Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, has advised media content managers to be very wary of what they sent out for public as that would determine Nigeria’s direction.
Mohammed, in a speech at the National Broadcasting Commission’s 2017 Summit, on Tuesday in J0s, said that media content was like food in the body.
“Food is a necessity, but not every food is good for the body.
“It is often said that we are what we eat. Junk food is unhealthy for our health.
“It follows, therefore, that junk information is not good for our health, stability and growth as a nation.
“Content managers must thus be very sensitive; they must always weigh the possible impact of what they broadcast or publish, to the stability and development of our country,” he said.
Mohammed, who was represented by Mr Bulus Dabit, Director, Plateau office of the National Orientation Agency, particularly cautioned media content managers against broadcasting or publishing hate speech that had often incited groups against each others.
He said that national interest must be placed over every other consideration, and urged media managers to champion the cause of a better, stronger and united Nigeria.
The information minister reminded media content managers of people’s love for information, and stressed the need for critical gate keepers of information to be careful, creative and purposeful “especially in these hard times”.
He promised that government would create the right policy environment to confront negative media content that could promote terrorism, militancy, hate speeches, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustling and kidnapping.
In his speech, Alhaji Modibbo Kawu, the Director General of NBC, urged media content managers to be very careful of what was approved for public consumption because people’s attitude was usually determined by what they were told by the media.
He regretted that soldiers had been deployed to contain security challenges in 28 states, and urged the media to work toward curbing misunderstandings usually responsible for such challenges.
He pointed out that the persistent crises were working against national growth, stressing that most skirmishes had always occurred in the very productive hours of between 6 am to 6 pm.
Kawu warned radio and television outfits against broadcasting hate speeches, and recalled that the genocide in Rwanda was caused by similar hate speech.
The NBC Director General advised broadcasting mediums to adhere to the approved codes, warning that no radio or television was too small or too big to be shut down.
Also speaking, Sen Suleiman Adokwe, who represented the Senate President, cautioned the media against broadcasting or publishing hate speech, saying that it was largely responsible for the mutual distrust and violence in the land.
NAN reports that the one-day summit has the theme “Broadcast Content Development and Peaceful Coexistence”.