(NAN)
Malam Balarabe Ilalah, the Director-General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and Prof Tony Iredia, former NTA Director-General, on Thursday disagreed over a bill to establish the Society of Nigeria Broadcasters (SNB).
The duo expressed their disagreement at a public hearing in Abuja, organised by the House Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values.
The public hearing is on “A bill for an Act to provide for the regulation and conduct of the practice of the broadcasting profession in Nigeria.”
Speaking on the bill, Ilalah said that there was no need for the bill, adding that there could not be two regulatory bodies governing broadcasting in the country.
He said that the NBC was saddled with the responsibility of regulating the conduct of members who are broadcasting practitioners, adding that the regulation duty is only given to the NBC.
He said that the proposed institute by the SNB should not be established without the input of the NBC which regulate the entire industry.
According to him, the NBC shall have the power to nominate members to regulate the activities of this institute and provide an academic guide.
“The commission is already empowered to establish a broadcast institute and responsible for sanitising the industry,” he said.
Reacting, Iredia said that there was a need to talk about how media could self-regulate and not the government involvement.
He said: “All that NBC has said was good but they are not aware that there is a need to update the old system.
“There is nothing wrong in amending the NBC Act. In fact, it is better to do so now, because the NBC has not given us any hope of regulating the media.
“In this new bill, I have seen a lot of things replicating the old system. Things have changed, the National University Commission (NUC) has taken steps to introduce a B.Sc in broadcast communication.
“I am urging the committee to go ahead with this bill and where it finds contradiction, it should amend the NBC law,” he said.
He said that the bill was imperative to appreciate the importance of the media in the nation, adding that if no measure is taken, the country will be returning to the colonial era.
He said that the bill was specific to members acting professionally while adding that lawmaking in the media era must completely jettison the obsolete one.
According to him, the media has moved, we are no longer talking about information dissemination but the management of information.
He said that the bill was about looking at the idea of regulation which is to self-regulate.
Mr Mansur Liman, the Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Vice Chairman, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), the bill would bring together those practising broadcasting in the country for better performance.
He said that the bill would also encourage mentoring, adding that apart from the Nigeria Guild of Editors, there should be a meeting point for producers of content.
He said that the bill was to promote professional competence and forestall professional infringement, adding that it will lead to a collaboration with institutions for knowledge acquisition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a legislative framework that will promote professionalism in the ethics of broadcasting as a profession in Nigeria gained key players in the broadcast Industry.