ITS and matters arising

Within the last few weeks, the media has been awash with the story of digital switch over that transited Nigeria from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting and had attracted commentaries from various individuals and bodies alike. For the generality of Nigerians, the new broadcast template is a course for celebration as television viewers now enjoy […]

Within the last few weeks, the media has been awash with the story of digital switch over that transited Nigeria from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting and had attracted commentaries from various individuals and bodies alike.

For the generality of Nigerians, the new broadcast template is a course for celebration as television viewers now enjoy multiple options of choices from broadcast stations in the areas of content and signal quality. As the major fulcrum of the switch over, the Integrated Television Services, ITS, which is the major signal distributor for broadcast organizations under the project has continued to expand its services to all the nooks and crannies of the country.

It started with a pilot site in Jos which officially marked the migration of Nigeria from analogue to digital broadcasting and, has since covered Ilorin in Kwara state, Oshogbo in Osun state, with plan for expansion to other parts of the country soon.

While television viewers in the other parts of the country eagerly look forward to enjoying the digital broadcast services, some self-styled ‘Concerned Nigerians’ have been plotting to destroy the laudable contribution of ITS engineers who worked tirelessly to ensure that Nigeria joined the rest of the world of digital terrestrial broadcasting services.

For reasons that run contrary to sound logic and knowledge, these so called ‘Concerned Nigerians’ are alleging abuse of office and underhand dealings against the officials and engineers of the ITS for rolling out the migration from analogue to digital broadcast on what they derisively term ‘Obsolete and Disused’ equipment.

In so doing they therefore sought to portray the ITS officials as incompetent and motivated by personal or pecuniary benefit from a project that has taken so long and huge financial commitment from the Federal Government to come on stream.

These allegations are not only false and malicious they in fact only exist in the wild imagination of those behind them.

While they thought that they were being smart in the art of misleading the reading public about the real issues and the role of the ITS in the digital switch over, other patriotic Nigerians have made their discrete enquiries and found out the real truth behind the orchestrated campaign of calumny launched against the ITS engineers by these so called ‘Concerned Critics’.

That the DSO modus Operandi was developed by the Presidential Advisory Committee PAC, which recommended to government through a white paper that the old infrastructure in the existing broadcast institutions, namely NTA, VON, and FRCN should form the back bone of the entire process of migrating Nigeria from analogue to digital broadcasting, is not in doubt.

These recommendations are contained in the white paper amongst other recommendations which the Federal Government under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua accepted and approved for the project.

That ITS through its engineers, actually used their expertise in making the already existing equipment compliant with the best global practices in the world, inline the mandate set for it by the PAC.

That all the key agencies and institutions that were involved in the DSO affair worked within the Modus Operandi and template set out by the technical experts who produced the white paper for the project.

So, where did these so called ‘Concerned Nigerians’ get the idea of underhand dealing which they have wickedly been peddling against the patriotic engineers in ITS and their compatriots in other broadcasting institutions that successfully migrated Nigeria from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting?

We are aware that they have sponsored petitions to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission ICPC, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, and the National Assembly, calling for investigation into their allegation against the ITS officials and the team that managed the DSO project. This is a right that the constitution guarantees them, and so we have no axe to pick over that.

However, information available to us show that the characters behind this misleading allegations are only interested in destroying certain officials of ITS, who they see as obstacles to their bid to secure hefty contract from the digital switch over project from which they were primed to rake in billions of Naira.

It is on record that sponsors of this malicious publications actually bided for contract to supply some component parts of the DSO project and the building of sites in over 150 locations but lost to due diligence carried out on them by the awarding authorities. Need one remind them of the time tested adage that ‘those who live in glass houses do not throw stones’?

A background check on one of the leading sponsors of these hostile publications against ITS, has revealed that he was a former staff of NTA, but left the service under a very unsalutary circumstance. Would it not be unthinkable for the same employer that relieved him of his services to now turn around to award his bogey company a hefty contract for a job he lacked the knowledge and capacity to undertake even while in service?

Nigerians therefore need to see through the labyrinth of tissue of lies woven around by these characters. They are only out to settle scores over grudges of loss of contract bid to rip off the government of huge monies in unearned commissions, and for the unceremonious exit of one of their confederates from the NTA whose appointment was terminated for absconding from duty. We have document to buttress our position on him.

The public should henceforth be weary of these characters as they thrive on lie peddling and black mail. The ITS officials deserve commendation for maintaining dignified silence in the face of this unwarranted provocation.

Mubarak Alabi, a public affairs analyst, wrote this piece from Abuja.