Re: As Shekarau retreats in war with Freedom Radio

The piece in reference was obviously written with the aim of ridiculing and down-playing the well considered policy of the state government to resolve its conflict with Freedom Radio, which it decided upon in the spirit of the month of Ramadan and in consideration of appeals by highly-placed and respected individuals and groups for government […]

The piece in reference was obviously written with the aim of ridiculing and down-playing the well considered policy of the state government to resolve its conflict with Freedom Radio, which it decided upon in the spirit of the month of Ramadan and in consideration of appeals by highly-placed and respected individuals and groups for government to rescind its decision to suspend patronage of the station by its ministerial departments and agencies. Those who made the appeal included no less a person than our father the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, Guild of Editors, and Arewa Media Forum.

There is no doubt about it that the bulk of the radio station’s listeners that are mature and/or morally upright have since found it difficult to tolerate the station’s unsavoury broadcast as testified by the incessant complaints about the antics of the station in town. So far the only listeners of the station are mainly supporters of ex-governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and some young elements in society who because of their rebellious disposition appreciate the slanderous comments made by uncouth politicians against community leaders and those in authority.

Who in his right senses would appreciate and applaud a radio station that offers wayward politicians the “freedom” to call the names of incumbent governor, minister or commissioner and rain abuses on him or her, all in the name of freedom of expression? Only supporters and hirelings of such morally bankrupt politicians, would hail that kind of broadcast. Community and traditional leaders, businessmen, Ulamas and other respected individuals who consider the radio as violating their moral integrity are today sulking and highly concerned about this aberration, but no one seems concerned enough to take action.    

It is common knowledge that the so-called Freedom Radio evolved mainly to serve the political interests of its proprietors, particularly the chairman who appears to have appropriated it.

Thus, since its inception the radio station seems to have owed its existence to the achievement of this purpose. It has been pugnacious and cantankerous regarding everything that has to do with the state government, very much unmindful of the important issue of its credibility and the much-cherished ethics of journalism, to the chagrin of genuine practitioners of the profession.

The reporter described the chairman of the radio station as “god-father” of the governor. Considering the meaning of this phrase in the Nigerian political parlance, even Buhari would hardly fit that description. Buhari came with his popularity to achieve his purpose, just as Ibrahim came with his own attributes to achieve his political purpose. Politics is a game of association of individuals who help each other towards achieving group and individual purposes. God-fatherism, as we know it, is a different kettle of fish, ask ex-governor Chris Ngige.

What happened was that the chairman was one of three ex-army generals who stood guard at INEC office in Kano to prevent the PDP from rigging the 2003 gubernatorial election for Kwankwaso. The Resident Electoral Commisioner(REC), retired army officers and some political bigwigs sent by Kwankwaso to do so therefore found it impossible to sway the outcome of the election in his favor.

Two of the generals, who are indigenes of the state, including the chairman who is an AVM, hence thought that this role they played guaranteed them the right to view government’s resources as a ‘booty’ to patronage from government.

Even though the piece by Jaafar aimed at exculpating and exonerating the radio station from blame arising from complaints from morally upright members of the general public, he inadvertently and amateurishly reeled out official charges leveled against the station by no less a person than the Director- General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Engineer Yomi Bolarinwa.

The reader would recall that at a point the NBC considered it necessary to suspend the operation of Freedom Radio on account of incessant reports it received from its branch office in Kano, and after its own thorough investigation of the programmes the radio aired. The writer found it convenient not recall this.

He also refused to recall that as a result of the anger of the people against the programmes of the station, which sometimes did not spare even religious issues, an attempt was made by a mob to burn it out of existence. He would not recall these because in the chequered history of Nigeria one can hardly recall if the NBC ever suspended the operations of any radio station as it did freedom radio.

Now back to the NBC’s charges against the station as narrated by Jaafar himself. The national supervisory body of broadcast in Nigeria, after probing freedom radio, came to Kano and held closed-door meeting with executives of broadcast stations in the state. Addressing the press later, Engineer Bolarinwa admonished that “broadcasting organizations should recognize that they exercise freedom of expression as agents of society, and not for any personal, sectional rights, proprietors, relatives, friends, among others”.

Jaafar also quoted the D.G to have said that “it was the social objective of broadcast stations to toe the lines of ethics as spelt out in the Nigerian Broadcasting Code tha t broadcasting should promote values and norms, which foster the well-being and cooperation of the various groups of the Nigerian society.”

Most importantly, the writer quoted Bolarinwa as saying the foregoing broadcasting ethics were trampled upon in Kano State, adding further: “you will agree with me that we saw the exact opposite of this in recent weeks in Kano. That is why I found it necessary to come to Kano in keeping with the mandate of the commission as spelt out in the NBC code.”

What else does one need to accept the fact that Freedom Radio has been operating in the breach of the ethics of broadcast in Nigeria?

Mohammed is Special Adviser to Kano State Governor on Private Schools and Vocational Education.