Why We Granted Herdsmen Radio License – NBC

The National Broadcasting Commission has called on all broadcasting stations
to exercise restraint in the treatment of sensitive issues that could threaten
the unity and stability of Nigeria.

The Commission enjoined broadcasting stations to be professional, and take
guidance from the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, at all times, reminding all
broadcasters to be mindful of their social responsibility to promote the well-
being and peaceful co-existence of the various groups in Nigeria in keeping
with the objectives of broadcasting in Nigeria.

The Commission is reacting to the media controversy over the license granted
to the National Commission for Nomadic Education for the establishment of a
radio station to operate on the AM band.
The National Commission for Nomadic Education duly applied for Broadcast
license in furtherance of its objectives to develop and maintain nomadic
education outreach programmes, including electronically mediated ones.

The letter of provisional approval dated September 28th, 2018, was issued to
the National Commission for Nomadic Education. The duration of the license is
from October 8th, 2018 to October 8th, 2023.

The station’s programmes, which shall be purely educational, are designed to
cater for the interest of migrant fishermen, herders, hunters, farmers, and
migrants.

Consequently, it is a misrepresentation for any person, or organization to
imply that the licensed station was just for a particular group.

The Commission wishes to state that similar educational broadcast licences
were issued to institutions of higher learning and other Governmental
institutions with comparable needs, such as the Armed Forces of Nigeria, The
Federal Road safety Commission, and related institutions.

Specifically, the Commission enjoins broadcasting stations to take special note
of the following provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which emphasize
peace and national integration.

There is section 3.1.2, which requires that:
“Materials likely to encourage or incite to the Commission of a
crime or lead to public disorder shall not be broadcast.”
Similarly section 5.5.5 of the Code prescribes that:

“A station shall not broadcast divisive rhetoric that threatens
and compromises the indivisibility and indissolubility of Nigeria
as a sovereign state.”

While upholding professionalism and observing global best practices, stations
are further advised to treat potentially divisive issues with tact and sensitivity.

The Commission therefore reiterates that broadcast organizations are
expected to exercise freedom of expression as agents of society, not for any
personal or sectional rights, privileges and needs of their own or of their
proprietors, relatives, rights or supporters as highlighted in the Nigeria
Broadcasting Code.
Signed:
MANAGEMENT