NTA, AIT and the 2015 presidential campaign

The ideal thing for the media to do during elections was to bring to the electorates issues of dwindling economy, unemployment, insecurity, infrastructural decay, looting of the treasury, armed robbery, kidnapping, terrorism, etc, but what we had via NTA and AIT during the period were documentaries and sponsored adverts targeted mainly at discrediting General Muhammadu Buhari, the opposition presidential candidate. For instance, the documentary “The Real Buhari” aired by both stations was the highest level of irresponsible and unprofessional conduct ever witnessed in the nation’s media history. To agree to air a documentary meant to discredit a civil war veteran, former head of state, based on false allegations, outright lies was a clear violation of journalism profession and the broadcast code.  What the NTA and AIT did violated all ethical standards set by NBC and NUJ and the peace accord signed by all political parties. And it is a violation of the Electoral Act which states that “Abusive, intemperate, slanderous or base language or insinuations or innuendoes designed or likely to provoke violent reaction or emotions shall not be employed or used in political campaigns.”
Even though the NBC claimed to have sanctioned both NTA and AIT for advert breaches, the case of NTA might be different from that of AIT. As a public broadcaster, they are caught between serving the public and generating income; however, generation of income should not mean breaching principles and standards. Public service is about people and NTA allegiance is to Nigerian State and the people, not the person in power. However, in their bid to please the incumbent, they go out of their way to break all codes of ethics.
NTA as a government institution should have known better. Nigeria is bigger than any individual. The NBC, the National Assembly, the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Journalists, stakeholders in the media industry need to do audits of the conduct and behaviour of media organisations before and during the 2015 campaigns.   As a public broadcaster, the NTA was expected to provide “a broad range of opinions, whether in education, news and information, or cultural and entertainment programming, all of which are ethical and professional in content and sensitive to citizens’ needs and values”. But what we saw from NTA is an institution sponsored by taxpayer’s money to become a willing tool in the hands of desperate governing party politicians which they used to promote “vulgarised journalism”. Luckily for us as Nigerians, the elections were peaceful and the aftermath was even more so, but it has left us with bitter memories. It is important that the activities of NTA are looked into and the medium re-organised to serve Nigerians instead of individuals. It is time for us to look at new strategies to improve the professional performance of NTA, particularly in matters of politics, political campaigns and elections. The present status of NTA as the preserve of person in power does not augur well for the station as a public institution and the Nigerian society in general.
Kabiru Danladi Lawanti, Department of Mass Communication, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria <[email protected]>;