Reminiscences Top Story • Created January 18, 2025 06:43

Reminiscences: How I became DG of FRCN and NTA – Alh Mohammed Ibrahim (veteran broadcaster)

Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim trained in the London School of Journalism and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). He worked in the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Indeed, he was the director-general of both major media institutions, between 1989-1996. He also served as chairman of both the Triumph Publishing Company […]

You were born in Kanya Babba, can you take us back to that period?

I was born in September 1941.There was no primary or elementary school at that time in Kanya Babba, so when I reached school age, I had to go to Babura, which was the headquarters of our district and is still the headquarters of our local government. That’s where I started my elementary school in 1948.

We finished in 1951 and took the common entrance examination to Kano Middle School, which is now Rumfa College. Out of seven of us, two were selected and we started the training.

It was a five-year programme, but when we got to class four, there was a change of educational system.

We took a common entrance examination to secondary schools and some of us went to Barewa while some remained there. We went to Form 1 in January 1955.

We later discovered that there was a technical school in Kaduna, called Technical Institute. Primarily, it was training technical officers. But for secondary school leavers, there was a plan by the Northern Nigeria Government that if you studied sciences you could go there for a year and take one of the British exams. After one year, you would take the examination, and if you passed, the chances were that you could get a scholarship to study engineering, either in the United Kingdom, Germany or the United States.

Three of us went to the technical institute—myself, Idris Ahmed and Lawal Isiaku. We joined 23 others from different provinces and started the course.

We finished successfully; and as we were waiting for the results, incidentally, it was an in-service training, so we were paid salaries every month, I discovered that the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation was recruiting staff, so I applied as a programme assistant.

That was a deviation from engineering.

Yes, but I was successful and given employment. But I was still waiting for the interview date for scholarship, which used to take place in June/July; and the departure date was September or early October, depending on the academic year.

When I started the job, I discovered that I did not need to do any engineering or whatever training.

Idris Ahmed went for the interview and got the scholarship to UK, but Isiaku said he was not interested in going to any country. He was glad to go to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) for technical education to become a school teacher.

He got admitted to ABU, and as God would have it, he retired as a federal permanent secretary. Idris Ahmed went to the UK and studied technical education. He left in 1961 and I joined him in January 1964.

When I started working for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, they had an arrangement with the British Broadcasting Corporation, African Service, whereby staff could be seconded to them for three or two years, or even more. So there was a vacancy. They offered me the job, so I left in January 1964.

My parents said they would allow me to go on three conditions – that I would further my education; make sure I would not convert to any religion; and if I would marry a white woman, would make sure she converted to Islam. I accepted the conditions.

I left in January 1964 to join the BBC. I discovered that there was a London School of Journalism.At that time, there was no School of Mass Communication in the whole of UK. It was an American system; so I joined them.

So, you were working in the BBC and studying in the London School of Journalism?

Yes, the BBC arranged it in such a way that every term, I would bring our timetable. Then the roster would either put me on morning, afternoon, evening, or night duty, so that it could accommodate my studies.

How did you cope?

Fantastic. I was young and dynamic, so there was no problem.

How was living in London, having relocated from this part of the world?

It was fantastic. I lived in North London. Four of us were living in the same apartment—the late ( Dahiru) Mustapha, who was the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aminu Wali, Shehu Adnan and myself. Each one had his own room.

So, you were there on different programmes and just met?

Aminu Wali was reading Business Administration at the North Western University, Mustapha was reading Law at London University while Shehu was reading Technical Education and Printing Technology, also at the London University and I was commuting between BBC and the London School of Journalism. The school was located in Mayfair, so it was not too far from my workplace.

How long did it take you to do the training?

Two years. I completed it in 1966 and got the certificate. I told myself that I got what I promised my parents. At least I furthered my education in the area of my profession.

What about the other conditions your parents gave you, such as marriage?

I didn’t marry. In fact, if I were to marry, it would have been a Tanzanian girl who happened to be half Indian, half Tanzanian and a Muslim. She was reading Medicine, and by the time we became friends, my time was up in London, so I couldn’t wait. It wasn’t destined to be.

What did you do when you returned to Nigeria with your diploma?

I went on secondment to the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. I came back in December 1968, and in January, I was in the office.I was at the Kaduna branch of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.

They called me for interview a couple of days later and I got the job of a principal editor. I started work in February 1970.

Were you happy to move from radio to television?

The salary was higher than what I was earning. It was a combination of radio and television services, so I would be a principal editor for both. But the challenge was greater.

