THE HISTORY OF THE NIGERIAN TELELVISION
BY:
Ifedayo Akinwalere
TEL: 08033936940
March 03, 2013
March 03, 2013
These
days what people think about nearly every issue, be it politics, religion,
government, fashion, culture, is almost exclusively influenced by television
(Akpan, 2008).
Television
is a new medium that would not only convey messages but convey it accurately
with audio and visual details of the message.
Ajibade (2010), states that “no news medium anywhere in the world exists
in a vacuum. News media operate within
clearly defined environments, which influence the development and growth of the
mass media and are, in turn, influenced by the mass media. These environments include social, political,
economic, technological and cultural factors that dictate the direction of
growth and development of the mass media as social institutions”.
Like
man, whose character and dispositions or attitudes are shaped by the kind of
environment in which he grows up as a child, the Nigerian press is a product of
various influences it has experienced from its formative years till today. The fortunes of the Nigerian press continue
to be dictated by social, political and economic factors, e.t.c.). The main objective of this paper is to detail
how socio-political and economic factors have moulded the ‘character’ of the
Nigerian television since 1959 the premier of the then Western Region, the
Legendary Chief Obafemi Awolowo established the Western Nigerian Television
(WNTV) in Ibadan.
FACTORS RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE GROWTH OF TELEVISION ARE:
POLITICAL FACTORS
Political
factor was the main influence that brought about the inception. Television broadcasting started in Nigeria in
October 1959, who the then premier of Western Region, the legendary, Chief Obafemi
Awolowo established the Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) in Ibadan. It was the
first station in Africa.
It
is interesting to note that the establishment of Africa’s first television
station in Ibadan was as a result of the urgent need for the press coupled with
the protest borne out of the socio-political disagreement between the leader of
opposition, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the central government.
In
1953, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of the Action Group, which controlled the
Western Region, criticized the newly introduced Macpherson constitution for
falling short of the expectations of the nationalists. The then British Governor General, Sir John
Macpherson went to Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and made a broadcast in
defense of the constitution and accused Awolowo of unfaithfulness. Chief Awolowo wanted NBS to give him equal
time to make a rebuttal of the allegations against him, but his request was not
granted.
This
event led to the demand for the incorporation of NBS as public property and the
establishment of separate individual regional (Western Nigeria Broadcasting
Station), independent of federal government control.
Fortunately,
there was a constitutional conference that was held in July 1953. At the conference, broadcasting was removed
from the exclusive list and included in the concurrent list. So the Nigerian
constitution of 1954 provided that regional governments could establish
broadcasting services.
The
Western region blazed the trail on October 1, 1959 by establishing the first TV
not only in Nigeria but also in Africa.
The former Eastern region followed suit in October 1, 1960 by
establishing its own television broadcasting stations.
Both
the Western and Eastern Regions went into partnership with British overseas
Rediffusion Ltd; which constructed and managed their broadcasting systems. They eventually paid off the company. In 1962, the Northern Region established its
own broadcasting systems.
The
Regional broadcasting systems were completely independent of the Federal Government. The only relationship between them was that
the regions needed to get frequency allocation from the Federal Government.
The
regionalization of the broadcasting media later led to ethnic or tribal
loyalties. The modern mass media were
used as instruments for the circulation of regional interests, which were
sometimes conflicting. Regional
interest, integration and awareness were given priority above national
integration and unity. During political
crises, regional media became more powerful than NBC. WNTV
was to be commercial company, making maximum profit to sustain itself. That was why overseas Rediffusion Ltd, was
involved in the project.
ECONOMIC FACTOR
Economic
factor was responsible for the future of television broadcasting in Nigeria. According to Uche (1989), “the Western Nigeria
television service was established by an Act of the Region’s House
Parliament. Although it soon became the
richest commercial television broadcasting organisation in the entire
federation.
The
growth and development of the Nigerian press has always been influenced by
economic factor especially right from the inception of state broadcasting. Broadcasting is owned and managed by both the
Federal and State Governments. The
Federal and State Governments are the sole bodies that fund their individual
broadcasting organisations in the country.
While the various states broadcasting organisations have been engaging
in commercial broadcasting since the inception, the Federal Government did not
allow its own broadcasting system to go commercial unity August 1, 1987.
According
to Uche (1989:45) “there was a token opposition in the Federal House of
Parliament when the NBC wanted to start accepting commercial
advertisements. People feared that those
who would sponsor programmes would influence their contents. Moreover, the NBC had been modelled after the
BBC as a public service corporation. But
for the fact that the state broadcasting system had gone commercial, NBC
management argued that it too should be allowed to go commercial so as to
subvert some of its huge expenses. In
November, 1960, NBC began to accept advertisements when the act of
incorporation was amended.
