NBC’s Closure Of AIT; My Position -By Olanrewaju Osho

The Nigeria Broadcasting Commission on Thursday 6th June 2019 suspended the license of Daar Communications ltd the operator of AIT, Ray Power FM and DAARSAT. NBC’s statement on this matter shows that the regulator and AIT have been at logger heads since 2017.

AIT foolishly took the position of opposition media. The law of balance was not considered important by AIT Operators.

It sought to become the champion of Agenda PDP promoting blindly statements and opinions of PDP elected officials and leaders with reckless abandon. AIT uses its social media channels to harvest and air opinions that abuse the President and the government forgetting that whatever social media they post become their position unless they place a caveat which they don’t usually do.

Is Closure of the media house the best decision for NBC to take? The answer is NO. NCC did not shot down MTN when it violated the Telecom rules. It placed a hefty fine. SEC has not shot down OANDO despite the ongoing battle to endorse corporate governance rule on OANDO. Why did NCC and SEC not shut down legitimate operators they have had issues with? Money and investment are involved. Livelihoods of millions of people are involved. The importance of the roles of the operator also matters and you don’t throw away the baby with the bath water.
NBC should not have shot down AIT because it is not an illegal organization doing business illegally. NBC should have fined AIT and issue a well circulated press release to that effect to let Nigerians know how unprofessional AIT has been in its manner of operation.

NBC took that decision because its management are not investment minded, not income generating minded and not forward thinking.

NBC and Nigeria gains nothing by shutting down AIT.

The decision should be reviewed and the right thing should be done.