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Broadcasting To Be Fully Digital By 2015 – NBC

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The National Broadcasting Commission, (NBC), has said that  Nigeria was looking forward to full digitilization of her broadcasting sector by the year 2015.

The Director General of National Broadcasting Commission, South-East Zone, Mrs. Victoria Eke, drop the hint at the weekend in Enugu during the launch of a new product that provides digital pay television service to subscribers in Enugu State.

She emphasized that NBC was looking forward to 2015 when the nation’s broadcasting would be fully digitilized with television viewers having clearer pictures and better broadcasting services as they should be.

The Director General in the zone said with the coming of Digital Video Television (DVT), the current trend in the sector was just a “preparatory ground” for the gradual phasing out of the analogue mold of broadcasting.

According to her, “What we have now is like preparatory ground; when the analogue TVs that we have today are no longer able to receive digitalized signals, when the whole affairs are digitalized. So these decoders would help us by serving as centre points which will bring us signals that we want from the television stations when Nigeria goes full digital”, she further stressed.

Represented on the occasion by Mrs. Susan Obi, an official at the NBC, South-East zonal office, Mrs Eke also spoke on the issue of piracy which in her opinion has done a great deal of harm to works of arts in the nation.

The NBC DG, therefore, made it clear that the commission was totally against the activities of pirates in the country as they pose serious threat to original works of artistes.

Her words: “Concerning piracy, I want to state because it is obvious, that the NBC protects its licensees, and NBC is against pirates. Several times,  the NBC has partnered with the Nigeria Copyright Commission on issues of piracy and multi-Choice which is aware of this”, she added.

In her brief remark, the General Manager, Gotv Nigeria , Mrs. Elizabeth Amkpa said Gotv was a mass market product which the company was introducing for the first time in the Eastern part of the country “to provide high quality digital pay television service to the people of Enugu State “

Amkpa said in providing the service, the company adopted a cost-effective model by using the “most advanced Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB-T2) technology, the first of its kind in the African continent”

On how the company can avoid cultural imperialism, which people say might affect Nigerian television viewers especially children through the cable network service or decoder , she said, the commission had a parental control device that made it possible for parents to monitor and censor according to what the kids watched.

Continuing, she said “So if you don’t want your children to watch any channel, you can block that channel and what the NBC does is that they monitor us 24 hours a day; the NBC and has DSTV.

 

well-regulated. So the NBC has been a Big brother watching us 24 hours every day of our lives,” she further explained.

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FG Approves 4 New Channel Management Firms For Seaports

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The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved four new channel management companies for seaports across the country in a move aimed at improving vessel navigation and port operations.
Speaking at the recently concluded Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), former General Manager, Marine and Operations, Capt. Ebubeogu Ihenacho, disclosed that there would be changes in the ownership of the Lagos Channel Management Company Limited and the Bonny Channel Management Company.
According to Ihenacho, the four channels serving Nigeria’s major port clusters will have different channel management companies as approved by the FEC.
He said a new company had been approved to manage the Lagos port channel, with a change of name, while the Calabar Channel would be managed by the Calabar Channel Management Company.
He added that Bonny Channel Management Company had also undergone a change of ownership.
On the Warri Channel, Ihenacho said the Federal Government had approved China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) and two other companies to form a consortium to manage the Escravos Channel.
He said: “For Warri, it was approved for China Harbour Engineering Company, CHEC, and two other companies, who would now form a consortium.
That consortium will now form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) with the Nigerian Ports Authority to manage the Escravos Channel.”
Recall that the management of the NPA had declined to renew the concessions of the Lagos Channel Management Company Limited and the Bonny Channel Management Company, opting instead for six-month extensions of the existing arrangements.
By; Enoch Epelle
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RIRS Warns Against Unauthorised Tax Collection

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The Rivers State Internal Revenue Service (RIRS) has warned motorists, transport operators and business owners against paying taxes, levies or charges to Unauthorised persons and organisations, insisting that only the Service and its duly appointed agents are legally empowered to collect taxes on behalf of the state government.
The Service gave the warning in a public notice dated October 21, 2026, signed by its Executive Chairman, Sir Israel O. Egbunefu, FCTI, in which it clarified that the Rivers State Ministry of Transport was not authorised by the state government to collect road tax or any other tax, levy or charge from motorists and transport operators.
RIRS also specifically disowned Explore Strategic Alliance Ltd, located at No. 7 Rumuodaolu Market Road, Port Harcourt, declaring the company had not been appointed or authorised by either the state government or the Service to collect Motor Vehicle Transport (MOT) tickets or any other tax on its behalf.
The revenue agency consequently cautioned members of the public against making payments to the company or any of its staff, stressing that anyone who ignored the warning would do so at their own risk.
It reaffirmed that only the legally authorised agency responsible for tax collection in Rivers State and the appointed agents that would carry out such duties in accordance with the law.
The Service urged taxpayers to demand official identification from anyone claiming to be its tax agent and verify the person’s credentials directly with RIRS before making payments.
It further warned that individuals or groups found impersonating tax consultants, agents or their representatives to collect Unauthorised taxes would be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law.
RIRS also called on members of the public to report suspicious persons and activities relating to Unauthorised tax collection to the Service for appropriate action.
The agency advised taxpayers seeking clarification or assistance to visit any of its offices or contact it through its official email address, info@riversbirs.gov.ng.
The Service reiterated its commitment to protecting taxpayers, promoting voluntary compliance and safeguarding the integrity of tax administration in Rivers State.
By: King Onunwor
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Bayelsa consumers Groan  Over Inflation As Traders Remain Helpless Over Low Patronage 

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Consumers and traders at the Swali ultramodern market in Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State have continued to groan over high prices of commodities and poor Patronage due to cost-push inflation.
The Tide reports that in the past weeks prices of goods and services in Yenagoa metropolis has experienced increase.
Notable services like transportation have also increased  lately due to increase in the pump price of fuel that has recently further exacerbated inflation in the prices of staple foods like rice, beans, garri and others.
Speaking with The Tide on a market survey, a trader, Mrs Tovie Barakabo said a bag of bean which sold between N120,000-N130, 000 now goes for N140,000-N145,000.
Mrs Barakabo also hinted that the only commodities whose price has not gone up was price of millet which sells N60,000, while big bag of garri now sells for N30,000.
The Tide further gathered from other inside Source that 25 litres of Kings cooking oil currently sells N75,000 as against the former price of N57,000.
Other commodities such as delicious vegetable oil  now goes for N68,000, Pure vegetable oil currently goes for N66, 000, while spaghetti is now N18,800 per bag.
The market survey also discovered that Sonnia tomato mix sells N75,609, while a big and small basket of fresh tomatoes are sold for N30,000 and N6,500 respectively.
A disappointed custom, Mrs Juliet Domo who fielded questions from The Tide expressed her worries over the inflation, calling on government to take decisive stands against inflation.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
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