Prof. Tonie Iredia on Covid 19 pandemic
Most of the comments I have run into concern AriseTv, one of Nigeria’s leading broadcast outfits.
By providing a slot for feedback (responses and suggestions) many television stations in the past gave viewers a weekly opportunity to comment on the programmes they watched; the opportunity appears to have since been inadvertently blocked.
As a result, these days, many people who have comments to make about any programme including how and when it was scheduled as well as the conduct of its anchor, moderator or presenter now pass such comments through group chats. Interestingly, most of the comments I have run into concern AriseTv, one of Nigeria’s leading broadcast outfits.
The comments which are mostly credited to former broadcasters are also more on the messenger and hardly on the message.
However, because many broadcasters make no comments on the subject, it is simplistic to imagine that anyone is speaking on behalf of all broadcasters.
The mentality that broadcasting must always be handled as it was done in the western world from where we learnt it has been one of the problems.
Many people in Nigeria mix up European and broadcast cultures as if they are coterminous.
In Europe an elderly person can be called by his first name both in a television studio and elsewhere, making it the culture of the people.
But that cannot be the universal culture of broadcasting.
Consequently, it is impudent to call an elder by his first name in Nigeria where such an act is not the norm.
One of the supposed sins of Ruben Abati was his belief that it was brazen for a much younger colleague to call him Ruben.
It was assumed by some broadcasters that Ruben so behaved because he was not originally a broadcaster.
But then, broadcasting is not static like Latin; it ought to be practiced in line with the changing milieu of each environment.
Indeed, broadcasting has itself changed tremendously.
Many years ago, broadcasters were respectfully eulogized as great content creators and producers.
Other operatives such as Engineers, Marketers etc. in the same industry were only seen as mere service providers.
Today, it is not exactly so.
Those of us who kept saying that in broadcasting, ‘Content is King’ may no longer be too confident in amplifying the slogan judging by the elevation that digitization has given to Engineering. In fact, the Economy has since raised Broadcast Marketing to the first layer of reckoning.
Critics who call certain people broadcast gate crashers must now be more sober in their diction.
What this suggests is that talks about broadcasting should be less personalized because it is the process that now occupies primacy.
Therefore, it would have been more beneficial to hear more about what broadcasting has done or is doing than the unnecessary focus on the individual traits of actors.
What made the Nigerian media great in the past and kept its greatness sustained for long was the role it played in removing our country from alien rule (colonialism) and dictatorship (military government).
Today, the Nigerian media does little or nothing in holding government accountable to the people as mandated by Section 22 of our constitution.
Yet, broadcasting is the most impactful segment of the same media.
From May 29, 2023 till the recent approval for electioneering to start for the 2027 election, our politicians had turned the period of governance into premature campaigns.
It was the media they used in the illegal act perhaps because the media gained from advertising the unacceptable political culture. Adversarial journalism that can push politicians back to line is no longer in vogue in our clime.
How come it is only the little that the morning show crew of AriseTv is doing that everyone is condemning?
Even AriseTv is yet to match the courage of the Nigerian media of old which under colonial rule rejected names like gorilla fighters, rebels, rioters etc which the British called those agitating for independence.
The then Nigerian media called them leaders of nationalist movements, freedom fighters, patriots etc.
Those were the days when the media stood firm on its own ground and proudly claimed to be part of those who won independence for their country. If the Nigerian media had remained potent, it would have today labelled some governors as ‘defection governors’ instead of being part of those calling them APC governors.
This is because only political parties can legally win votes in Nigeria and secondly no one can be a governor under a party that did not sponsor him for election.
This does not suggest that the media should oppose the government all the time; it should only oppose what is wrong.
Those who are attacking Rufai Oseni should note that there are 3 important things in a television programme:
a) the philosophy around which the programme is built,
b) the objectives the programme seeks to achieve and
c) the format-that is the order, arrangement and style which give the programme a specific identity.
The anchors on Arise Tv morning show have an approved hybrid, cross-functional format.
Anyone who construes any of them as just an interviewer misses the point.
It is indeed obvious that many of the critics of Rufai are using their own understanding of a standard programme to evaluate him.
The most- ardent of Rufai’s critics are his guests; some didn’t know the format of the programme before accepting to participate, others came on with a mindset to fight their host to standstill because of their predisposition.
Yet, the best guest is the one who overlooks the antics of the interviewer and proceeds to use the opportunity to deal with the message to his own advantage.
A guest on a television programme is expected to see his interviewer not for what the latter is known for but instead to see him as a representative of the general public.
Answers to any question even where the programme is a recording is ordinarily meant for the public and not the person asking the question – a public that is so diverse that not everyone will see the answer from the same perspective.
This posture is quite redeeming when the interviewer decides to play the devil’s advocate as some tv interviewers do quite often.
Some members of the public will never accept the answer as well-delivered except it is persuasive.
Accordingly, the guest is obliged to refuse to be provoked just as he must do everything to ensure the public misconception which initially influenced the question is once and for all addressed.
As for who is a true professional, I am always amazed when I hear people casting aspersions on others in the broadcast sector.
Having served as a broadcaster for many years and now as a broadcast teacher, I can conveniently confirm that the number of professionals in the industry is far less than we see.
It is, for example, not enough to have read Mass Communication which is print-media dominated.
A scientist employed in the media would be more proficient as a science correspondent than a standard journalist.
As head of the Nigerian Television Authority, I encouraged the sponsorship of a law graduate in the newsroom to the Law School with a view to getting a professional judiciary correspondent.
This is because the advantage of familiarity with a terrain which longevity at a beat gives an individual is not the same as specialization.
There is wisdom therefore in not basing the assessment of a media professional on only his specific course of study.
I cannot end this piece without paying some attention to the trend whereby media professionals who get elevated or appointed into management positions are encouraged to handle administration while leaving operations to younger colleagues.
I refer once more to my previous chief executive position at the NTA where many were surprised that I was still presenting the station’s main interview programme, ‘Point Blank.
I had no doubt that the aspect of the success of the programme attributable to experience was huge.
Today, Charles Aniagolu’s excellent handling of the programme ‘Prime Time’ is due largely to his demeanour, temperament and years of experience.
To suggest that such a character should consider handing over to younger colleagues because he has had a long enough experience is certainly counter-productive. It will deprive the broadcasting world of its experts.
The day I read the same suggestion about Ruben Abati was perhaps my worst day this year.
Rather than criticizing those I have mentioned in this article, anyone unhappy with their stations should tune off and watch the stations they prefer.
The deregulation of broadcasting in Nigeria gave us the wonderful option as far back as 1992.
#Prof Tonnie Iredia
#Ex DG NTA
#Ex DG NBC
#Ex INEC Commissioner
#Vice Chancellor Tonnie Iredia University of Media Studies
#Commentator on national issues
Sept 13, 2026
