- Press Briefing by Northern Broadcast Media Owners Association, NBMOA, Held at Hawthorne Siutes, Area 11, Garki, Abuja, on Tuesday, 26th April, 2022.*
1. One of the most important functions of the media is the power and responsible to set agenda for the nation. The goal is to focus public attention and political resources on a few, but critical policy issues for the development of the nation.
Not only do the citizenry acquire factual information about public affairs from news media, they also know how much importance to attach to a policy area on the basis of the emphasis placed on it in the news.
So, the agenda setting role of the media is critical to the education of the electorate to make informed choices and elect desirable political leaders. At no time this is more expedient and desirable as now as we prepare for the 2023 elections.
2. The end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure would mark the end of an epoch and an important turning for Nigerian politics. The Regime is a transitional government that toppled a sitting administration that had ruled Nigeria for 16 years.
The Administration that succeeds Buhari must therefore of necessity have a clear agenda for the governance of Nigeria.
3. As part of the agenda setting responsibilities of the media, therefore we invite all political leaders, especially aspirants or candidates seeking political office to come up with clear policy prescriptions for the remediation of the challenges facing our Nation.
Here in the North, we are daily confronted by a unique set of existential challenges.
4. The scourge of banditry, terrorism, Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs; drug abuse, rural poverty, out of school children, youth unemployment, begging and the threat of hunger, have become epidemic that have defied solutions. These are the issues that should therefore be at the centre of political discuss. The attention of any political leader seeking the votes of the Northern electorates should therefore be focused on these issues.
5. For the purpose of clarity, let’s review some depressing statistics:
– A data consulting firm had revealed that no fewer than 8372 people lost their lives to security challenges in 2021. Today, an average of 14 people are killed everyday.
– Between 2018 to 2020, an average of 21.4 percent of Nigerian population experienced hunger.
– The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes, UNODC, revealed that 14.4 Percent of Nigerians engage in drug abuse, higher than the global average of 11 Percent.
– There are 10.5 Million out of school children in Nigeria. One-third of Nigerian children are out of school. 1 in 5 out of school children in the World are Nigerians.
– Youth unemployment rate in Nigeria is 17.69 Percent in 2019.
– Nigeria has 2.7 million Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, the highest in Africa.
The North is at the centre of these scourges and the most affected.
6. Unfortunately, however, political discourse appears to overlook these important concerns of the North. Efforts of our political leaders are centered on political brinkmanship and peripheral issues.
We are yet to see a clear manifesto from any party or political aspirant clearly spelling out remedies for salvaging the nation.
A recent opinion survey conducted by our Association has revealed a thorough lack of knowledge by the electorates on the policy positions of even the leading political aspirants on how to tackle terrorism and other ills bedeviling our nation.
A presidential aspirant and serving minister in this administration recently claimed that he had answer to the scourge of insecurity in Nigeria, but wouldn’t reveal it on national television. But you and I know that there’s no better place to convince Nigerians about strategy for ending insecurity than on the nation’s media.
7. I wish to therefore call on all aspirants, especially presidencial, gubernatorial and National Assembly aspirants to avail themselves of the various platforms of our association to market their political agenda to the people of the North and the Nation.
NBMOA has over 100 radio and television stations, spread across the North, broadcasting in English, Hausa, Yoruba, Fulfulde, Kanuri, Pidgin, Tiv, Idoma, Nupe, Angas and other major languages widely spoken in the North.We enjoy an audience of over 65 Million listeners. There’s therefore no better medium of reaching the North than through its media.
8. This is therefore a call for a partnership for the political development of our region and nation. We shall engage more robustly with political parties and political office aspirants to educate the electorate to make informed choices about the future of their country.
9. The strategy of achieving this will comprise a variety of media interventions. Our *Newsmaker Town Hall* would offer political leaders and party aspirants opportunity to address the nation and answer questions from a select audience.
The *My Stand* programme highlights the policy positions of aspirants, with occasional commentaries and endorsements from key supporters. There’s also the coverage of campaigns and regular interviews for news coverage.
10. In conclusion, I wish to call on the media as agenda setters, to continue to ask the right questions and demand accountability from our political office holders and those who seek to replace them.
We also call on the international committee interested in the political development in Nigeria to support our goal of educating the Nigerian electorate to enable them make informed political choices.
Thanks you for your attention.
Alhaji Abdullahi Yelwa.
Ajiyan Yauri.
Ag, Chairman.
NBMOA
