications world.

    9Mobile lost close to three million lines but this is only superficial in contemplation. The organisation has endured a checkered history which has taken it from a rambunctious height to an all time low of about 3.2m by January 2025. Over the years, it has lost over 20m lines which were probably not captured in the rebasing exercise.

    I want to humbly observe that in pursuit of transparency, the NCC has not been afraid to take some hard decisions that may have affected its history of achievements. It has not been afraid to take decisions that bruise the ego. The regulator simply waved off grandstanding for the truth. It is creating its own standards for which it is ready to be judged.

    For those ready to judge the industry so quickly, can we also have an equal measure of regulatory practice in other sectors so that we can really begin to lay the enduring foundation for a digital economy? Let’s take a cursory look at the power sector, for instance. The sector is regulated by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The agency has created competition in a market that is trying to divide only about 6000 megawatts of electricity for a population of about 230m people (no real figures, everything is based on estimates).

    So, there is a competition in the sector that hardly exists. The services are so poor and the operators so arrogant that complaining is like pouring water on a rock. It has little or no effect. There can be an outage for weeks and months and nobody really cares. People grumble as they operate their generators and solar/inverters, and they are on their own. The other day, the Presidency decided to tabernacle with the inconvenient truth by deciding to go for solar installation, either as primary or alternate source of energy? I am not sure NERC weighed the implications of such unusual development.

    Let’s take another tiny look at the aviation sector which is regulated by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Without water in my mouth here, let me state that Mr Festus Keyamo (SAN) remains about the best aviation minister that country has had in recent times. He is trying to lift the sector which is like trying to raise the titanic, so problems abound that confound even the best efforts.

    There are fewer planes flying in the Nigerian air now, that is not Keyamo’s problem. But delays and outright cancellations remain more manifest than punctuality. A 2pm fight can be pushed to 8pm at night. Yet the passenger remains grateful that the flight happened at all when he contemplates the scandalous headache of making the journey by road. There is a regulator in the sector which threatens fire and brimstone all the time, just to provide materials for the gullible media, nothing happens beyond public ostentation of anger. Complaints are overlooked well enough to discourage those who would ever build the spirit of remonstration.

    Foreign airlines come into Nigeria with funny looking planes but take a flight from Europe to any other part of the world, you get the clear difference between Coca Cola and 7UP,  between pure water and bottled water, and between light and darkness. Our aviation sector is so “down below” that the regulatory agency is unable to call the foreign airlines to order.

    What is the point in all these? That our regulatory agencies need to be able to look at what other agencies are doing in order to learn valuable lessons that can help fix their sectors and by extension contribute to building the larger economy. We really don’t need to import every valuable thing, including knowledge, from the outside world.

    It is my submission that there is so much that we can learn from the sincerity of NCC, an organisation that can sincerely introspect and demonstrate the boldness to fix its internal weaknesses and attract the glory concomitant with such bold endeavour.

  • One reguIator for the broadcast industry, please – By Okoh Aihe

    One reguIator for the broadcast industry, please – By Okoh Aihe

    I had no prior information that the Kano State Government sought help from the NBC before coming up with a landmark decision on live political broadcast early in the month. But my source at the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) said there was  indeed a stakeholders meeting on broadcasting early this year where the regulator, government and security forces cautioned on the need to trim incendiary on-air presentations that could lead to needless conflagration.

    Speaking at the meeting, Charles Ebuebu, Director General of the NBC, called on operators of the broadcast media to adhere to the core tenets of professionalism that are built on the foundations of creativity, innovation, truth, fairness, and respect, rather than embracing character assassination and defamation.

    The Kano State Government stated its readiness and  commitment to further engage with the operatives of the broadcast industry in Kano to promote the use of refined language in their broadcast. While representatives of the various security arms dropped their baskets of caution.

    It means that a level of intolerance and tension was being witnessed in the broadcast space, something building up which everyone concerned wanted to stop from exploding. But this hardly prepared Nigerians who  woke up on May 7, 2025, to find out that  the State Government has banned live political broadcasts on broadcast channels in Kano. In fact,  journalists are not to ask difficult and probing questions that could hurt the imperial status of the governor and his government.

    Premium Times succinctly captured the unfolding story in the following headline: “Kano govt bans live political programmes, issues interview guidelines to journalists.” This wasn’t the kind of story any media practitioner should be excited to read on a good morning but in our dear country, the impossible has become a common feature while the absurd enjoys accommodation and acceptance in nearly all quarters.

