Renowned communication scholar, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, has called for urgent review of the National Broadcasting Code (NBC), describing the extant edition issued last year by the regulatory agency as inconsistent with democracy.
Akinfeleye, a former head of the Mass Communication Department of the University of Lagos, made the call at the public presentation of “Question marks on the 6th NBC Code Amendments”, a publication by Consortium of Independent Broadcasters and Free Press Advocates.
At the event, which held at the Lagos office of the Independent Press Centre (IPC), Akinfeleye stated that the code is an attempt by the government to overregulate the broadcast space, adding that many of the provisions in the 6th NBC Code were unnecessary as they had already been addressed by previous laws.
“The first thing is that we have existing laws that address the concerns of the NBC. The NBC is trying to overregulate the media in a way that is inconsistent with democracy, which is oiled by free press.
“A free press is required to make the government accountable at all times, not sometimes. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a revision of the NBC Code,” he said.
The publication, co-edited by Lanre Arogundade, IPC’s Executive Director and Dr. Akintunde Akanni, Acting Head of the Mass Communication Department of the Lagos State University(LASU), described the NBC Code as a change from regulation to strangulation.
Arogundade noted that the Code contains provisions that could undermine democratic norms and standards and jeopardise the values of broadcast sector liberalisation as well as free enterprise.
“Consider the fact Section 2.127.2 of the Code seeks to confer arbitrary powers on the NBC to, among others, shut down a station for violating the provisions relating to web/online broadcasting without making any provision for stations that may be concerned to seek redress,” he said. (Nation)