However,
during the Murtala/Obasanjo military administration, the NBC (FRCN) was barred
from accepting advertisement and getting involved in commercial broadcasting.
The
military argument was that it was developed as a public utility and as such it
should aid the government in its development campaigns. It was feared that permission to go
commercial might affect the policies and orientation of the management. When the fourth military coup d’état occurred
on December 31, the FRCN management made a series of representations to the
military authorities through the Federal Minister of Information, (himself a
military officer) to justify why it should be allowed to go commercial. It claimed that going commercial would enable
it to generate a substantial portion of its annual subvention to argument
whatever subsidy the Federal Government makes available to it. The Federal Military Government gave the
FRCN’s representation a series thought.
But it eventually rejected it.
The
ousted Shagari civilian administration also turned down a similar request by
the FRCN to be allowed to go commercial.
As a matter of fact, during the Onosode commission on Federal Government
parastatals, the FRCN through its former Director-General, George Bako,
voluntarily opted to remain in the unified salary structure system of the civil
service commission. Its management
openly admitted that it (the FRCN) could not generate 100% of its annual
revenue without federal Government bail-out.
But the fact remains that millions of dollars were being lost as a
result of the government policy of not permitting the FRCN to go
commercial… The Babangida
administration, determined to force profit-oriented public corporations to
generate their own incomes, permitted the FRCN to go commercial with effect
from August 1, 1987”.
The
commercialization of broadcasting in Nigeria actually signalled the entrenchment
of professionalism in broadcasting industry in Nigeria.
EDUCATION
Provision
of educational for the use of schools or other educational institutions was one
of the reasons for the establishment of NBC.
The NBC ordinance provides also for both federal and regional boards of
NBC. It made the corporation an
independent policy-making body.
Members
of the board, chairman, chairmen of regional boards, ten others to be appointed
by the president of the nation and a D-G as ex-officio member.
The
functions of the regional boards were similar to those of the federal board
except that the regional boards were additionally required to design adequate
programmes that would educate the people in line with the region. According to Uche (1989:61), the proponents
of Western Nigeria Television had argued in the regional house of Assembly that
the necessity of such a medium was its utility as an additional means of
improving the regional school systems that were handicapped by the shortage by
the shortage of qualified teachers in certain subject areas. They also argued that such a medium would act
as a surrogate “teacher” in those understaffed schools in the region. The potential ability of television to
enhance educational objectives at both primary (grade) and secondary (high)
school levels and adult education became over-riding factor for the
establishment of the western Nigeria Television (WNTV)…”
The
ensuring activities of various individual stations in the area of educational
broadcasting were to follow this laudable initiative by the Ministry of
Education. The various educational
programmes were run either in consonance with the curriculum and recommendation
of the Ministry of Education or Independent of the ministry, but in line with
the peculiarities and philosophy of each
individual station (Onabajo:2000).
The
various transformation and development that Nigerian broadcasting industry had
witnessed so far, reflects in the educational broadcasting aspect of its
activities with a lot of programmes targeted at the various segments of its
audience (Onabajo op. cit. 7).
When
modern television broadcasting system came to Nigeria, they were specifically
introduced to provide adequate services in education, social and economic
development. They were also to transmit the
Nigerian and African cultures, tradition, politics, literature, drama, and
entertainment. The devotion of Nigeria’s
television to education when they were newly introduced becomes quite apparent
when we see that of six and one-half hours that the WNTV was on the air each
day (Monday through Friday), it transmitted educational programmes from 11:00am
to 2.00pm to about one hundred schools equipped with television receivers in
the region; while the transmitting hours of the ENTV, Enugu, were just as
devoted to educational broadcasting as those of the WNTV (Uche 1989:63).
GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION
The
Federal Government established its own station NBC-TV in Lagos in 1962. The mass media are undoubtedly the major
instrument of political competition. The political parties used and abused
broadcasting to win supported nationally.
In
1969, a military regime had taken over the administration and Nigeria had
broken up into 12 states. These new
states which did not have television stations proceeded to make plans for
them. Between 1973 and 1974, the fifth
(in Benin) and the sixth in (Jos) stations were established by the Midwest and
Benue –m Plateau state respectively.
In
1975, when another military came on board, it further split Nigeria into 19
states in 1976: Anambra, Bauchi, Bendel, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Benue, Borno, Cross
River, Gongola, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Plateau Rivers, and
Sokoto.
The
military administration enacted Decree No 24 of 1976; the decree established
the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
The NTA was established to:
(a) Take over all the existing television
stations.
(b) Plan
for, establish and operate new stations in the state capitals without
television. The idea was that only a
single organisation, the NTA,
should operate television broadcasting in Nigeria and on behalf of the Federal
Government.
