Government begins campaign on digital migration, a year to deadline

Minister for Information and Communication Labaran Maku has reassured Nigerians that the digitisation campaign is aimed at ensuring that Nigerians are up to date in global television broadcast trend.

Maku says over 40 million Set Top Boxes are made available to all the viewers across the 36 states of the country, saying that “the flagging off of digital programming in the country will be one of the largest employers of labour in West Africa.

“There is going to be a serious exploitation in the TV contents capacity that would provide good programmes and the country is going to face increase in number of TV channels with extra available digital stations.”

Similarly, Emeka Mba, director-general, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), says the digital switch-over will be an avenue to address economic and political challenges of people as well as improving their standard of living, and commends Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State for transforming the state-owned media, Plateau Radio Television Corporation (PRTVC).

Governor Jang, who laments the decline and near absence of high quality local programmes, calls for the trend to be reversed, but however challenges the NBC to use the enlightenment campaign to allay the fears of Nigerians by addressing fundamental questions that will arise in the minds of the people concerning the digital switch over.

He reiterates the state’s preparedness in the switch-over campaign, adding that “the Plateau State government in line with this trend has spent over N2.5 billion in the upgrading the facilities of the state-owned radio and TV stations to enable it fit into the global digitisation technology.”

He, therefore, calls on Nigerians to embrace the trend in order to keep pace with the ever-changing technology in TV broadcasting.

Hope Ikwe