Radio has an enviable role in the building of great nations. Since the advent of Marconi’s first Radio transmissions in 1896 after the industrial revolution, European states like Great Britain, Germany and the United States of America were transformed and modernized by this invention. Radio helped to preserve the people’s culture, promoting public peace and creating a good image for the country. Radio promotes integrity, excellence, productivity and accountability as key elements of service delivery. Nigeria can benefit from Radio but she must be prepared to reconcile broadcast activities with these critical elements. The Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation is taking a lead among state owned broadcast stations in this direction by repositioning the state radio for effective service delivery.
State owned radio stations are in a woeful state indeed. Some of these stations are not even patronized by their own state governments not to talk of the public because they are ineffective as a tool for information dissemination, cultural revival; image laundering and peace building. These stations are far from promoting excellence, productivity, integrity and accountability even if they broadcast these words daily over noise clogged channels arising partly from continued application of analogue broadcast systems in a digitalized world. Even if you provide them with the best equipments, without revision of their enabling statutory environment, these stations are yet to be adequately empowered to compete in a fast globalizing environment.
The irony of the present state of state run broadcast corporations is that these stations spend most part of their existence ‘defending’ the government in power instead of maintaining neutrality which translates to promoting excellence, productivity and accountability. Governments come and go but the state remains so is the people who constitute the target audience of radio stations, as well as the focus of governmental action. So it is wrong to think you are defending the government when you go against broadcast codes. Today the results of decades of abuse are evident in the decline in place of growth of such stations. Some of them cannot even pay salaries without government support and often this inflow is irregular. Therefore basic upgrades of these stations are prioritized down the ladder.
What options are open to states? It is a straight choice between repositioning their state broadcast corporations for effective service delivery and patronizing privately owned stations as most states are doing now. Repositioning of course involves some measure of loss of rigid state control by first reviewing the enabling document to professionalize practices and enable private funding to flow into station upgrade projects as Bayelsa state is pioneering.
It is true that some would still question the rational for a rich oil producing state to allow public private partnership in a crucial area as radio broadcasting. Well it depends on what the state priorities are. If like Bayelsa State the priority area is internal peace and security as well as creating an investors haven, then, a globally competitive state radio is inevitable, taking the lead in this direction. It is more so when the output of the state radio has declined from 8.8 to 2.4 in recent times so that reception of the state radio outside the state as far as Port Harcourt has become difficult. Yet the radio station is licensed to be heard around the entire Niger delta region as well as the Eastern states to achieve optimum performance.
A digitalized broadcast radio station is inevitable in the modern age for any state. It can keep the government in power; it can keep the station growing; and it can keep the people peaceful and fulfilled.
Make a checklist for yourself. To achieve this noble goal requires a wide reach for a state radio station. It requires high quality of radio program as well as up-to-date broadcast technology. It also requires the best hands. But all these goodies cost money and money is always in a short supply. However, where priority is understood money can be spent wisely in upgrading a state radio station.
It is against this backdrop that the forth coming 10 th anniversary celebration of Bayelsa State Radio on the November 28, 2009 is eliciting public interest. The launching of a digital transmitter project will make the station one of the most modern in the South-South region of Nigeria. With robust support of the State government, the General Manager of Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Clinton Thompson explains that the anniversary would attempt to re-position Bayelsa Radio for effective delivery. He said the state government had a vision for the new Bayelsa Radio which will enable it measure up with the best in the world. “Bayelsa radio will be digitalized employing the latest state of the arts technology to ensure that radio programs are better received across geo-political zones. According to him, the state government envisions that radio would energize the Bayelsa State investment and tourism promotion. On digitalization, the Bayelsa Radio can be locatable on the internet and will surely be a good boost to the current branding campaign in Nigeria”.
Why would people depend on radio for their information in a technology driven environment as we have today? Research shows that Nigeria still needs the Radio considering the constraints of present day living and communication in Nigeria whereby people are forced to stay at home sometimes, listening to radio programs. Those people at work or on go- slow traffic are tuned to car radio programs all the times. A recent study put the time spent by Nigerians on the road as almost a third of their 24 hours day in big cities like Lagos and Port Harcourt. People listen to radio programmes, so that despite the gradual relegation of purely audio format in broadcasting overshadowed by audio visual technology, ironically radio listening in Nigeria is rising by the day. The competition among radio stations is high and no excuse for lagging behind is acceptable.
What can be done aside from technology upgrade to reposition broadcast stations and make them effective tools for sustainable development? The solution is simple. Make a clean break from military era decrees turned edicts which continue to govern the management of these stations. Experts should be invited to review these enabling edicts to align them to present day realities. Particularly, for Radio Bayelsa which has existed for ten years based on statutory provisions of the Rivers state Broadcasting corporation edict of 1973. This fact shows that little has changed in the modus operandi of these Corporations for 36 years now.
The1973 Rivers State broadcasting Edict has some contradictory clauses that are capable of hindering the pursuit of professional ethics of broadcasting and therefore predispose the station on the long run to ineffectiveness. You can imagine the military era decree governing a civilian era Radio corporation without any meaningful revision. For instance, while, on one hand the 1973 decree tried in Section 13 (2) to wriggle out of political impartiality it ended up excluding the incumbent leaders from any responsibility in this respect by prior judgment of their views as balanced and apolitical. A Radio cannot define balanced programming and a general high standard of quality but under a common platform-for the ruler and the ruled. There was no need to for a preferential treatment for military rulers. Suppose the need existed then, what about civil rulers today? The civilians merely changed the word ‘military’ to mean ‘civilian’ leadership. By this action, the new decree turned edict only ended up entrenching political partiality and decreeing a general low standard of quality and redundancy that goes with subversion of the basic ethics of radio broadcasting, thereby, rendering the state radio stations ineffective in discharging their statutory functions for the state governments.
Well, today, Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation is determined to break away from these statutory constraints encouraged by the open mindedness of the state Governor Chief Timipre Sylva, who challenged the station’s leadership to reposition her for effective service delivery. The state is looking up to the radio stations to help attract foreign direct investment and boost Bayelsa’s fledging tourism industry.
What are the likely outcomes of this process in Bayelsa state? The most important changes will be to rework the contradictory edict borrowed from Rivers State through update of this enabling document to allow for investors participation while also reengineering her moribund broadcast technology to make the Radio Station more competitive.
On November 28, 2009, the drum will be rolled out at the Gloryland Conference Centre Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, when reputable Nigerians from all works of life will gather to make a statement of support for this new vision. What comes out from that launching will create a way forward for not just Bayelsa Radio, but other state owned broadcast corporations and Parastatals weighed down by similar constraints.
The 10 th anniversary radio will not be so of celebrating a decade of achievements, as to being an occasion for putting forward this new functional vision for the modernization of the radio station. After the recent Amnesty process to rehabilitate militants, the launching may herald a dawn of peace and security in the troubled state. If the radio can help the state government to reduce rumour mongering, attract investors, boost tourism and stabilize crude oil production by multinational companies Bayelsa State may be back on the shinning path of economic prosperity.
Finally, those public spirited individuals and corporate bodies who wish to identify themselves with this noble venture, by way of material and or financial assistance to the station are encouraged to do so. Their collective resolve to bring about sustainable development in Bayelsa State and Nigeria will be richly rewarded by the satisfaction that they all demonstrate altruism and concern for the development of the broadcast sector. The support of philanthropists, NGOs, and corporate bodies is hereby solicited to identify with this noble cause by way of financial and material assistance.
Mr Nworisara is a Public Affairs and Policy Analyst
