ADVERTISEMENT
The Sun Nigeria
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
  • The Sun Foundation
No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
  • The Sun Foundation
No Result
View All Result
The Sun Nigeria
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Opinion

Hiccups in digital switchover project

11th October 2017
in Opinion
0
DSO: NBC, stakeholders clash over alleged N2.5bn graft
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By  Rakiya Longwai

FOR the Nigerian broadcast industry, it must have been a rude shock to encounter the damning report on the status of the equipment and facilities deployed by  the Federal Government-owned NTA off-shoot, Integrated Television Services (ITS), for the Digital Switch Over (DSO) pilot project in Jos and the Ilorin broadcast centre.

It is disheartening to say the least that after years of failed attempts to launch the nation’s digital broadcasting system and meet the international dateline for the switch-over from analogue broadcasts, our success in switching on is again doomed by a deliberate bungling of routine implementation processes.

In the first part of “Realities of the Digital Switch On (DSO)” focused on signal distributors widely published in the media by Mr Tony Dara, a renowned broadcast engineer, it was revealed that behind the façade of official bravado over the Jos pilot project lurked a scandalous scenario of obsolete equipment, old transmitters and buildings and failure to meet set targets.

The disturbing implication of these lapses is that the nation is heading for another display of the “bad image” to the rest of the world as well as short-lived success of government implementation of the DSO, not to mention the tirade of tantrums from millions of Nigerians soon to be shut-out from receiving digital broadcasts.

For general information, it should be understood that the idea of granting NTA automatic status as national digital signal distributor for the DSO was to enable the Federal Government to provide leadership and retain dominance for control in the national interest relying on NTA’s undisputed spread and experience in television broadcasting.

As long ago as 2012 when the White Paper on DSO was released and an implementation team tagged DigiTeam established with the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as supervisory regulator, the ITS should have been up and doing to live up to expectation and justify the confidence reposed in the “expertise” of the “largest television network in Africa”. The series of forced postponements in launching the DSO was like injury time to perfect the take-off of the pilot project in 2015.

Alas, the situation today, going by the Dara Report, is that the combined collaboration of government agencies-DigiTeam, NBC, and NTA/ITS- has not achieved the anticipated grand success of national roll-out of digital broadcasting in Nigeria, a feat that several nations across the world have accomplished impressively.

What these agencies have delivered amounts to a false start of one bogus step forward and several bungled steps backward, mere motion without movement. It is another indictment of the role of government agencies in carrying out their statutory functions to the people of Nigeria in accordance with international best practices and good governance.

Specifically, one is at a loss to understand how and why NTA/ITS under the watch of NBC and by extension the Information Ministry could go ahead and install “transmitters that have been discontinued by the original equipment manufacturer,” as the Dara Report authoritatively asserted.

Or, why were old analogue antenna masts and towers of the NTA transmission system retained for “switch over” to digital broadcasting? So, even the Jos pilot project showcase of government in DSO put up by ITS supposedly to cover the whole of Plateau from three sites “remains an illusion”, since only Jos city location, not the entire Jos township, can receive digital signals? And we cannot even provide new buildings customized for the DSO equipment and facilities and we are “managing” old buildings “that are clearly neither fit for purpose nor appropriate for digital broadcasting workflow.”

We are clearly bedevilled by the notorious “Nigerian factor” again contrary to the best efforts of the reformist Buhari administration to change the disastrous course of the ship of state. At the root of all the identified flaws in the NTA/ITS components of the DSO NIGERIA project are the same old cankerworms of maladministration and hidden agenda among other entrenched malpractices that are against national and public interest.

Nigeria cannot afford to be the butt of jokes as the Dara Report predicted and therefore the National Assembly DSO Committee should seize advantage of the candid, authoritative and patriotic findings and do the needful to prevent the imminent crash-landing of the DSO “pilot” project by launching a thorough public inquiry to unravel the scandalous aspects of the NBC/NTA/ITS implementation of the DSO NIGERIA.

Anything short of prompt and transparent review of the situation described in the Dara Report will only confirm that the Nigerian Factor bedevilling the DSO and all the concerned federal authorities is not only an infectious pandemic but also potentially incurable, even to the national legislature.

In addition, it is advisable to consider the constitution of a body of patriotic and independent professionals in the broadcast industry to act as implementation vigilante for the DSO NIGERIA project since those who saw some things wrong with it refused to say anything!

Meanwhile, Mr Tony Dara should not be intimidated as we expect him to complete the revealing investigation by covering the entire spectrum of DSO NIGERIA implementation so far.

