Bilbis, addressing a news conference in Abuja on August 13,
2020.
The Board of the National Broadcasting Commission
(NBC) has kicked against the amendments to the sixth edition of the
Nigeria Broadcasting Code.
The Chairman of the Board, Ikra Bilbis, stated the position of
the board on Thursday while addressing a news conference in
Abuja.
“As a board, we have received and taken our time to compile the
responses of numerous stakeholders which include our Nobel
Laureate, activists, legal practitioners, broadcasters, investors,
Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), content creators,
copyright experts, and professional organisations.
“Most of them have adduced reasonable reasons against the
proposed amendment,” said Bilbis who is a former Minister of State
for Information.
He explained that the management of the commission did not
undertake a proper consultation before making the amendments to the
code.
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Broadcasting Code, Says Hate Speech Fine Now N5m
The former minister decried that the amendments to the code were
capable of destroying investments in the nation’s broadcast
sector.
Culture, Lai Mohammed, briefs reporters at the unveiling of the
reviewed 6th Broadcasting Code in Lagos on August 4,
2020.
He stressed that the board was not in support of the reviewed
code unveiled by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai
Mohammed, on Tuesday last week.
Bilbis noted that some members of the Federal Executive Council
(FEC) had made observations to the minister at a meeting about the
divisive broadcasts engaged in by some broadcast media before,
during, and after the elections.
He recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had also called for
the need to strengthen the operations of the NBC to avert a
reoccurrence.
The NBC board chairman, however, stressed that the noble
observation of the President was misunderstood by the minister.
“The board of the NBC wishes to make it quite clear that as long
as it is in place, the only NB Code that we recognise and which we
shall work within the setting of operating policies and standards
for the NBC is the 6th edition of the NB Code which was launched in
2019 in Kano.
”Another purported review has no board endorsement,” he
stated.
Read the full text of Bilbis’ remarks at the briefing
below:
THE POSITION OF THE BOARD OF THE NATIONAL BROADCASTING
COMMISSION (NBC) ON THE PURPORTED AMENDMENT TO THE 6TH EDITION OF
THE NIGERIA BROADCASTING CODE (NB CODE).Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, I welcome you
all to this important press briefing on a very touchy issue related
to broadcasting in Nigeria.You may all be aware of the recent negative developments
concerning the purported amendment of the NB Code. The wellbeing of
the broadcast media has direct relevance to the stability of our
democracy. I, therefore, have the pleasure of presenting to you the
position of the NBC Board on the issues.The National Broadcasting Commission is established by law and
section 2(h) of the NBC Act empowers the Commission to establish
and disseminate a Nigeria Broadcasting Code (NB Code) which sets
standards for the quality and content of broadcast materials.Code review is undertaken every four years and involves the
staff of the NBC, Former DG’s, retired Directors of the Commission
and all other relevant stakeholders in broadcasting. These include
Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Independent Broadcast
Association of Nigeria (IBAN), Private Media outfits, Broadcasters,
Notable media Intellectuals, Communication experts, Digiteam and
the Academia.The current edition (6th Edition) was presented to the public in
2019 at an elaborate ceremony in Kano which attracted a broad
section of various stakeholders.Following the 2019 national elections, some members of the
Federal Executive Council (FEC) made observations to the Honourable
Minister of Information at a FEC meeting about the divisive
broadcasts engaged in by some broadcast media before, during and
after the elections and the need to strengthen the operations of
the NBC to avert such future occurrence.This noble observation of Mr President was unfortunately
misunderstood by the Hon. Minister of Information. Instead of
studying and following the Law, relevant rules and regulations, and
direct the appropriate authorities as stipulated by the Law to act
on, he erroneously embarked on the review alone.From the history, traditions and the convention of the NBC, no
Honourable Minister of Information has ever interfered in any NB
Code review. After the 2019 presentation of the 6th code (which is
the present one), the Hon. Minister has acted alone with just a
handful of his loyalists who have written a new NB Code that has
created an uproar in the industry, threatening to destroy
investments and lead to job losses.The Honourable Minister has constantly dropped the name of
President Muhammadu Buhari as having approved his own version of
the code review. The NB Code is a regulatory framework put together
jointly by stakeholders to guide their operations in the industry.
