The Ibrahim Babangida administration promulgated Decree thirty-eight of nineteen ninety-two, now an Act of the National Assembly which created the National Broadcasting Commission and simultaneously ended the over fifty years of government sole ownership of broadcasting in Nigeria.
It is not with doubt that the action broke government monopoly of the broadcasting sector and opened the playing field for private investors to join the information revolution that was gradually engulfing the world through the integration of digital technology.
Apart from advising the Federal Government Generally on the implementation of the National Mass Communication Policy with particular reference to broadcasting, the functions of the commission include; receiving, processing and considering applications of the establishment, ownership or operation of Radio and Television Stations, including cable television services, direct Satellite broadcast and any other medium of broadcasting.
Other important functions of the National Broadcasting Commission are to recommend applications through to President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces for the grant of radio and television licenses and issuance, renewal and renovation of licenses of broadcast Industry as well as setting standards through the National Broadcasting Code on acceptable content and quality of programming and non-programme materials broadcast.
Interestingly, the Commission which started operation in nineteen ninety-two from its office at Tafawa Balewa squares in Lagos has gone nationwide with ten zonal offices and seventeen offices spread out in such a way that every broadcasting station in the country is within on-air monitoring reach.
Today, Nigeria can boast of one hundred and twenty-three private radio and television stations as well as two hundred and thirty-three broadcasting stations owned by the Federal and state governments compared to twenty-four stations at the Commissions take off stage in nineteen ninety-two.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja on the twentieth anniversary of the NBC, the Director-General of the Commission, Engineer Yomi Bolarinwa explained that the most important achievement of the Commission was the laying of a strong institutional foundation that would effectively continue to pilot the affairs of the broadcast industry in the manner anticipated by the fundamental objectives and Directives of state policy in nineteen ninety-nine constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Engineer Bolarinwa added that the Commission had internalized defined vision and mission to enable the emergence of a sustainable broadcast industry, which satisfied the social, political and economic need of the people of Nigeria.
In spite some of the achievements of the Commission in the last twenty years, there are still some obvious challenges confronting the regulatory agency ranging from the inability of the commission to solely grant licences without recourse to the President to the issue good quality programming.
On the issue of digitization of broadcast industry, it is not an understatement to say that Nigeria is already lagging behind meeting the deadline for the conversion from analogue to digital in line with International standard.
Hence, the time has come to empower the NBC like the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) in licensing and regulating the operations of broadcast stations in Nigeria with a view to raising the bar for swifter response to ethical and regulatory infractions.
The NBC Act should also be amended to take care of emerging challenges in broadcasting industry to make the regulating body relevant in the sector while the campaign for community radio should be intensified as well as promoting quality broadcasting among broadcast stations in Nigeria.
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