    The government actually released a statement after what officials claimed to be a meeting between the state and media executives. Key resolutions reached at the meeting are as follows: Anyone appearing on media platforms for interviews must sign an undertaking to refrain from making abusive, defamatory or culturally offensive remarks; A ban has been placed on live political programmes across media outlets to prevent the spread of inflammatory content; and Presenters were also banned from asking provocative questions or making suggestive gestures that could lead to suggestive statement capable of defaming individuals or damage the image of Kano State.

    The statement, titled: KNSG, Media Executives Unite to Uphold Ethical Broadcasting and Protect Cultural Values, was signed by Sani Abba Yola, Director, Special Duties, Kano State Ministry of Information  and Internal Affairs.

    It is all well to see a state government try to set new standards for the practice of journalism; after all this is Nigeria where the abracadabra is more likely to happen than the expected. The Nigerian Union of Journalists and the Nigerian Guild of Editors are better positioned to work with the state government, and indeed, actually work with the National University Commission to tinker with the teaching of journalism courses in our universities.

    But some of us fail to understand the level of confusion this kind of action can infuse into public discourse. Were the state government allowed to have its way willy-nilly, it would mean taking over the regulation of broadcasting in that state. It would also mean that the broadcast journalism profession of the state would have to be regulated on the whims and caprices of a politician burdened by layers of political overload. The Nigerian government saw through the seams of such political perfidy a long time ago, since 1992.

    The National Broadcasting Commission Act Cap N11, provides full cover for broadcast operations in Nigeria and also sets up the NBC to superintend the industry. Here are some powers of the Commission as stated in the Act: Receiving, processing and considering applications for the establishment, ownership or operation of radio and television stations; regulating and controlling the broadcast industry; and receiving, considering and investigating complaints from individuals and bodies corporate or incorporate regarding the contents of a broadcast and the conduct of a broadcast station.

    Others are:  establishing and disseminating a national broadcast code and setting standards with regard to the contents and quality of materials for broadcast; determining and applying sanctions including revocation of licences of defaulting stations which do not operate in accordance with the broadcast code and in the the public interest; and, wait for this, ensuring qualitative manpower development in the broadcast industry by accrediting curricula and programmes for all tertiary institutions that offer Mass Communication in relation to broadcasting.

    So, whatever resolutions were reached by the Kano State Government are fully covered by the Act guiding the broadcast industry. The pronouncement flies in the face of the law, and is a reckless political manoeuvre that could cause more harm than good. I do realise the temptations of power and the unregulated effect of hubris in full bloom; the politician with the yam and knife in ample irony of state power and state purse, dishing out piecemeal to those in full genuflection to his authority.

    There is so much that is happening in the political space and our politicians really don’t mind treading on the law, the Broadcast Act not excepted. The Nigerian politician reminds me of the story of the young man, Icarus, in Greek mythology, who was warned by his father, Daedalus, not to fly too close to the sun. But he wouldn’t listen. In blind ambition and hubris, Icarus soared close to the sun, and the wings melted; he came crashing to the earth!

    The ephemerality of power has little space in the construct of our politicians. For them, power has no end and everything should be deployed to the sustenance of such power. But where are the politicians of yesteryears?

    When the Broadcast Act started in the form of Decree 38 of 1992, some of the politicians enjoying the gossamer of hubris today were either in the university, if they attended any at all, or they were in high school. As they say we hardly have time to read any book, some may not also have read a little thing about separation of power. So, a little nudge here, if the governor is in charge of the state, the NBC is in charge of the broadcast industry and should be helped to enjoy its little space.

    Whichever broadcaster ever falls short of the law should be judged by the Broadcasting Act and its subsidiary, the Nigeria Broadcasting Code. No state should play the law but should, instead, enforce it.

  • Telecommunications – three hours in the past – By Okoh Aihe

    Telecommunications – three hours in the past – By Okoh Aihe

    The journey started in the bank and ended in the rain. Just a little transaction that demands your presence in the bank in one of those rare moments, since everything now comes at the press of a button, there was an indeterminate network downtime. So, you simply stay in the bank waiting for a miracle to happen, especially if your transaction is time bound and could really ruin your schedule in the days ahead.

    When they say the network is down in the bank, the blame usually goes to the telecoms operators whose services can really be frustrating sometimes, without ever considering the externalities that make their life and business unbearable. But as  I stood in the bank with red eyes, it simply dawned on me that banks will be banks who will always want to make profit from every Naira and every situation no matter how dire. Banks buy bandwidth or capacity to run their businesses, meaning that the more bandwidth they buy the better and more efficient their services could be. This could also affect the speed of some of their services.

