ADABA FM: OUT OF THE JAWS OF NBC

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua courtesy Don Emmert

A Nigerian High Court stopped a licence suspension order by the National Broadcasting Commission aka National Bullying Commission (NBC) and allowed Adaba 88.9 FM to resume transmission. NBC initially bared its fangs by shutting down Adaba FM after the Ekiti Rerun election and issued the radio station with a whooping fine of 500,000 naira (about £2,247). It was a form of ‘blackmail’ and ploy to issue a further sanction in order to run down the station indefinitely since half a million is a considerable amount of money in Nigerian currency. It was obvious that NBC was a regulatory unit to cow opponents of the dominant political party (PDP) and anti-government critics. It will be recalled that Channels TV was shut down last year for reports on the speculated ‘resignation’ and purported sickness of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua. The Yar’Adua administration is undemocratic but autocratic and the maxim on the rule of law is nothing but a farce to bamboozle the governed and hoodwink the international community.

According to XIX–Article 19: Principles on Freedom of Expression and Broadcast Regulation, “It should be up to broadcasters, not the government, regulatory bodies or commercial entities, to make decisions about what to broadcast”. The NBC decree of 1992 as amended was constituted under past military regimes. It should be abolished because it is not coherent with Human Rights and does not allow freedom of expression. NBC should be an independent regulator like the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) but it is not. It is more like a fascist enforcement agency to censor radio and TV stations for the Federal Government. NBC’s Gestapo method is in unison with the State Security Service (SSS). Nigeria has being under civilian rule for almost ten years; under the notorious Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) so why should military laws remain in force? Is the current legislature backward or not learned enough to change the constitution of Nigeria? That is why it is necessary to conduct a constitutional conference which the government and legislature are not in favour of. Nigeria is out of date in specific regulatory structures and statutes because the world has moved on… In civilized countries, it is barbaric and unnecessary to use security operatives to attack journalists and seal off media offices a la Channels TV.

NBC is a waste of time and money as a separate body because it should be merged with NCC like UK Regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). One regulator is sufficient to regulate TV, Radio and Telecoms. It would suppress the abuse of power by NBC. How many times has NCC bullied telecom operators with a revocation order? The Nigerian Communications Act 2003 is modern and not out dated with military interference although NCC was created by the military like NBC in 1992. The harassment of the broadcast media by NBC is alarming and uncalled for.

Can the Director General of NBC, Engineer Yomi Bolarinwa adequately prove that NBC has never ‘breached’ section 2 (1) (g) of NBC decree which is “upholding the principles of equity and fairness in broadcasting?" Nigeria is a country where people are hardly held accountable for their arrogance and misdeed while in office. NBC officials over used their authority again but they seem to have no conscience like the Ekiti rerun saga. They refused to set Adaba FM free until a Federal High Court ‘rescued’ Adaba FM from the ‘jaws’ of NBC. Adaba is the Yoruba name of a bird but certainly not a mockingbird. The court battle continues on May 25, 2009.

Nigeria is still under an army arrangement a la Fela Anikulapo-Kuti because the dominant party (PDP) was set up by people including ex-military and paramilitary officers. The National Assembly is ‘decorated’ with ex-government officials who cannot bear to live without power. The rich will continue to get richer and the poor will get poorer until a revolution takes place. A former Ghanaian president tricked Ghanaian 'saboteurs' to a crucial meeting and ordered their execution by a firing squad. Of course none of the 'saboteurs' went home alive and those whose families were massacred have never ‘forgiven’ the former President. Isn’t that one of the reasons why Ghana is better than Nigeria today?

It was after the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown refused to honour Yar’Adua’s wish for British troops to be deployed to the Niger Delta to fight militants that the ‘useless’ Ministry of Niger Delta was set up. Thanks to political activists who gave Brown a re-think… Britain’s minister for Africa Mark Malloch-Brown made it clear that Britain’s role in the Niger Delta will be restricted to the training of security forces. Yar’Adua recently offered militants an amnesty that they refused because they were not ready to compromise the cause to liberate their people from hunger, genocide, oil slavery and penury.

Time is running out on Nigeria because the crude oil she depends on is gradually drying up. It is obvious that the ‘greed’ that holds Nigeria together is oil. Yar’Adua attributed the current fuel scarcity to a cabal but is he not part and parcel of a cartel that is behind the dictatorship of Nigeria? Nigerians are not equal because the northerners are the first class citizens while the Yoruba people are second class and the ‘easterners’ are more or less third class citizens because they have not produced a president but vice-presidents since the Biafra war. Nevertheless, Nigerians may wake up one day and find themselves in two countries; one of which may be Niger Delta Republic. May Nigeria not become another Siberia where everybody knows where she is but nobody wants to go there like the geography of a woman?
Adaba FM: NBC And Media Responsibility
Adaba FM : Interpretation of Court Order Causes Ripples
NBC and Adaba FM’s arbitrary closure
Yar'Adua And the Media

Postscript… Slumdog Millionaire Soundtrack

'Embezzlers' of Labour

It was so shameful for the British Labour Party as some government officials were accused of over claiming money at the expense of taxpayers. Some of them 'gave' what they took back. In fact, some Conservative MPs 'cannot' be exonerated from the allegations. Were they unaware that they were 'embezzling' public money? The masses were ‘deeply’ shocked. The Daily Telegraph published a load of facts and made Prime Minister Gordon Brown pay some money back after he was confronted with the allegation that his claim for plumbing work was over charged. The Justice Minister Shahid Malik resigned over the allegation that he claimed £66,000 on expenses. This is Mr Brown's list by the Daily Telegraph:
Name: Gordon Brown
Job: Prime Minister
Salary: £194,250
Second home in Westminster: 1st January 2006 – 31st March 2006
Ground rent: £37
Food: £650
Utilities: £374.38
Telephone: £83.70
Cleaning: £1403.90
Service/Maintenance: £581.87
Repairs: £90.14
Other: £108 (three months of Sky at £36 a month)
Other: £1396 (internal decoration)

The Queen tells Gordon Brown she is 'deeply troubled' over MPs' expenses
MPs' expenses: Gordon Brown apologises 'on behalf of all parties'
Speaker Michael Martin resigns over MPs' expenses
Furious David Cameron orders Tory MP to quit after he claimed £1,600 for a 'duck island'
TWO SHAMED MPS STAND DOWN OVER EXPENSES SCANDALS