The
charter NTA required it “to ensure an independent and impartial service which
will operate in the national interest, to give adequate expression to culture,
characteristics and affairs of the different parts of Nigeria”.
Between
the creation of the new state and the promulgation of the decree, four new TV
stations came on stream in Port-Harcourt (River State) Sokoto (Sokoto state),
Kano (Kano state) and Owerri (Imo State).
With
the establishment of NTA, all the television stations in Nigeria assumed the
name “NTV” with the addition of only the name of state capitals in which the
stations were located. The new stations
were:
(a) NTV – Abeokuta (1978/79)
(b) NTV
– Akure (1978/79)
(c) NTV
– Bauchi (1978/79)
(d) NTV
– Calabar (1978/79)
(e) NTV-Ilorin
(179/79)
(f) NTV-Maiduguri
(1978/79)
(g) NTV-Makurdi
(1978/79)
(h) NTV-Minna (1978/79)
(i) NTV-Tejuoso
(1980/81)
(j) NTV-Yola
(1978/79)
On
October 1, 1979, the military government handed over power to civilian
president and Nigeria began to operate a new constitution, which permitted
states to establish and operate all the broadcasting media. Thus, the states started to re-establish and
operate TV stations to compete with the exiting national television network,
NTA. By 1983, states had established 11
televisions stations.
1. LTV – Ikeja
2. OSTV
– Akure
3. OGTV
– Abeokuta
4. BDTV
– Benin UPN
5. OYOTV-
Ibadan
6. IMTV
– Owerri
7. ATV
– Enugu NPP
8. Plateau
TV – Jos
9. Borno
TV – Maiduguri GNPP
10. Gongola
TV – Kano
11. City
TV – Kano PRP
States
that were under the leadership of NPN did not set up television stations
because the national network, NTA, was under the control of NPN at the Federal
level.
Promotion of cultural heritage of the people is one
of the motives behind setting up of National, regional and states radio
broadcasting stations in Nigeria and this has greatly aided the growth and
development of broadcasting industry in the country. The functions of the regional boards of NBC
were similar to those of the federal board except that the regional boards were
additionally required to give adequate expression to the culture of the people
where they are located.
The
NBC was renamed FRCN in April, 1978. The
external service of Radio Nigeria – Voice of Nigeria. It is to project the personality, culture,
and traditions of the people of Nigeria to the outside world, and to broadcast
news of international significance in keeping with the foreign policy of
Federal Government.
The
stations are grouped in their respective zones on the basis of similarities in
linguistics and cultural affinity, and the factor of geographical contiguity.
FOREIGN CULTURAL INFLUENCE
The
construction and early management of broadcasting systems in Nigeria came under
the auspices of some foreign companies.
These foreign companies jointly owned the media with the Federal
(Central) and regional governments… however, the consequence of foreign
ownership and construction of the broadcasting system was that these foreign
owners defined the concept of broadcasting and media management in
Nigeria. This was primarily based upon
the operative norms in their home countries, which became their cultural
referents in their programme preferences and priorities (Uche, Op. cit. 76).
Sequel
to the stated reasons, foreign culture from industrialized countries has
universal influence over the media programme preference of media administration
in Nigeria. This has greatly threatened
local cultural autonomy and awareness.
It is assumed that there is cultural imposition on the people of Nigeria
from the media source countries. Their
contents constitute cultural frame of reference to most viewers in Nigeria.
The
controversy is that the foreign ownersh8p of these stations was phased out as
the nation assumed a more militant role.
Then, after this, Nigeria had and still has the option to define her own
broadcasting. Therefore, can be now say
that foreign culture was imposed on Nigerians or actively invited by
Nigerians? It cannot be disputed that
foreign culture is one of the factors that shaped the history of the Nigerian
radio broadcasting industry. The
evidence is obvious in today’s programmes and music on radio stations. Nigerian traditional music is struggling to survive.
INCREASE IN POPULATION
AND NEED FOR INFORMATION
Following the annexation of Lagos as a British
colony and the consequent increase in political activities as well as boom in
trade, the population of Lagos began to increase as people from the hinterland
started to troop into take advantage of the various educational and commercial
opportunities. With the phenomenal rise
in population, there was the need to keep the people informed about public
affairs.
Naturally,
this increased the need for information among the residents of Lagos. (Ajibade: 2010).
Akinfeleye
(2003:44-45) “There are (95) Ninety-five radio stations in Nigeria according to
my latest interview with the officials of FRCN and NBC.
The
95 radio stations are distributed as follows:-
Federal
Government owned radio – 37 stations.