    Trust the banks, dear friends, they would rather spend less on telecommunication services and put their customers through pain while conveniently passing the blame to the operators. It is the reason you can’t activate a new card. It is the reason you make a transfer and the money hangs, leading to unnecessary dispute between friends, brothers and business partners. The banks love profit, the sound of billions of Naira declared as profits, and even more, they appreciate the fame and luxury, and being the source of contents for social media and traditional media houses. But paying for the superstructure that plays an indispensable role in the money making machine, enjoys a last consideration just as the frustrations of their customers fall on their money padded thick skins.

    I saw a guy blow his top. The network is down and you kept me outside? Waiting for what? I didn’t want to add Godot! I am sure Samuel Beckett paid a futuristic visit to Nigeria before writing one of the best literary works ever, Waiting for Godot. And perhaps he spent a couple of hours in a Nigerian bank. Beckett died in 1989 before our telecommunications sector could witness real life. My point here is that the banks should be more resourceful and brilliant in resolving their tech glitches, since they are not INEC, instead of passing every of their failure to network outage from the telecom service providers.

    It was only the beginning of a long day. One had gone that day without power reinforcement for my phone since I wasn’t expected to do more than one and a half hours outside. But here we are, after doing a couple of hours in another bank, the phone battery was going down fast – just three percent. This is no good premonition. I like to hop on Uber and Bolt. Apart from one underlying reason, the only other reason is that inside the ride, one is able to talk to young Nigerians – boys and girls who feel letdown by their country, and always a point of encouragement that they should be strong and stay long enough for us to collectively turn the fortunes of the nation around as a people. Three percent battery time isn’t good enough.

    When I got out of the bank last Friday, the phone was dead. The signs were not good at all. The sky was overcast. The wind would soon follow as a troubling precursor to the rain. And when there are signs of rain in Abuja, AEDC would quickly switch off power, plunging the affected environment into soaked darkness. I do not understand why that happens except for reasons of inadequate understanding of its commitment to customers. I have always asked myself, what would happen if telecom service providers behave like power providers? Let’s leave the answers in the wind. But I am sure they will get a hammering from the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    I had navigated to an area where sheltering was difficult. Before the rain could unleash its torrents, I must find a place to give me a little hiding, and I found one, a restaurant that was in the dark and looked inoperative. Surprisingly, the chicken was good but cold. The generator was bad but business must go on even if AEDC does not understand the meaning of efficiency and responsibility to customers.

    This is it. No phone. No Uber. No Bolt. No communications with anybody. The faces you see around you need help and not in a position to render any. This is the meaning of lack, when you are in no position to achieve anything. The money in your pocket could even endanger your life instead of giving you access. The rain is unleashing its anger and the wind is equally ferocious. All this in about three hours!

    Sometimes I wish God could give some people the unpleasant opportunity of having a little slice of other people’s pain. There are deprivations all round, last Friday only gave me an opportunity to witness the full ugliness of phone deprivation. While one can admit that availability of phones is little pervasive, I will want to observe there are still so many people even within that availability that don’t have access. So, access gaps are not only available in places where there are no services but equally in environments where availability is profuse.

    In the days of yore, access gaps were addressed with pay phones, which never really gained traction in Nigeria because of corruption in the process of deployment. Pay phones are still available even in the developed west.

    When I shared my experience with my friend, he asked me only one question. How did we survive for this long without phones?

    Some of our children will not understand this question. Concerning phones, Nigeria lived in a world of extreme lack. The entire population of about 123m at the time scrambled for less than 500,000 lines. It was survival of the fittest. Life in the jungle, just to get a phone line.

    President Obasanjo changed that story and every successive administration has had to build on his efforts. But what is available is hardly enough. Service deployment has slowed by economic vicissitudes. In parts of the country, especially up north, telecommunications facilities have been bombed out or vandalised by bandits and herdsmen activities, or even the smell of danger driving operators away from putting facilities in place. In states like Kogi, the government has admitted to vandalising

    telecom facilities for the sake of tax collection. Without being part of the bargain, innocent Nigerians are denied modern telecom opportunities to connect with their loved ones.

    The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has always encouraged member states to initiate programmes that can give phones to the poor and extend services to underserved places. Only in 2022, the organisation said almost three quarters of the global population aged 10 and over now own a mobile phone, adding that youth aged 15-24 years are the driving force of connectivity, with 75 percent of young people worldwide now able to use the internet.

    It is difficult to estimate what percentage of our youth population or people of other demographics falls in the ITU figures. But there are gaps, very obvious gaps for which the government may be planning a frontal attack. Only on February 27, 2025, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved some projects as part of a broader strategy to bridge the digital divide and enhance connectivity in rural and underserved places, according to the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani.

    Bosun explained the position of the government that it had decided that if private capital couldn’t be available for these projects, the government would step in with actions that can ensure that connectivity gets to our people.

