Obaseki reforms save EBS, as NBC revokes license of Lagos, Kaduna, 50 other broadcast stations

Ongoing revamp of the Edo State Broadcasting Service (EBS) by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has saved the state-owned broadcasting station from the hammer of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as the Commission on Friday revoked the licenses of 52 broadcasting stations, including Lagos and Kaduna Broadcasting Corporations.

Governor Obaseki is pursuing a holistic reform of the broadcast station, resolving all regulatory issues that hitherto impeded the growth of the media outfit and clearing the back-log of inherited debts, which today is the basis for the shutdown of the 52 stations by the NBC.

The regulatory body said the broadcast licenses of the broadcast stations were revoked over-indebtedness, adding that the stations were owing the Commission N2.6 billion since 2015.

The debtor-stations include; Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation, Kaduna State Broadcasting Corporation, Africa Independent Television (AIT) and its sister radio station, Raypower FM; Silverbird Television, and 47 other stations across the country.

Apart from clearing all debts owed by the EBS, the Governor, as a part of efforts to upgrade the state-owned broadcast station and reposition it to meet international broadcast standards, is building the capacity of staff of the state-owned broadcast station, training staff members in various areas of needs, including computer appreciation, presentation ethics, videography, NBC codes, among others.

The state has also begun the physical upgrade of the facilities for the media outfit, procuring state-of-the-art equipment and other digital broadcast tools, in line with modern global media practice driven by Information and Communication Technology (ICT). A functional networking system area has since been set up in the operational and administrative buildings to digitize operations. The Editing Suite for audio and visual production has been upgraded to modern standard, while additional computers have been procured with fast internet connectivity.

The station now enjoys 24-hour power supply from the Ossiomo Power Project, a 95MW facility that also powers government offices and hospitals, as well as streetlights, among others in the Benin metropolis, cutting costs from running on diesel and ending years of irregular power supply by BEDC.

Other stations affected by the NBC sanction are Rhythm FM (Silverbird Communications Ltd), Greetings FM (Greetings Media Ltd), Tao FM (Ovidi Communications Ltd), Zuma FM (Zuma FM Ltd), Crowther FM (Crowther Communications Ltd), WE FM (Kings Broadcasting Ltd), Linksman International ltd, Bomay Broadcasting Services Itd, MITV (Murhi International Group Ltd), Classic FM (Pinkt Nigeria Ltd), Classic FM (Pinkt Nigeria Ltd), Classic TV (Pinkt Nigeria Ltd), Beat FM (Megalectrics LTD), Cooper Communications Itd, Splash FM (West Midlands Ltd), Rock City FM (Boot Communications Itd), Family FM (Kalaks Investments Nig. Ltd), Space FM (Creazioni Nig. Ltd), Radio Jeremi (Radio Jeremi ltd), Wave FM (South Atlantic Media Itd), Kogi State Broadcasting Corporation, Kwara State Broadcasting Corporation, Niger State Broadcasting Corporation, Breeze FM (Bays Water ltd),Vibes FM (Vibes Communication ltd) and Family Love FM (Multimesh Broadcasting Co. Ltd).

The rest are Gombe State Broadcasting Corporation, Lagos State Broadcasting Corporation, Osun State Broadcasting Corporation, Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation, Ondo State Broadcasting Corporation, Rivers State Broadcasting Corporation, Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation, Cross River State Broadcasting Corporation, Imo State Broadcasting Corporation, Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation, Borno State Broadcasting Corporation, Yobe State Broadcasting Corporation, Sokoto State Broadcasting Corporation, Zamfara State Broadcasting Corporation, Kebbi State Broadcasting Corporation, Jigawa State Broadcasting Corporation, and Katsina State Broadcasting Corporation.