NBC Amendment Bill: No Plan to Gag The Press, Says Senate

By Deji Elumoye

The Senate Monday declared that the planned amendment of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Bill by the National Assembly is not aimed at gaging the nation’s media industry.

It also stressed that it is not possible for anyone including the ninth National Assembly to ever attempt to stiffen the media in Nigeria.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Basiru Ajibola, who stated this at the opening of a two-day capacity building programme for media aides to principal officers of the National Assembly, emphasised that the current efforts to amend the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act and other relevant laws should not be misinterpreted as an attempt to tamper with the freedom of speech and free press in the country.

Ajibola however said while freedom of speech is an inalienable rights of the people and effectively captured in the 1999 Constitution, there is the need to ensure that some regulations are put in place to prevent reckless and irresponsible use of such rights as has been exhibited by a few media establishments and individuals in recent times in the country.

The Senate spokesperson said the current attempt to amend the NBC Act and the Press Council Act is to improve and sanitize and not to stiffen the civic space.

He noted that the role of media aides is rooted in journalism and a fact that cannot be denied is that the country needs viable and well-informed media personnel as intermediaries between the government and the governed.

The senator also reiterated that media aides are by the very nature of their job schedule, the repository of the “secrets” of their principals and that their job schedule cuts across policy making and projection of their principals’ images.

According to him, media aides’ roles are more sensitive than those of other aides because they are the mirror through which their principals are assessed by the public.

He charged the participants at the workshop to be very wary of “journalists” performing their duties and to always seek caution to their watchword when they are fielding questions from journalists, particularly on issues that may likely involve their principals.

The Osun senator however sounded a note of warning to the political class not to reduce their media aides to tools to further their political interests.

He said: As politicians, we do not really acquaint ourselves with the important nature of the job description of media aides. Hence, we fail to maximise the benefits derivable from them. It is high time we realised that media aides have so much to offer if we allow them to function strictly within the context of their engagement and that the political class should not turn media aides to attack dogs that are let loose on others which may not be in sync with their point of view or even of different political inclinations.”

He further harped on the important role of media assistants, saying “undoubtedly, media aides are stabilising factors in the polity. They have the onerous task of mitigating tension in the society through their releases on behalf of their principals. The political class must accept the fact that media aides have so much to contribute in the area of mitigation of societal tensions in all ramifications if allowed and given the necessary support.”

The Senate spokesman also praised media aides for being the catalyst for the relative peace, integration and cooperation being currently witnessed by the ninth Assembly and the Executive.

This, he said, is due to the professionalism and astuteness of purpose of the media aides while advising them not to rest on their oars.