    That looks encouraging. It is not good for people to be unconnected at this age. There has to be a shared commitment between the government, NCC, USPF and the industry to work on deployment strategies that can take services to those living on the margins of  society. In three hours, this writer shared in their precarious world. I am not inviting those in authority to be part of this world but to encourage them to take urgent measures that can resolve these problems for the benefit of these ordinary folks who deserve a place under the sun that shines on our great country.

  • Resolving the telecoms service disruptions in Kogi State – By Okoh Aihe

    Resolving the telecoms service disruptions in Kogi State – By Okoh Aihe

    Just when you think you have heard or seen it all in the convoluting story that is the nation’s telecommunications industry, you find out that the story hasn’t really started at all. In fact, more things begin to emerge from the cauldron of mysteries in the manner of what they call stranger than fiction.

    Only last week, the misunderstanding between Kogi State and telecommunications service provider, MTN, boiled over, resulting in major service disruptions in the state. The likelihood of this development was very strange to my understanding because it didn’t look plausible that a state would intentionally want to jeopardise the possibility and opportunities for her people to communicate or transact business. But there it was, a normal business misunderstanding had been allowed to fester into a major wrench.

    My initial doubt was quickly evaporated by the harsh words billowing out from officials  of the Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency (KUIMCA) and Kogi Inland Revenue Service (KIRS), who accused MTN of refusing to comply fully with the rules of operation as stipulated in the official gazette guiding their operation in the state.

    “On my assumption of office last August, I went through their files and discovered that they have not fully complied with the rules guiding their operations in the state. I called them for a discussion where they complained of being overbilled concerning the area of the state covered by their optic fibre. I went with them for a verification exercise to assess their claim, which took about 4 days, and we found out they were even covering more areas than they claimed. We asked them to go and make the necessary payment, but MTN refused. That is why we sealed off their facilities after obtaining a court order to do so,” Dr Taofeeq Isah, Director General of the agency told a team of journalists.

    The action of the agency, this writer gathered, affected about 14 base stations, some of which are super base stations directly impacting about 147 sites. The agency cut some fibres and planted some state security personnel in the locations in order to effect a complete shut down. It is very likely that the shut down of the the operator’s services may be more extensive and damaging than the state can ever contemplate.

    This is not very comforting especially for a nation that considers telecommunications infrastructure as part of the national critical infrastructure that must be insilutated from wilful damage except through force majeure. The telecoms infrastructure is very much part of the nation’s security architecture which calls for maximum attention and protection today, especially because of growing security challenges. Which is why the action of the state should have attracted the attention of the National Security Adviser. I do not want to assume that his plate is too full to find a place for a very unlikely development that has lingered in Kogi for over two weeks.

    But does the State have a right to engage with operators and make some demands? It is my considered opinion that in a federation, Kogi is free to carry out engagements with those conducting businesses in the state but such engagements must be reasonable and within limits in order not to harm the state.

    There are always demands on any sector that is succeeding and the telecommunications sector has endured worse things, even globally. The sector is seen as low hanging fruits to bring easy money to the various governments. The belief is that operators are very rich.

    Only in 2023, in communications with the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), four major mobile operators – Airtel, Globacom, MTN and 9Mobile who are memebers of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), bemoaned a plethora of 54 different taxes levied on them which made it difficult for them to expand services or even make good returns, pleading with the regulator to take their concerns to the government.

    The pressure on the operators comes from the federal and state governments and Kogi only escalated the demand to an intolerable level in what looks more of sabotage backed by the state courts. For instance, a 2019 state law which makes right of way (RoW) renewable was also made retroactive and it put pressure on operators to make all kinds of payments. The state law is a subect of litigation.

    If you ask my opinion, Kogi State shouldn’t be on the lane it is at the moment. I will give a few reasons. One. Kogi state is like an ‘ungoverned space’ in terms of telecoms development and deployment. Only recently, this writer raised alarm that going through the state, there was hardly any service in the major roads leading into and out of Kogi. Should there be an emergency what will the person on the road do?

    Two. This writer is aware that the regulator has been making appeals to state governments to waive right of way (RoW) charges so as to attract more investments that will in turn lead to development. At the moment, seven states have jumped on board while quite a number are on the waiting list, weighing all the options. It is nearly anachronistic or even anathema to be making the kind of oppressive revenue demands with officials making a gloat of their action.

    Three. And this should be of grave concern to the Kogi government. The state should worry about people’s impression of its activities. Two industry sources told this writer that Kogi is the worst state to do business in Nigeria because officials torment business operators with state laws and state courts.

    They maintained that blinded by its revenue objective, the state doesn’t care about what happens to its people. “The implication of what is happening is that they are destroying the economy of the state while punishing their people. What is happening is strange and the victims are the people,” they explained.