FRCN
– (5 Network stations located in Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Kaduna and Abuja.
They
are both AM and FM stations.
And
32 New FM stations making a total of 37 radio stations for the Federal
Government.
State
radio stations are (36) Thirty-six in number. While private radio stations are
22 in number with the following classification – 18 – private radio stations.
Four
private but specialized radio stations.
The
four private but specialized stations in Nigeria are:
1. Atlantic FM station – for French programmes.
2. Spectrum
FM station – for Hard News
3. Brilla
FM – Mainly for sports.
4. UNILAG
FM radio station – for education and academic programmes”.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTOR
Technological
factor is another important factor that has great influence on the broadcasting
destiny of the country. At the onset of
the 21st century, a number of issues relating to broadcasting
arising both locally and internationally.
Locally some of these issues are as simple as they attempt to redefine
news or even broadcasting itself. Others
are as complex as globalization and intricate technological implication.
There
may be no universally accepted resolution of some of these issues but it is
essential to have stimulating discusses to explore the various ramifications
and implication of the technological issue.
One of the advantages that the broadcasting industries and indeed
journalism has enjoyed over the years is receptivity to new idea and abundance
of such ideas.
With
the deregulation of Nigeria broadcasting industry with decree 38 of 1992, new
era of broadcasting began. Prior to
this, only Federal and state government enjoyed the exclusive right of
dissemination through broadcasting. The
privatization of the industry allows the rich businessmen that invest in the
industry to purchase and utilize modern information communication such as cable
system, satellite services, digital facilities to broadcast to the nation. These communication facilities help to relay
programmes more efficiently and cost effectively than terrestrial relay facilities. Communication satellites have reduced the
operating costs of stations, systems and networks. Satellites, more than any other technology,
have made it possible for modern cable and other media to flourish. Although they are more economical for long
distance signal relay than traditional telephone lines and microwave relays,
however satellites and the equipment associated with them remain expensive.
A
number of issues relating to professionalism in the Nigerian broadcasting
industry have been raised, while some argued that professionalism is far from
the Nigerian broadcasting industry, others believed that there are
professionals in the industry. A number
of factors go into the making of a professional. These include training, experience and other
factors. It is generally believed that a
professional handles programmes just excellently and speedily, this he does
with self confidence.
As
part of the argument about professionalism in broadcasting in Nigeria, some
have argued that broadcasters are born not made while others argued that broadcasters
are made not born. A more appropriate
approach is to blend the two.
In
essence, both natural talent and acquired skills are required for
professionalism in broadcasting in Nigeria.
Since
the deregulation of broadcasting in Nigeria, the issue of professionalism has
even become more pronounced. Many
organisation within and outside have raised issues about the competence of
Nigerian broadcasters. Training
institutions are few and underfunded, equipment are inadequate and sometimes
not maintained. Many broadcasting
institutions are not investing sufficiently in human resources development. All
these impinge negatively on professionalism.
For professionalism in broadcasting to be achieved:
(a) There
is the need for standard setting;
(b) Up-to-date
equipment are required;
(c) Broadcasting
should not be for all comers;
(d) There
is the need to search for the talents and train them.
(e) There
must be sufficient remuneration for staff.
(f) Monitoring
agencies must be equal to the task.
It
is obvious that since the deregulation of the industry, it is those that have
money, that is, those who now own and control the news media. They may continue to dictate the pace, as
long as professional journalists lack the wherewithal to set up and run their
own media.
Realizing
that the country is endowed with abundant natural and human resources, there is
the need to exploit resources to our advantages by the acquisition and
development of technology. To achieve
this, the technological objective of radio should primarily be to:
(a) Promote
the spirit of self-reliance and encourage the development of local technology;
(b) Promote
and encourage the study of science and technology;
(c) Keep
the people abreast of technological development;
(d) Promote
standard in broadcasting.
REFERENCES
Ajibade, O.
(2010). Some social-political and economic factors that shaped the
history of the Nigerian newspapers
(1932-2012) p. 248 Lagos: Department of Mass Communication, University of
Lagos.
Akinfeleye, R.A. (ed)
(2010). Mass communication – A book of
readings.
University
of Lagos: Department of Mass Communication.
Akinfeleye, R.A
(2003). The fourth-estate of the realm. Lagos: University of
Lagos
Press.
Lai Oso (ed) (2002). Communication and development – A reader. Abeokuta:
Jedidiah
Publishers.
Onabajo, O. (2002). Essentials of media laws and ethics. Lagos: Gabi Concept
Limited.
Uche, L.U (1989). Mass
media peoples and politics in Nigeria.
New Delhi:
Ashok Kumar Mittal.
THE HISTORY OF THE NIGERIAN TELELVISION
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