It is therefore not a unilateral government instrument and is
already covered by Law hence, not requiring any further
Presidential approval. This might be the reason why till date the
Hon. Minister cannot show us a copy of the Presidential
approval.President Buhari is a stickler for due process and he always
insists on organisations doing the right thing. The Honourable
Minister’s version of the revised NB Code does not meet any known
criteria of due process and inclusiveness of stakeholders.The Director overseeing the office of the DG of the NBC has
equally made insinuations that the Board endorsed the amendments
culminating in its ‘public presentation’ on 26th March 2020 at the
L’eola Hotel in Lagos. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The
“public presentation” was actually attended by serving directors in
the NBC, one former DG of the NBC, a member representing the
Ministry of Information and only four (4) selected
stakeholders.When compared with over sixty (60) stakeholders that attended
the 2019 presentation in Kano, there is a wide gap in industry
representation. We have the list of the four hand-picked
stakeholders at the Lagos “presentation”. The Board of the NBC was
neither informed nor represented.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, you may all recall that by
26th march 2020, (the day of the “Public Presentation” in Lagos),
the Federal Government had already announced a COVID-19 lockdown of
Lagos, Ogun states and the FCT. It was therefore not a sincere
effort to present such an important ‘review document’ which affects
people’s investments and livelihoods under such situation.The attendant public outcry over the purported review of some
sensitive sections of the NB Code compelled the Board of the NBC to
institute a process through which stakeholders could express their
opinions and harmonise their feelings with what the Honourable
Minister had unilaterally created.The Board convened a meeting which included the Director
overseeing the office of the DG in attendance. The unanimous
decision was to issue a press release inviting inputs from various
stakeholders. It became clear to the Board that even though the
Director overseeing the DG’s office subscribed to the unanimous
decision of the Board, he was inclined to sabotaging the press
release for obvious reasons.The Board, on its own, chose to be proactive by taking Five (5)
National Newspaper announcements seeking inputs from relevant
stakeholders in furtherance of the principle of equity, fairness
and creating a level playing ground for all stakeholders.Most surprising was the rejoinder issued by the Director
overseeing the office of the DG stating that the notice published
by the Board seeking stakeholders input does not have the ‘official
endorsement of the Commission’. Sections 5(4), 5(2) 1(d), (g) and
(h) and sections 3 of the NBC Act state categorically the powers
and composition of the Commission and under whose purview the
management of Commission falls.There are very serious and disturbing amendments which have been
unilaterally carried out by the Hon. Minister. This has attracted
very critical comments with threats of litigation from concerned
organisations and individuals.As a Board, we have received and taken our time to compile the
responses of numerous stakeholders which include our Nobel
Laurette, Activists, Legal Practitioners, Broadcasters, Investors,
BON, Content Creators, Copyright experts and professional
organisations. Most of them have adduced reasonable reasons against
the proposed amendment.As a Board that supervises the affairs of the NBC, it is
important that we state that we cannot fold our arms and watch the
activities of the Honourable Minister which is directed at
destroying the modest gains the Broadcast Industry has achieved
since the setting up of the Commission and the deregulation of
Broadcasting in Nigeria.While not disputing the fact that there are many challenges in
the sector, the quest to find solutions cannot be totally assumed
by one man. Approaches to solutions must be through wide
consultations, discussions, persuasion and concession. Dictatorship
tends to ruin businesses and prompt divestment. The Hon. Minister
seems to have taken the option of working from an answer to the
question instead of vice versa. We are in an era of democracy.The NBC was set up by law and there is an Act that guides its
operations. The Honourable Minister, therefore, cannot usurp the
powers of the Board as clearly stated in the Act. Any such action
by the Honourable Minister is illegal.The Board of the NBC wishes to make it quite clear that as long
as it is in place, the only NB Code that we recognise and which we
shall work within the setting of operating policies and standards
for the NBC is the 6th edition of the NB Code which was launched in
2019 in Kano. Any other purported review has no Board endorsement
and therefore cannot be utilised in regulating broadcasting in
Nigeria.The danger of allowing the unilateral amendment of the NB Code
to stand is that investors in the industry will loose confidence in
the stability the broadcast ecosystem has enjoyed till date before
the advent of the current Minister of Information.Our President and his team have worked so hard to galvanise
local and foreign investment in Nigeria. Allowing obnoxious
policies to take root in our Investment Culture will spell doom for
creativity, enterprise, diversity and the general development of
broadcasting in Nigeria.I leave you with the words of the famous American President
Abraham Lincoln who said:‘’You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling the wage payer
down.You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class
hatred.You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s
initiative and independence.You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, which they
could and should do for themselves’’.The very controversial portions of the purported amended code
certainly aim at destroying hard work and enterprise. It aims at
taking people’s freedom and intellectual property. It aims at
depriving hard-working entrepreneurs to empower new entrants who
have not cut their teeth and it aims at stifling investment. That
is the main reason why stakeholder inputs are been avoided.I shall take a few questions and allow some of my colleagues and
Industry experts to handle details in some areas.God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Thank you.