    They also informed that businesses watch how other corporate bodies are being treated. No investor will want to go to Kogi in a hurry, they said.

    I am persuaded to agree with them. My position always is that as a people our fidelity to statistics is highly questionable.  It’s either we base our population on projections and assumptions or we are forever rebasing to generate friendly figures. Were the Kogi state government to do an  impact analysis of its action on the people and businesses in the areas affected, I am sure it would have canvassed for a more conciliatory resolution. But there will always be the hardliners who are ever ready to push the government over the cliff with sugar-coated arguments based on illogic. Unfortunately, they always have the prominent seats at the table.

    The telecoms impasse in Kogi State has no place in common sense. The state is on a path not steeped in modernity. Perception of the state is already very bad – in the news for violent politics and sundry criminality. The state should be doing more to attract investors and not drive them away. Telecoms is a ready product to market a state.

  • OKOH AIHE: For AI, another layer in the stack?

    OKOH AIHE: For AI, another layer in the stack?

    By Okoh Aihe.

    The unveiling of the Artificial Intelligence Collective last week by Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, is a good call by the Nigerian government to play a lead role in the development and deployment of AI to resolve socio-economic challenges while developing new opportunities.
    The Collective is a gathering of experts and distinguished personalities from the tech industry, communications, academia, civil society and the private sector which, in the expectation of the government, will develop a strategy to build a sustainable AI ecosystem, one that supports innovation while safeguarding ethics and inclusion.
    AI is more than the new kid on the block. It’s a monster that holds the keys to future economic growth and development. It has the capacity to do virtually anything, except probably standing on a street corner and whispering some love notes to a friend. AI has no feelings but has the capacity to achieve good.

    My judgement call derives from the Minister’s conscious effort to put the country on the front row in building out an AI ecosystem that will be of more benefit to the nation while providing a template for the rest of the continent. There are always benefits for those who make the first move at the dawn of new technologies. They enjoy the advantages of the first movers.
    History is replete with such developments as humanity is always pushing the frontiers of knowledge and putting technology to test in the most esoteric way. There is always a harvest of glory and then wealth.

    Look at this. The space race started in the 50s. The Soviet Union of which Russia remains the most visible surviving face, sent the Sputnik into space in October 1957. The development was too much for America to stomach as the country’s President, J.F. Kennedy challenged his nation to land a man on the moon between 1960 and 1970. By July 1969, the objective was achieved as Apollo11 docked three men on the moon who planted an American flag in that planet hitherto unreached by man.

    Since then the wisdom in President Kennedy’s positon not to concede the importance of space to any other nation of the world is only too obvious. More countries of the world have joined the space race. Our dear country, Nigeria, even had to contact the Chinese to build a satellite for us to have a leg in the space business. Space technology has become a big boom for businesses. You can’t fly a plane without space technology. You can’t steer a ship without space technology.

    Telecommunications and broadcasting are dead without space technology. In fact, life may actually be put on hold without space technology. Call that hyperbole! It only adds colour to our exaggerated beliefs.
    At the moment, fun has become an element of the game. Only recently, billionaire Jeff Bezos, flew an all female crew into space with his Blue Origin rocket. Within 11 minutes of return flight, the six women got beyond the limits of the earth into that space of weightlessness before returning in a capsule. And perhaps too tucked into her seat to enjoy an opportunity to wave to God, pop star, Katy Perry, burst into Louis Armstrong’s song, What a Wonderful World. CBS reporter, Gayle King called it the highlight of the journey for her, according to a BBC report of the event.
    Another billionaire, Elon Musk, who has become more of a politician lately, with his SpaceX, has long redefined the history of space technology, going beyond tourism to even sending a crew for space rescue mission recently from the International Space Station (ISS).
    British billionaire, Richard Branson, wouldn’t let the Americans have the entire space to themselves alone. Virgin Galactic planned a monthly tour to space. A ticket is said to cost a hefty $450,000 from $200,000; while in the summer of 2021, Blue Origin once auctioned a seat for $28m!

    So there is so much to benefit from new technologies beyond the veneer of politics. And methinks the minister is not playing politics but genuinely concerned about Nigeria benefiting from this new genre of technology with the capacity to have a profound impact on humanity well into the foreseeable future.
    At the Paris AI Summit in February 2025 where Nigeria was present fortunately, the global community came to pitch for their countries. For instance, Vice President JD Vance who represented the United States argued that of the projected $700bn investment in AI by 2028, half of the money should come to his country because of the attraction it presents.
    Dr Tijani said at the time that “Artificial Intelligence is an opportunity for humanity to be better, and we cannot afford to take our eyes off it.” He is also very concerned about Nigeria leading AI discourse in the global south where needs and direction are different from what obtains in the developed north.

