Citing the recent favourable Federal High Court ruling to tackle those he described as “busy body” advocate, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has declared the Federal Government’s readiness to amend the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Code for effective checks on malicious contents threatening the country’s corporate entity.
He made the declaration yesterday while launching the Digital Switch Over (DSO) in Kano.
The minister noted that with over two million television viewers in the ancient city, the switchover of the second most populous Nigerian city would aid economic viability and reinvigorate the world of entertainment with local content.
Stating that 500,000 units of decoders had been deployed in state for conversion from analogue to digital TV, Mohammed added that the government was partnering with local manufacturing companies to produce affordable setup boxes to cover wide range of households in the state.
Recalling that the journey, which started in Jos in 2016, had been slow but steady, the minister pledged government’s commitment to switch the entire country to Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) broadcasting sooner than expected.
He said with the successful launch in Kano, the state has joined the likes of Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Osun, Lagos, Jos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
His words: “I am reliably informed that the NBC has also conducted awareness training on the DSOs for Information Officers in the Nigerian Orientation Agency), and about 500,000 decoders have been deployed to Kano by the setup manufacturers.
“The decision to transition from analogue to digital television followed a treaty that was signed at the Regional Radio Communication Conference (RRC-06) in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16, 2016 to usher in ‘all-digital’ terrestrial broadcast services for sound and television.
“This is aimed at creating a more equitable, just and people-centered information society, which would connect underserved populations and remote communities, thereby bridging the digital divide.”
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