I also had the advantage of the training courses I attended at the BBC – basic, senior and principal courses, as well as management of resources in those five years I spent there.

I was combining both duties – television and radio. In 1970, barely a year, there was a vacancy for the head of news of the organisation. We attended an interview, I think about five of us and I was given the job.

I took over from James Audu, in Radio-Television, Kaduna. I was there as head of news. Then in 1975, I went to Syracuse University, United States to study Broadcast Management for four months.

I came back, and in 1975, after the Murtala coup. The managing director was appointed a commissioner in Borno, or Northeastern State as it was called. He said it was better for him to retire than go on secondment.

When he retired, Alhaji Dahiru Modibbo, who was the deputy managing director, became the managing director of the Broadcasting Company Northern, Nigeria, Radio-Television, Kaduna. Luckily, I was appointed the deputy managing director. That was in 1975.

In 1976, Kano wanted to set up their own television service and they invited me to become the first general manager.

Was that NTA, Kano?

It was Kano State Television. When we set up the television station in 1976, the federal government decided to set up the NTA and General Murtala Mohammed said all state television stations must become its nucleus. So the federal government took over the station and there was no compensation. I think there were 10 stations in the whole country.

In 1978 when the NTA was properly taking off, I was promoted to the position of zonal director to take charge of Kano, Kaduna and Plateau.

I was on annual leave when they gave me the job I never wanted to do. They made me director, Network News. I knew my principles. I knew I was going to face a problem because we were going to work with politicians.

How was the experience? Was it as bad as you thought?

They wanted a major transformation of the NTA Network News. Well, I can easily take the credit because I was the one who organised it into the kind of footing they are now. It was a strong news and sports system. There was a strong political coverage etc.

Within two years, the government of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) decided that if Vincent Maduka remained the director-general and I remained in the Network News, they would have problems in the 1983 elections. So we had to be moved out. And that was what I was afraid of – politics.

The irony of it was that in 1982, there was an election for the position of the president of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and they sent President Shagari’s chief press secretary to say that I should contest because government would not allow the private media to continue dominating that seat.

I said I didn’t have any money to go round and campaign. So, I went and saw Umaru Dikko and he said they wanted the government media to take over the leadership of the Guild of Editors and they had decided that I would stand as president. He said they would give me all the financial support I would require. He also said that someone from the New Nigerian Newspaper would be the secretary. I told him that we were both northerners, but he said that was what they wanted.

And it happened?

It happened. The convention took place in Minna, the Niger State capital. We went there and got elected. The managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria, was my vice president . The positions were completely dominated by government( media).

Why did you need a lot of money to campaign for that post?

I couldn’t sponsor myself to travel around the country to campaign. Paying for transportation was a big problem.

But you didn’t have to give your colleagues money to vote for you?

That was the most interesting thing. We went, discussed, argued and they supported us.

Tell me about your period as the executive director of news. We know it is a very sensitive position and hawks like Umaru Dikko really wanted a certain kind of coverage for the federal government. Was that difficult?

They thought the NTA was not sympathetic to the policies of the NPN. But my training taught me to be balanced, objective, and not to engage in propaganda. That was our greatest problem with them, both the director-general and myself.

Were there cases where you clashed with them?

Quite a number. In 1982, they decided that Mr Maduka and myself must be pushed out of the NTA. Maduka, being an engineer, should go to the Ministry of Communication, where he would become the technical adviser to the minister – Audu Ogbeh. I (was) posted to Sokoto. And coming from Kano, of course my belief was in the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).

So, you were sympathetic to the opposition party?

Yes. Sokoto was the president’s home state and predominantly NPN, so there was nothing I could do to change that.

And they took you out of the hot position?

They brought a non-broadcaster, Dr Walter Ofonagoro as the director-general of the NTA. That was the beginning of the problem of the NTA. And they took a non-journalist to be the executive director, Network News.

Who was this?

Patrick Ityohegh.

A programme guy?

Yes. They took him to take over my seat instead of bringing a proper journalist.

How did you suddenly become the director-general of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), rather than NTA?

I was in Sokoto from 1983 to 1985. In 1984, Alhaji Dahiru Modibbo was appointed the director-general of FRCN. He succeeded George Bako, an engineer, who retired after 35 years.

Did you eventually succeed him as director-general?

Yes. I came back in February 1985 as the zonal director of the FRCN, Kaduna. In September 1987, he said I should be transferred to Lagos. I asked why I should be taken to Lagos since he brought me to Kaduna on a mission, but he said I didn’t have any option as two of my senior colleagues had retired and I was the most senior director, so I must go to Lagos and take over as Director of Corporate Affairs.

