NewsRescue
The increasingly brutal and suppressive Federal government of Nigeria under the dictator Muhammadu Buhari presidency has warned members of the press to “respect elders and authorities” and not publish posts denigrating them regardless of reports of embezzlement and corruption about them which have continued to expose and embarrass the administration.
The government used local cultural norms as a means of pushing this latest restriction on the media.
The warning was contained in a press release by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation uploaded below:
Goodluck Jonathan was not an option. https://t.co/6v9bGCc4sx
— David Hundeyin???? (@DavidHundeyin) August 12, 2020
New Harsh penalties Crush Free Speech
PremiumTimes’ Ayodeji Adegboyega reports:
Broadcasting Code: NBC Board disagrees with Lai Mohammed, says Minister acted alone
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, “erroneously” amended the sixth edition of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, the chairman of the National Broadcasting Commission board, Ikra Bilbis, has said.
The minister while unveiling the reviewed code on August 4 in Lagos had said the amendments were necessitated by a presidential directive, in the wake of the 2019 general elections. He said the aim was to reposition the NBC for optimum performance.
The code, since its amendment, has stirred up controversy in the industry with many Nigerians kicking against its provisions.
Many Nigerians view the move as a backdoor attempt to clamp down on free speech, dissent bad the media.
In the amended code, the ministry increased the fine for “hate speech” from N500,000 to N5 million. It also announced tougher regulation of web broadcast among others.
Earlier on Thursday, the NBC fined a radio station, Nigeria Info 99.3 FM, N5 million for “providing its platform to be used to promote unverifiable and inciting views that can incite crime and public disorder.”
The decision came after a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia, claimed on the radio that a governor of a northern State was the leader of the extremist group, Boko Haram. Read full https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/408690-broadcasting-code-nbc-board-disagrees-with-lai-mohammed-says-minister-acted-alone.html