Ikra Aliyu Bilbis
Chairman, NBC Board
13/08/2020
- Virtual- Procceding: VP Osinbajo wants Purpose-built
Software for Virtual Trail
…With tech innovation, democratization of law and justice now on
fast-track”
Technology and the innovations it entail has defined a new way
of life, taking technology away from the realms of luxury into the
arena of everyday endeavours whether in the professions or in
matters of lifestyle generally.
In fact, the advance of technology is now fast-tracking the
democratization of law and justice in Nigeria, according to Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Thursday in his keynote at the
Virtual Law Pavilion Technology Conference with the theme “A New
Paradigm in Justice Delivery”. Also at the event, the Chief Justice
of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed; the President of the
Nigerian Bar Association, Paul Usoro, SAN, and others addressed the
theme of the 2020 Legal Tech Conference.
According to him, “No one believed the day would come when the
Supreme Court would, as it has now done, endorse Virtual Court
Proceedings. Or that the day will come when e-filing of court
processes will be considered medically safer than physical filing
of court processes.
“Today, even judges, especially older ones, will of course
prefer virtual processes to in-person proceedings. Technology and
the fourth industrial revolution, are no longer luxuries but they
are the inevitable substructure of our new way of life.
“For the administration of justice system, change has surely
come and I am personally excited to see how easily our entire
judicial system is willingly adapting to innovation.”
Speaking further on the impact of technology, the Vice President
said with technology and innovation, the democratization of law and
justice is now on fast-track.
According to him, “Tech companies must now innovate even more.
We must now have purpose-built virtual-proceedings software that
take into account the various needs of trials and other court
proceedings.
“There will be opportunities for retraining of judicial
personnel, lawyers, and paralegal staff, the new normal calls for
new skills and new ways of doing old things and doing away with
many old habits.”
On the need for the entirety of Nigeria’s justice sector to
embrace “the new normal”, the Vice President said though no one had
predicted that a time would come when authorities would endorse
virtual court proceedings, the disruptions caused by the COVID-19
pandemic has necessitated the adoption of technology for all court
processes.
Referring to the Chief Justice of Nigeria at the event, the Vice
President noted that “already, my Lord, the Chief Justice has set
the example of adaptation to the new paradigm.”
Prof. Osinbajo urged lawyers and stakeholders in the justice
sector to be prepared for the times ahead by finding alternative
and better ways of delivering legal and associated services.
He said “the next few years will see even more changes.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a bigger role in our court
systems, I am told that Law Pavilion is already pioneering an
AI-Powered-Speech-to-Text- Transcription System to replace writing
in long hand and even the traditional slow stenographic
recording.
“There is also the AI-Powered Document Review System that helps
judges quickly extract authorities and laws cited in any legal
documents, outlines and analyses the principles relied upon
automatically, in seconds. This is aside from the comprehensive
court proceedings software that they have now perfected.”
Continuing, Prof. Osinbajo said “…nothing can ever be the same
again. Legal practice is also in a flux. Artificial Intelligence
will make research a million times faster, the lawyer may no longer
be required for several categories of legal advice.
“There are already apps updated to the latest positions in
legislation and case law. The lawyer must become a
multi-disciplinary, multi-tasking tech savvy person of affairs,”
recalling a description he gave to students of law at a recent
function.
He restated the commitment of the Buhari administration to
support technology companies to drive the gradual shift of systems,
in the country, to the ‘new normal’.
In his contribution, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice
Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed said the judiciary which plays a crucial
role in the economic development of Nigeria, must embrace changes
within the environment so that it will continue to remain relevant
in the scheme of things.
The Legal Tech Conference is organized by the Law Pavilion in
partnership with TELNET Nigeria Ltd. The conference is a 2-day
virtual event featuring other speakers including Supreme Court
Justice, Olukayode Ariwoola; Ondo State Chief Judge, Olarenwaju
Olutoyin Akeredolu; Borno State Chief Judge, Kashima Zannah; Ekiti
State Attorney General and Justice Commissioner, Olawale Fapohunda;
and Mr Dapo Akinosun, Partner, SimmonsCooper, amongst others..
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media &
Publicity
Office of the Vice President
13th August, 2020