NBC explains reason for granting NCNE license

•  Calls for caution against inciting broadcast

National Broadcasting Commission has called on all broadcasting stations to restrain from inflammatory treatment of sensitive issues that could lead to threats of Nigeria’s national unity.

This warning was contained in a press statement on the radio license granted to the National Commission for Nomadic Education, NCNE, signed by the commission’s chairman, Malam Is’haq  Modibbo Kawu, who stated that the licensing of NCNE followed due process in line with the provisions of the NBC standards to operate on the AM band.

Stressing that the license was issued in furtherance of the objectives to maintain nomadic education outreach programmes across the country, Mallam Kawu admonished all broadcast stations to be professional in their reports as recommended by the National Broadcasting Codes.

“The Commission enjoins 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,” he said.

The DG also stated that the NCNE got its provisional approval on September 28^th, 2018, with a duration spanning from October 8^th, 2018 to October 8^th 2023.

According to him, “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.

“It is therefore, a misrepresentation for any person, or organization to imply that the licensed station was just for a particular group.”

The DG further noted that similar educational licences were issued to institutions and government agencies such as the Armed Forces, Federal Road Safety Corps and other related institutions with comparable needs

He then urged broadcasters to take special note of sections 3.1.2 of the National Broadcasting Code, which requires that: “Materials likely to encourage or incite to the Commission of a crime or lead to public disorder shall not be broadcast” and 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.”

 Malam Kawu therefore advised all broadcasters to treat potentially divisive issues with tact and sensitivity, adding that though, broadcasters are expected to exercise freedom of expression but not for any personal or sectional rights, privileges and needs of their own or of their proprietors or relatives, as highlighted in the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.