Longwai is a student-broadcaster in Jos

sunnews

sunnews

Related Posts

Searching for smoking guns against Atiku
Columns

The Lux Terra approach to nation-building

7th February 2023
Opinion

Before we crucify the private organ graduate

7th February 2023
Bishop Onyia: Humility is virtue, not vice
Opinion

Bishop Onyia: Humility is virtue, not vice

7th February 2023
Next Post
Ese: The shame of a nation

Boosting teacher education in northern Nigeria

YOUTH

A youth agenda for practical change

Angela Merkel’s 4th term

Angela Merkel’s 4th term

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Highlights

Anambra: Ekwunife to Opponents: Compete with me on Devt’l projects not wealth ratings

Coffey, Foxx join BABUSA as board members

Tinubu begs for calm over fuel, new naira notes scarcity

Civil society groups protest Okowa’s N120bn loan

Wood, furniture sector of MAN faults lifting ban on wood, charcoal

New naira: Lawyers, CSOs hail court ruling

Trending

FG unveils new policy to track spending Feb 10
National

FG unveils new policy to track spending Feb 10

7th February 2023
0

From Uche Usim, Abuja Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Federal Government will on February 10 unveil a new...

Bauchi: Atiku, Okowa, Ayi, governors flag off PDP campaign in North East

Bauchi: Atiku, Okowa, Ayi, governors flag off PDP campaign in North East

7th February 2023
APC leadership admits internal forces working against Tinubu

APC leadership admits internal forces working against Tinubu

7th February 2023
Anambra: Agulu, Aguluzuigbo adopt Ekwunife for Senate, say Lawmaker’s performance excellent

Anambra: Ekwunife to Opponents: Compete with me on Devt’l projects not wealth ratings

7th February 2023
Coffey, Foxx join BABUSA as board members

Coffey, Foxx join BABUSA as board members

7th February 2023
ADVERTISEMENT

Follow us on social media:

Latest News

  • FG unveils new policy to track spending Feb 10
  • Bauchi: Atiku, Okowa, Ayi, governors flag off PDP campaign in North East
  • APC leadership admits internal forces working against Tinubu
  • Anambra: Ekwunife to Opponents: Compete with me on Devt’l projects not wealth ratings
  • Coffey, Foxx join BABUSA as board members
  • Tinubu begs for calm over fuel, new naira notes scarcity
  • Civil society groups protest Okowa’s N120bn loan
  • Wood, furniture sector of MAN faults lifting ban on wood, charcoal
  • New naira: Lawyers, CSOs hail court ruling
  • More knocks for Governor Okowa as group decries under-funding of DESOPADEC
  • African rights centre says court action on naira currency in order
  • Dabiri-Erewa: Killing of 16 Nigerians in Bukina Faso callous
  • Fuel tanker crushes student to death in Niger
  • Arewa, Ohanaeze, Yoruba youth leaders hail Judiciary
  • Buhari launches 2nd Nigeria’s review report, says peer review good for strong leadership
  • Cross River 2023: Bendeghe-Ekim community endorse Onor
  • Senator Adeola lifts 5,500 traders with grants in Ogun West
  • PDP, APC lose members to NNPP in Ondo
  • Ikenga Ugochinyere’s house attacked again by gunmen
  • Pakistan govt to jail people ridiculing army, judiciary for five years

Categories

  • Abuja Metro
  • Anambra Watch
  • Arts
  • Broken Tongues
  • Business
  • Business Week
  • Cartoons
  • Citizen Joe
  • Columns
  • Cover
  • Culture
  • Duro Onabule
  • Editorial
  • Education Review
  • Effect
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Events
  • Features
  • Femi Adesina
  • Food & Drinks
  • Frank Talk
  • Funke Egbemode
  • Gallery
  • Global Square by Kenneth Okonkwo
  • Health
  • Insights
  • Kalu Leadership Series
  • Kunle Solaja
  • Kunle Solaja
  • Letters
  • Lifeline
  • Lifestyle
  • Literary Review
  • Marketing Matters
  • Muiz Banire
  • National
  • News
  • Offside Musings
  • Opinion
  • oriental news
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • PressClips
  • Public Sphere
  • Ralph Egbu
  • Shola Oshunkeye
  • Sideview
  • South-west Magazine
  • Sponsored Post
  • Sporting Sun
  • Sports
  • Sun Girl
  • Tea Time
  • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
  • The Sun Awards Live
  • The Sun TV
  • Thoughts & Talks
  • Time Out
  • Today's cover
  • Tola Adeniyi
  • Travel
  • Travel & Tourism
  • Trending
  • TSWeekend
  • Turf Game
  • Uncategorized
  • Updates
  • Views from Abroad
  • Voices
  • World
  • World News
  • About Us
  • Paper Ad Rate
  • Online Ad Rate
  • Change of Name
  • The Team
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • Columns
    • Broken Tongues
    • Capital Matters
    • Diabetes Corner
    • Duro Onabule
    • Femi Adesina
    • Frank Talk
    • Funke Egbemode
    • Insights
    • Kalu Leadership Series
    • Kunle Solaja
    • Offside Musings
    • PressClips
    • Public Sphere
    • Ralph Egbu
    • Shola Oshunkeye
    • Sideview
    • The Flipside – Eric Osagie
    • Tola Adeniyi
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • The Sun TV
  • Sporting Sun
  • The Sun Foundation

© 2019 The Sun Nigeria - Managed by Netsera.