Sanctions against the public interest

Last Wednesday, August 3, news broke out that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), had imposed a fine of N5m (Five Million Naira) on Trust TV, for airing Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story, because the documentary “glamorized the activities of bandits and undermines national security”. Trust TV is a sister platform to the Daily Trust newspaper, […]

Last Wednesday, August 3, news broke out that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), had imposed a fine of N5m (Five Million Naira) on Trust TV, for airing Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story, because the documentary “glamorized the activities of bandits and undermines national security”. Trust TV is a sister platform to the Daily Trust newspaper, both owned by the parent company, Media Trust Group. The NBC also fined DSTV, NSTV, and NTA-StarTimes N5m each for airing a similar documentary by the BBC Africa Eye titled, “The Bandits Warlords of Zamfara”.

In its letter to Trust TV, signed by Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illela, the NBC said that the documentary “contravened” sections of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code, which charge broadcasters not to transmit content that a) “encourage or incite to crime, lead to public disorder or hate, be repugnant to public feelings”; b) “incite or likely to incite violence among the populace, causing mass panic, political and social upheaval, security breach and general social disorder”; and c) urge broadcasters to “ensure that law enforcement is upheld at all times in a manner depicting that law and order are socially superior to, or more desirable than crime or anarchy”.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had earlier threatened to impose sanctions on Trust TV and the BBC over the documentaries, which he said, were a “naked glorification of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria”. In response, Trust TV had said “we wish to state unequivocally that as a television station, we believe we were acting in the public interest by shedding light on the thorny issue of banditry and how it is affecting millions of citizens of our country”.

So far, the NBC fines have been condemned by a wide range of involved actors, civil society organizations and Nigerian citizens. The Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON) has said that while it is not “averse to the NBC carrying out its legitimate functions”, the fines imposed on Trust TV and others violate NBC’s own procedures of fair hearing and should be withdrawn. The International Press Centre (IPC), the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), and a host of other local and international professional organizations and activists have also condemned the NBC fines.

We believe the NBC fines raise three key issues that all sides must consider. First, the NBC has a legal mandate to regulate all aspects of broadcasting in Nigeria. Also, given that violent conflict both polarizes and tends to beget more violence, the NBC and the government have genuine reasons to be concerned about broadcast outputs on conflicts such as banditry in the country. We do not question these rights and concerns.

Second, beyond the mandate to regulate, regulatory agencies of government also have an obligation to engage positively with all the actors in the sectors they regulate over any possible violations of the rules. This obligation is in fact part of the NBC’s own written procedures for fair hearing. Therefore, the NBC must show that the contents of the documentaries have actually incited some people to violence and crime, caused mass panic, and undermined the superiority of law and order over crime. And then, the NBC must also show that it had previously engaged positively with the broadcasters on any concerns from members of the public on the documentary relating violations of its codes.

As a regulatory agency also bound by law, the NBC must provide objective evidence beyond reasonable scrutiny on these issues for the fines to be considered as legitimate regulatory practice. Otherwise, this is a crude attempt to muzzle the press and the public’s right to know. Moreover, while the NBC has monopoly of power to regulate the broadcast industry, it does not have monopoly of expertise on what broadcast contents violate its provisions. Our own review leaves us with no doubt that the Trust TV documentary in particular is 100% in the public interest and does not in any way violate the said NBC provisions.

Overall, the 30-minute documentary highlights the origins, dimensions and consequences of banditry in northern Nigeria, as well as possible solutions to it. The documentary features two scholarly experts on the subject, Professor Abubakar Siddique of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and Dr Murtala Ahmad Rufa’i of Usman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto. Both experts appeared in the documentary a combined 13 times. It also features the Emir of Bungudu in Zamfara State, HRH, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, who himself spent 32 days as a captive of bandits (5 times) and Senator Saidu Dansadau, (5 times). It is worth mentioning that the senator is from Dansadau, the community where banditry began about a decade ago.  The documentary also features  the governor of one of the states most affected by banditry; Rt Hon. Aminu Bello Masari (2 times). Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed appeared twice, victims of banditry (7 times), and community activists in the affected areas (4 times).

Nearly 90% of non-reporter statements in the entire documentary were by these subjects. We find it inconceivable that these various subjects whose voices were given this level of prominence in the documentary would speak to “glamorize” bandits or “undermine” national security as the NBC claims.

Finally, it is time the Nigerian government and the security agencies began to understand the media as a legitimate part of the country’s security architecture, and, therefore, as partners, rather than adversaries to be muzzled out of the way. Through their daily reporting of conflict, the media provide not only the citizens with a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of conflict, but also help security agencies glean intelligence that is often as much useful as what they themselves collect. This is the case with the documentaries in question. We urge all parties to find a way to resolve the contending issues amicably in the interest of the nation.