    But more of the strategy was about the country last week. “The country’s model involves identifying and engaging with Nigerian researchers and experts in AI, both locally and internationally, to develop a comprehensive strategy that addresses the nation’s specific needs and challenges,” he said.
    From the personalities present at the launch, including Prof Olayinka David-West, Dean, Lagos Business School, and Dr Olubayo Akanmbi, CEO, Data Science Nigeria, representatives of relevant industries and their positive positions expressed, this writer has little room for doubt. However, there is some fear that this launch shouldn’t be another layer upon the stack of problems waiting to gain serious attention in the tech ecosystem or in the government basket of issues waiting to be addressed.

    There are quite a number of them but I will pick only two for the purpose of this writing. The mobile industry is projected to hit $11trillion in economic value and 8.4 percent of global GDP by 2030. Without doubt Nigeria is expected to benefit from this economic windfall.

    Unfortunately, the regulator of the telecommunications industry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), whose duty it is to curate the process and ensure such benefits, has not been able to recover from the harassment received under the previous administration. It is therefore reasonable to observe that without being spruced up in terms of training and necessary financial provision, the organisation may find it difficult to meet expectations from critical stakeholders. It is in the interest of the government for the NCC to once again wear the ironclads of the regulator and be able to meet even the most basic aspirational expectations of these stakeholders.

    The Minister may tell me that he is not in charge of the broadcast industry and its regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) but the activities can hardly be separated. Look at it this way. The Digital Switchover (DSO) that should have ended in 2021 has hardly moved a needle. This writer is not aware of any timetable at the moment to bring the process to a conclusion.

    The attraction at the time was that a proper execution of DSO would free up some broadcast frequencies for telecom services. Apart from bringing more money to the coffers of the government, the new frequencies will help to deepen telecommunication service availability and penetration. A minister so desirous of growing the telecoms industry with the aim of introducing new bouquets of services should take more than a cursory interest in the DSO process and encourage his broadcast counterpart with shared and beneficial opportunities.
    As a writer, I have long understood the emptiness of words, how cheap they can be, according to Prof Femi Osofisan, and the need for those in government to go beyond the confines of words. I encourage Dr Bosun Tijani to match his enthusiasm with action and add the agility of youthfulness to achieve the kind of results that history cannot ignore. He doesn’t need to be told that technology can be very harsh in documenting our efforts for posterity.

  • One good move and a false step – By Okoh Aihe

    One good move and a false step – By Okoh Aihe

    The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has seen the light, seemingly. He has been speaking about the readiness of the Nigerian government to transform the nation’s legacy broadcast outfits, NTA and Voice of Nigeria, into modern broadcast operations that will be reflective of the expectations of the people, especially government, and broadcast aficionados.

    Idris spoke at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he saw the real broadcast world that obviously sent him into delirium about what Nigeria can also do to fall in line with modern broadcasting. NAB combines state-of-the-art broadcast equipment exhibition with high-end conference and seminar presentations.  

    Last year on this column, we wrote: “If you are a regulator, like the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which superintends the nation’s broadcast industry, Vegas is the place to be this April (2024) because at the NAB Show, there is so much knowledge available, so much expert information and master classes from the industry – manufacturers, vendors, software developers, programmers and even entertainers, that the regulator must soak itself in the midst without giving only the operators the opportunity for such knowledge. The regulator must be steps ahead if it is to provide proper regulatory direction and leadership for the industry.”

    But knowing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had placed a moratorium on official international travels at the time because of abuse in some quarters and the need to preserve much needed funds, we had argued: “But life doesn’t have to stop because of the stupidity and failing of others. This is why I want to make a case this morning. The broadcast regulator should be allowed to be in Vegas this April for the good of industry and country. A year out of Vegas by the regulator is like a year out of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). It may take several decades to catch up, and the world and its inventions do not wait for the sluggardly.”

    I am not sure Nigeria was officially represented at NAB last year. Such information was very painful to bear because such absence drains the industry of requisite knowledge. 

    This year the story is different as the Minister led a team to NAB, which includes: Charles Ebuebu, Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Salihu Dembos, Director-General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA); Ali Muhammad Ali, Managing Director, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN); Lekan Fadolapo, Director-General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON); Jibril Ndace, Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), among others.

    Without doubt, the Minister was in good company as he took with him top officials of relevant government agencies who may be the ones to execute any plan put in place to revamp the industry. “Strategic communication is essential to ensuring that the policies of the Renewed Hope Agenda reach the Nigerian people effectively,” he said.

