Irresponsible Broadcasting And Inept Regulation By Frank Tietie

Dokpesi and AIT need to wake up to responsible broadcasting. I
don’t join misguided populist positions which simply play to the
gallery. People who go to equity must go with clean hands.

The NBC over the years has encouraged AIT to be irresponsible as
a broadcast outfit. The NBC, over the years, cannot be excused of
being manned by persons who are incompetent, unpatriotic and
compromised. The details are unwritten all over the public space.
The NBC must at all times uphold the law on standards of radio and
television broadcasting in Nigeria without political
considerations.

AIT was the pride of African broadcasting. It is currently a
shadow of itself compared to where it ought to have been. SABC
learned from AIT when the new South Africa began. You cannot
compare both of TV stations today.

It is only lazy TV production that will create the quality of a
programme like ‘Kakaki Social’. There is a whole world of
difference between Professional TV production and broadcasting and,
the application of the unruly social media space.

A comparison with Aljazeera’s ‘ Stream ‘ or BBC’s ‘ Outside
Source ‘ with ‘Kakaki Social’ would show the difference in
responsible use of social media contents in television
broadcasting.

I don’t know why we often tolerate sloppy standards for
primordial reasons and to make scapegoats of our inept and selfish
public servants?

Even though, I wished and still wish to live a very private and
quiet life with my love circle of family and friends, I have been
forced into advocacy because of the dysfunctional society I found
myself. Therefore, I will not fail to appreciate the prominence AIT
has given to my advocacy since 2010 until I began to join the
clamour that it should honour its labour obligations to its former
staff.

I cannot be expected to refuse to take action in the face of
oppressive refusal to pay workers’ salary. I must act on behalf of
those struggling citizens who often climb three floors to my office
to cry about how oppressed they feel about Dokpesi and AIT,
concerning their unpaid emoluments and other entitlements. I didn’t
care if AIT blacklisted me. After all, I never really cared about
being popular. It was never my goal in the first place. My goal is
love for the human person because I love myself. I actually only
care about God’s approval. Let Him protect and provide for me. If
He doesn’t, so be it. He is still God Almighty, the Creator of the
heavens and the earth.

Therefore, I owe it a conscientious duty to such an organisation
to demand from it that it does what is right and just at all times,
especially to persons who committed their entire career life to the
organisation as broadcast journalists.

The law is both prescriptive and punitive. AIT should follow the
standards while NBC should enforce those standards according to law
without kowtowing to political and populist pressure. Let us be a
people committed to standards. It is for the ultimate public good
and improvement of the society that we strive to live and operate
according to set standards.

Frank Tietie, Lawyer, Human Rights Defender and
Executive Director, CASER.

In response to interview questions by Victorson Agbenson
of Radio Nigeria in Abuja

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