I said fine and moved to Lagos. We worked comfortably as father and son, brother and elder brother. Every morning, I would go to his office and brief him because my office was more like the network headquarters of all the activities in the FRCN. At 3pm I would go back and brief him, whether there was anything or not.

In January 1989, there was an international conference on Africa broadcasting in Zimbabwe and he was to go, but he said he didn’t like to go, so I should represent him. That was how I went to Zimbabwe.

I came back on Sunday night. As I was having dinner with my late wife, she congratulated me, saying Uncle Dahiru told her that I had been appointed the director-general of the FRCN. I said she must be mistaken because Modibbo still had more time to go, so why should anybody appoint me?

When I went to the office in the morning, about 11am, the permanent secretary, information, Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, who was my course mate at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) called me and congratulated me, saying my file was before him, stating that Babangida had approved my appointment as the director-general of the FRCN to succeed Modibbo . I asked if his time was up and he said, yes.

I was waiting for Modibbo to call me, but he didn’t. So, at 3pm, as usual I went to his office and briefed him. As we were drinking tea, he put his hand in his pocket as if he was bringing out money to give me and he said, “Congratulations.” I asked what for and he answered, “You are succeeding me. Here is your letter.”

He initiated it. I asked why he didn’t even give me a warning and he said there was no need; and explained that he would have been a liar if the president refused to approve it.

There were a lot of stories about (Dahiru) Modibbo; what kind of man was he?

I think he was the most authoritative person in radio broadcasting in this country. He was married to radio, day, night, in his sleep, everything. He was a man of great integrity. Whatever you were doing, he was listening and taking note. So, if your promotion came up, nobody would stop him from doing it. Also, Modibbo didn’t care about money; he was never corrupt. One of the things I learned from him was projecting ahead. He was always planning ahead, correcting here and there.

As an insider, tell us about that period of controversy in the FRCN when Obasanjo kind of took it over. Didn’t he want it to look like a northern broadcast station?

Well, it wasn’t a northern broadcast station as such. He knew how much the station served the federal government, especially during the civil war. His main fear was that it should not to be used against him or any Nigerian head of state. What triggered the crisis was that his adviser on information, Olu Adebanjo, said the FRCN Kaduna was too powerful. So it had to be given competitors.

That was why they started building FM stations in states to counter whatever the FRCN Kaduna was doing, in case they deviated from the normal routine. They built quite a number of such stations.

He came to the FRCN Kaduna and said the federal government had no choice than to take over.

Usman Jibrin was the governor of the North-Central State. They almost fought in the governor’s office. They went for a meeting of the National Council of States and Obasanjo said the federal government was going to take over the FRCN Kaduna. But he disagreed. That was why he resigned as governor and his commission from the Nigerian Air Force. It was a major crisis.

Obasanjo insisted that it must be done, so he set up a committee to look into it. Mallam Adamu Ciroma, the chairman of the committee, came and submitted a memo. We gave him options – to leave the FRCN, Kaduna as it was; that is, Radio-Television Kaduna. The television arm was already taken over by the government, allow it to continue as a purely commercial radio station or to be left in the hands of the 10 northern states at that time.

Ciroma looked at the recommendations and submitted his report to the federal government, ( that) under the circumstances, it would be too dangerous to leave it in the hands of any state, individual or group of states. That was what gave Obasanjo the guts.

So, he called a joint meeting of the National Council of States and the Federal Executive Council and they decided that the FRCN Kaduna Radio must be taken over by the federal government.

They set up a committee to draw up the merger. There would be no state radio station broadcast on short range. This meant that Ibadan, Jos and Enugu were to surrender their short range transmitters. They were only allowed to transmit on medium range or FM.

That was how we submitted the proposal for six zones, and FRCN was born in 1977.

Do you think that from then on, Radio Kaduna became something different from what it used to be?

It became stronger and more professional. But their problem was financing. When they were taken over, they were still collecting money from the states. That helped them to develop and expand their services in Kanuri, Fulfulde, Nupe, Hausa and English.

The main problem right now is poor funding. They are not getting enough money to run the services.

You were also the director-general of the NTA. I believe you lasted long there – from 1991 to 1996. Was your experience there different from what you saw at the FRCN?

It was very interesting. I and Tony Momoh, the minister of information used to keep arguing for nothing.