    Idris, according to reports, had the listening ears of Thomas King, Chairman, KINTRONIC Laboratories; Khiran Keerodhur, Chief Operating Officer, Thompson Broadcast; and Gianluca Baccalini, Chief Operating Officer, Systems Engineering, and some others.

    This year’s theme, The Tech, The Trend, The Future, captures every nuanced  reasoning and approximation of all-round development and growth of the broadcast  industry. The theme curates today’s industry happenings and contemplates a tomorrow that accommodates emerging broadcast trends and technologies no matter how expansive. It is hoped that the Minister can move beyond words to rescue the government stations from their antiquated state of being where they hibernate as industry dodos and dinosaurs, far beneath the private stations which have set the pace since broadcast deregulation in 1992.

    Also last week, there was another significant development. The NBC placed broadcast restrictions on “Tell Your Papa” by Rap musician, Eedris Abdulkareem, as content was “deemed inappropriate for broadcast due to its objectionable nature. It is therefore classified as Not To Be Broadcast (NTBB), as it violates Section 3.1.8 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.”

    The copy of the Code I have states in Section 3.8.1a as follows: “The Broadcaster shall ensure that obscene, indecent, vulgar language, lewd and profane expression, presentation or representation are not allowed in a programme.”

    There is almost a seismic outrage. Since the song has not been banned in our private devices or homes or even in the social media, a majority of the people who have listened to it can’t really see anything mendacious in Eedris message to the Nigerian President through his son, Seyi, who, himself has roiled public sensibilities with outlandish claims about his father’s performance in office. 

    Eedris has his commanding view of reality which is expressed in the lyrics of Tell  Your Papa, part of which is stated here. “Seyi, tell your papa country hard. Tell your papa people dey die. Tell your papa this one don pass jagajaga,” he said. 

    Can reality or the truth be outlawed from our public spaces? No one can stop the creative artist from enjoying  his creative juice even if that may be bitter to some people, which is unfortunate and patently insincere. Are there no killings around the country? What is happening on the Plateau currently? Can it be lobotomised out of reality?

    Global literary icon and foremost Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, has ventilated his mind on the Eedris ban. In a statement he said: “Courtesy of an artist operating in a different genre – the cartoon – who sent me his recent graphic comment on the event, I learnt recently of a return to the culture of censorship with the banning of the product of a music artist, Eedris Abdulkareem…..

    “We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. We know where it all ends. It is boring, time-wasting, diversionary but most essential of all, subversive of all seizures of the fundamental right of free expression,” he observed. 

    Prof Soyinka couldn’t miss the dose of irony as he pointed out that, “The ban is a boost to the artist’s nest egg. Mr Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank. I envy him.”

    The Nobel Laureate understands what it is for the artist to be repressed by the state. His experiences during the Nigerian Civil War may be too remote for our social media generation who attack his pronouncements, although they hardly understand the language he speaks. Eedris, although much junior to Soyinka in every scale of societal ranking, encapsulates every aspect of the statement. 

    He had been there before. Protest music seems to be his forte. In the book, The Handkerchief – The Story of High Chief Raymond Anthony Aleogho Dokpesi, Eedris shared his experience under President Obasanjo. “Everybody knows that identity. The identity will give you who  I am and what I stand  for. In 2004, I dropped the song, Nigeria Jagajaga and President Obasanjo came to the national TV and said, “That boy wey sing Nigeria Jagajaga, na your papa and your mama Jagajaga. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. From a nobody, the President made me somebody,” Eedris recalled with some pride. 

    When President Obasanjo responded to Eedris in his characteristic acerbic humour, the matter was literally over. But times have changed, and the reading of signs and reality have been tainted by prejudiced views of patriotism and warped interpretation of official responsibilities. 

    By placing NTBB on Tell Your Papa, NBC has only achieved the opposite effect – drawing attention to a song people hardly knew was in existence. It is even worse now because Nigerians are angrier that the broadcast regulator is denying them necessary channels/opportunities of reaching the President with pressing legitimate complaints that may spur him into doing something about their desperate concerns and receding expectations. It was a wrong move by NBC from every interpretation; a ricochet of sorts. 

  • From Irrua to Abuja, a telecom user’s experience – By Okoh Aihe

    From Irrua to Abuja, a telecom user’s experience – By Okoh Aihe

    It is certainly very refreshing to step out of your little bubble of comfort and visOkoh it some other parts of the country, especially for a good cause – the Reunion of ACCIOBA ‘79 Set, the Annunciation Catholic College Old Boys who left school in 1979. Please, don’t add 46 years ago so that you don’t make us look like ancestors!

