Date Published: 06/16/09

You are wrong on Buhari, HURIWA tells NBC

The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), a media focused and democracy inclined non-Governmental Organization has yesterday faulted the decision of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to halt the airing of a Jingle urging Nigerian electorate to support the aspiration of former Head of state Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to run for the presidency come 2011. The Rights group dismissed the reason adduced by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission for stopping the airing of the jingle as puerile, unacceptably ambiguous and jaundiced and demanded that the airing of the jingle be resumed immediately.  

HURIWA said the decision to stop the Muhammadu Buhari Network for change from airing the jingle through some private Radio stations in Kano and Kaduna by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is a clear breach of the constitutionally protected Right to freedom of expression and the press as provided for in section 39(1) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

Twice the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission had ordered the Kano based Freedom Radio Station and the Kaduna-based Radio Nagarta to stop the airing of the pro-Buhari jingles on the ground that it contains offensive slogans.

Penultimate week, the NBC had stopped the airing of a similar jingle, which enjoins Nigerians to wake up and join the struggle for the emancipation of the masses in the Kano-based Freedom Radio station.

Making reference to countries like South Africa , Ghana , the United States of America (USA), Pakistan and Madagascar where the choice of the people prevailed through the ballot boxes, the jingle specifically canvassed support for the emergence of a Buhari presidency as a means of moving Nigeria forward.

In a statement by its National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the Rights group stated that the action of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is a throw back to the dark days of Nigeria’s dictatorial regimes when the freedom of expression came under intense attack by the reactionary forces bent on frustrating the advancement of the will of the people and the growth of fundamental human Rights.

HURIWA affirmed that Section 39(1) of the constitution which is the supreme law of Nigeria provides that; “every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference” and wondered why the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) is at the fore front of engaging in needless confrontation with some Nigerians and institutions perceived rightly or wrongly as being in opposition to the Federal Government.

The Rights group asserted that it is shocking that while the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) never thought it wise to stop the broadcasting stations across the country including the official Nigerian Television Authority from airing several unsubstantiated and inciting press statements by Dr.

Mohammed Haliru Bello, the Deputy National chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it (NBC) finds it imperative to stop the seemingly innocuous jingle of the opposition Muhammadu Buhari’s camp. “Why did the NBC not penalize most broadcasting stations in Nigeria that aired the sensational allegation by Dr. Mohammed Haliru Bello that the United States Embassy in Nigeria was working with opposition elements in Nigeria to undermine the current administration”? Why did the NBC not take action even when the Federal Government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national hierarchy denounced that unsubstantiated allegation aired on the airwaves of Nigeria on the prompting of the PDP Chieftain”?. HURIWA asked. 

Reminding the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) that it was established for public good and funded by tax payers’ money and therefore should not see itself as the enforcement arm of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), HURIWA lamented that the persistent attack on freedom of expression by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission will further worsen the poor international standing of Nigeria in the all important area of respect for the Human Rights of Nigerians.