When I was the director-general of the FRCN, I was not getting enough money to run the Voice of Nigeria. My number one priority was domestic service, not external. So deliberately, I ran down the Voice of Nigeria.

I told the authorities that they should better separate the FRCN from the Voice of Nigeria as it was killing its domestic service. If we were silent for a whole day, somebody would say there was a coup etc.

So, I gave them a paper on how they should be separated. Unknown to me, they had already given the assignment to the attorney-general of the federation to write a new decree for the FRCN. He did and it was approved. Yahaya Abubakar was appointed as the director-general of the FRCN and I was moved to the NTA. Well, the NTA was like a home to me.

Do you think you made any difference as the director-general of the NTA during your almost five-year tenure?

I made a little difference, even in terms of expanding into states where there were no television stations; states like Akwa Ibom, separating them from Cross River. Niger set its own radio station. It was quite a number.

We also expanded facilities within the headquarters of the FRCN, giving more powers to states and more resources to run their own affairs. I think that was one of my biggest achievements. Somehow, we had more money from the government and more money from advertising. We were generating more. And the government was not taking a kobo from us. We told them our budget every year.

We made so much from advertising. And we expect the government to give us so much because even when the NTA was allowed to continue advertising, a percentage of our revenue formed part of our budget. We would tell them how much we would generate and how much they would give us. But capital projects were separated to their own domain. Whatever we recommended, they were the ones to decide whether they would approve it or not. So, we had reasonable funding. At that time, the dollar was very strong. It was one naira to one dollar.

We were well equipped. We bought new transmitters, broadcast vehicles etc; and it made us stronger. That was why we were able to cover so many major international events holding in Nigeria, like the Junior Eagles competition in Lagos. We covered it for the whole world.

What of digitisation? You wrote a paper on it, but after 20 years, it is still a challenge in NTA; what do you think is the problem?

They have gone quite far. The bulk of their transmission is now digitised. It is something we cannot do overnight. It consumes a lot of money, takes time, a lot of training for manpower etc. You need to make sure that the manpower you have know what they are doing. And you have to acquire the right resources and facilities. I think the NTA has come of age.

As a former director-general of the NTA, are you happy with what they are doing now?

Certainly, they are doing better. However, I would have been happier if they continued with what we were doing in sports. The NTA should make sports one of its key programmes. I remember that when I was the director-general, we used to have network sports every Saturday, from 4pm to 7pm

Coverage of international events was normally undertaken by the NTA. We covered the World Cup, Olympic games and so many major international sporting events. But now, the NTA is finding it difficult to cover such events.

The reason is simply because sponsors were buying the rights. The NTA doesn’t have the money to buy those rights, and it cannot afford to buy the rights from sponsors. That’s their major problem right now.

Did you inherit your traditional title or it was given to you because of your prominence and contributions to the society?

It was something I inherited. My father was the village head of Kanya Babba; hence our family has been village head since it was set up in 1762. It was one of the biggest village heads under Babura Local Government.

Right now, I have 16 village heads and 201 hamlets under me. So the expansion has been great. Babura has been split into four districts, but Kanyan Babba has remained intact. We are a state constituent assembly.

Tell us about your private life. How did you cope after losing your wife a few years ago?

It was a very difficult situation. Sometimes I would go into my bedroom looking for something and I didn’t know where it was. Certain issues would come up and I would have no idea how she did it.

When I was told that she was involved in an accident around Makarfi while coming back from Kano, I was shocked, but the shock didn’t sink in me because the person who conveyed the information to me said she was taken to Markafi General Hospital. I wondered why they didn’t take her to the ABU, which was nearby.

Have you remarried?

I had to remarry. I remember very well that I was sitting comfortably in my sitting room when my children came and said they were tired of living in this house without a mother.

Were they grownups?

Yes. All of them were outside the university at that time. They said they would want me to remarry but under certain conditions. But they didn’t tell me the conditions.

How many years after the death of your wife?

Two years. I went to a friend’s house and told his wife what my children said. She just laughed and said they were consulted. The children also said they had a candidate.

They later said the condition was that I shouldn’t marry any woman younger than any of them or of their age, and I shouldn’t marry somebody with children because they I didn’t want crisis.

I also remember very well that the mother of my late wife sent me a message from Birnin Kebbi, asking what I was waiting for before getting married again. I said I was taking my time; I was not in a hurry. I didn’t want to get married and regret my action at the end of the day. That was how I overcame the problem of bachelorhood, if I may put it that way.

Reminiscences: How I became DG of FRCN and NTA – Alh Mohammed Ibrahim (veteran broadcaster)

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