    Nobody knew what to expect, a little apprehension you may want to add. But the organisers, Commodore Christian Anuge, Chris Okoh (Okoho) and Henry Edekor had built up a package which stamped equality on everybody in attendance, just the way we were when we got into ACC, all innocent children, although the bones are much stronger now.

    There was some level of kindergarten candour to see faces of 46 years ago, now furrowed in experience and wizened by the vicissitudes of life, Dr Paschal Isele (Senior Prefect – SP), Dr Peter Okojie (Petito), Prof David Ogbeifun (Time Keeper), Peter Ativie (Kalamazoo), Lucky Igbeneoise (Picolo), Gabriel Uwagbor (CJ), Philip Okaro (Food Prefect – Ebale) and Prof Matthew Ighalo who gave the charge to the students, and many more. Prof Ogbeifun had not forgotten where the big bell was in the school compound, and Isele still had that commanding voice to call his colleagues to order.

    The ‘79 Set is leading the front to restore ACC to its glory days and make it a frontline secondary school in Edo State. In addition to the efforts of the Set which has embarked on various projects, individual members like Peter Okojie and Godfrey Ekhomu are executing massive building projects that are totally transforming the landscape of the school.

    There was palpable joy which attained a peak when we visited former Vice Principal, Mr A. U. Osobase who attained 85 years on March 5, 2025. Still maintaining an unbowed height and a noticeable dignity, he could read without glasses. It was a pot of fun recollecting old stories laced with childhood mischiefs and responses by a no-nonsense VP who was also the Physics teacher. Osobase remains a valuable bridge to a past that we shall cherish into eternity.

    One thing though, the government should at least show some presence in that school to encourage the efforts of the Old Boys who are investing a lot of money. For instance, Engr Austine Omobude built a big Health Centre which is also serving the   health needs of the host community.

    However, this writer observed that whether it was at dinner in the evening or some interesting moments at the poolside of Heam Hotel at Ewu, there was frustration for people who wanted to reach out to their loved ones, whether in Nigeria or abroad. Quite a number of us came from the US and the UK, and even as some of us, local folks couldn’t get across to anybody most of the time. The conclusion was predictable. There was no network or the network was poor.

    And this hurts. Since the tipping point of the telecommunications industry in the early 2000, poor network has remained a troubling refrain. In whatever part of the country you go, the experience remains the same. The regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) responded by creating quality of service thresholds for industry operators. That doesn’t appear to have worked at all.

    Late last year, when the Commission shared information on its activities, it changed that concept to quality of experience. So, it is not  the operator supplying data from its equipment headend to validate its output, but this time, the experience by the  user of the services. Like they say in my part of the country, it is the one bearing the load that is able to say how heavy it is.

    I have told my story several times and will continue to do so until the nation is able to build a robust telecommunications network which can give users a good experience. On Monday, during the long drive with my friend and classmate, Dr Sylvanus Iriogbe, I did some quality of service monitoring, as crudely as it could be. I know that the NCC used to have a number of drive-through digitally equipped vehicles for quality of service monitoring. I have no idea how many they are now and whether they are able to traverse this vast nation even in the face of security challenges. But they did exist and I want to believe they are still functioning.

    On Monday I didn’t have to wait for their state-of-the-art digital vehicles. It was a long drive from Ishan to Abuja. And that is what we suffer, dear friends. If you are from Ishan and are in a position to do air travel, so many permutations will assail your mind. Fly into Benin and take a long drive to Ishan, the roads are not very friendly. The people are expecting the various governments to play their role. If you choose the Asaba option and take an airport vehicle, you tabernacle with loneliness on very bad roads and, sometimes, face herdsmen’s menace. At some point, you have to carry your worries like that bird which grew a big head to carry its troubles.

    I had lots of worries on the road that day but since the regulator has introduced what they call user experience instead of quality of service, there was an extra worry. I held my phone all the time, trying to make as much connections as possible. All the way, through Agbede, Auchi, Okpila, Okene, Lokoja, Abaji, Gwagwalada, quality of experience didn’t give so much joy.

    But there is something more frightening. When you get into some stretch of land where there is not so much of human habitation, the network disappears almost completely. And here is my worry, what happens when there is an emergency on the road? In a land where ambulance services are hardly available and too many things in life too uncertain, who takes care of the travelers on the road?

    There are too many reasons for the nation to improve its telecommunications network and even for the regulator to encourage operators to do so. The global economy doesn’t give so much encouragement but that shouldn’t be the headache of the innocent subscriber who just wants to talk or do simple business.

    I agree with the NCC when they introduced user experience. I am saying without equivocations that my experience on the road on Monday wasn’t inspiring. The regulator and operators must take some extra measures to give subscribers some level of service comfort.