Page 22 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2013

The
face of the
African
leader is
changing
and that
reflects
also on
themedia
landscape
THE CHANNEL | FOCUS
he mission stays the
same ‐ to project the
best stories coming
out of Nigeria and
Africa. We are still
the largest radio
broadcaster in Africa
and therefore believe we should not
only speak with the Nigerian voice
but also with the African voice. We
are Afro‐centric in our outlook and
our perspective.
What has changed is that since
there is no more colonialism in
Africa, with globalisation the issues
and the values that are relevant to
Africa are very much the same as in
other parts of the world. Our aim is
to further good governance, spread
the culture of democracy, ensure
accountability and enable
government‐owned broadcasters
like VON to be a source of
information that is credible and
independent of the government.
How do you keep a distance from
the government which funds you?
The law in Nigeria gives a large
measure of autonomy to VONʹs
board of directors – they are
representatives of the professions,
academia, arts/culture and others in
the broadcasting environment.
Officially, yes, we are under the
Ministry of Information but while
the board of directors is in place,
the role of the Ministry remains
very much in the background ‐
except perhaps when it comes to
coordinating the audio‐visual
sector and getting certain messages
across on behalf of the government.
As an example, if the government
wants us to look at the security
issues of Nigeria, we will want to
look at it from an independent
perspective. Our editors will not say
that there is no security challenge for
example, they will say that there is a
security challenge but they look also
at what measures are being taken to
meet that security challenge.
Right now the National Assembly
is working on amending the
constitution, including the existing
laws relating to government‐owned
agencies like VON.
What's the proposed funding model?
Under the new funding proposals,
VON would be more directly
accountable to the people of
Nigeria through parliament. Public
broadcasters like VON will
substantially be drawing their
funding from radio and TV licences,
with additional independent
funding coming directly from
parliament. This will leave VON
much more autonomous and also
gives more room for private
broadcasters to go to the ad market.
Itʹs going to be an interesting time,
absolutely.
What are the biggest challenges?
Our biggest challenge is one in
terms of acquisition of equipment
that is digitally compliant. All
broadcasters in Nigeria must go
digital by January 2015. We have
adopted the technology of DRM for
our digital switchover ‐ this poses a
lot of challenges in terms of
funding and training and capacity
building. We have already launched
transmissions to Europe on DRM
and are greatly encouraged by the
enthusiastic feedback from Europe
and North America.
There is the worry of course that
by 2015 there wonʹt be enough
cheap digital radio receivers
available. Nigeria alone has a
population of 140m. Mass
production of chip‐based receivers
is key for our broadcasts to be
heard throughout Africa and Asia.
Our aim is to ensure that in the next
two years everywhere in Africa
people will be listening to us
through DRM. We also hope that
manufacturers of radio sets will
make provision for receiving VON
signals by satellite.
Are you adding TV?
We are already streaming audio on
the web, 24 hours a day. Our next
project is of course VON Television.
NTA International, our counterpart
in the Nigerian Television
Authority (NTA), are already in it
and there are currently discussions
going on within government about
what precisely becomes the
springboard for the emergence of
VON TV. But I can assure you that
it is only a matter of time before
VON TV goes on air, whether as a
stand‐alone or as a replacement to
NTA International.
Are you looking for FM partners?
Yes, this is very important. As far as
our budget will permit we are
“
22 | ISSUE 1 2013 | THE CHANNEL
T
AVOICEFOR AFRICA
Abubakar Jijiwa has been DG of Nigeria's international
broadcaster Voice of Nigeria since 2005 and also Chairman
of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria. He is one of
the African media leaders who is widely known outside the
continent. These are exciting times, he says, as proposed
amendments to the constitution will have far-reaching
consequences for VON. So is the mission changing?