Nigeria: BABANGIDA, GOVT BATTLE IN COURT

> MEDIA IN NIGERIA #01-16 (24 JUNE 2002)
>
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> MEDIA IN NIGERIA is a weekly publication on developments within and
> affecting the media/communication/freedom of expression sector in Nigeria.
>
> It is an initiative of the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), a
> non-profit,
> non-governmental organization based in Lagos, Nigeria.
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> NEWS
> MEDIA-GENERAL
> -DELE GIWA: BABANGIDA, GOVT BATTLE IN COURT
> -NUJ BOSS RESIGNS, ALLEGES REPRESSION
>
> PRINT MEDIA
> -BUSINESSDAY MERGES WITH BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL
>
> BROADCAST MEDIA
> -2003: NBC WARNS AGAINST UNBALANCED REPORTING
> -FG's 32 FM STATIONS, MISPLACED PRIORITY - GOV
>
> INFOTECH
> -MTN MAKES $132M IN TEN MONTHS
> -IILL: FIRST BANK SACKS FORMER MD, OTHERS
> -BANKS LEND $700M TO GSM OPERATORS
> -GOVT ADVISED TO SUBSIDIZE RURAL TELEPHONY
>
> ADVERTISING
> -APCON, NBC FIGHT UNWHOLESOME ADS
>
>
>
> MEDIA-GENERAL
>
> DELE GIWA: BABANGIDA, GOVT BATTLE IN COURT
>
> The attempt by former military President, General Ibrahim Badamosi
Babangida
> to stop the implementation of the report of the Human Rights Violation
> Investigations Commission (HRVIC) got underway in Abuja last week with the
> federal government declaring before the Federal High court, Abuja that
> General Babangida had no legal right to dictate when or how the reports of
> the HRVIC should be implemented.
>
> Mrs. Titilayo Oshinuga, the Solicitor General of the federation who stood
in
> for the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godwin Kanu Agabi,
> argued that there was no justiceable nor reasonable reliefs being sought
by
> the former military president, adding that he (Babangida) was incompetent
to
> proceed in his action since the commission had submitted its report.
>
> She prayed the court to strike out the case in order not to waste its
> precious time on an action, which had no merit.
>
> Reacting to the preliminary objection raised by the government, counsel to
> General Babangida, Mr. Yahaya Mahmood prayed the court to grant an
> adjournment with a view to having enough time to address the issues in the
> objections.
>
> Consequently, the presiding judge, Justice Binta Murtala Nyarko, adjourned
> proceedings till July 8, 2002
>
> Babangida had instituted a suit at a Federal High Court in Abuja seeking,
> among other reliefs, an order to stop the government from implementing the
> final report of the HRVIC, also known as Oputa Panel, recently submitted
to
> the federal government.
>
> Following the action, the Federal Government had named Lagos radical
lawyer,
> Chief Gani Fawehinmi, who has waged a 16-year personal battle to nail the
> killers of Dele Giwa as its lead counsel. But Gani had given three
> conditions for his appearance. Among the conditions was his insistence on
> having a copy of the commission's recommendations. Gani's absence at the
> commencement of hearing last week is taken as evidence that the government
> rejected his conditions.
>
> But the Lagos lawyer is seeking to be joined in the matter.
>
> During the sitting of the Oputa Panel, several summons were issued on IBB
to
> appear before it, but he ignored all.
>
> He was summoned in respect of petitions from Chief Gani Fawehinmi and
> directors of Newswatch magazine who wanted the Oputa Panel to get to the
> root of Giwa's assassination. Rather than appear, General Babangida had
gone
> to court to challenge the powers of the commission to summon him.
>
> Again, soon after the panel submitted its report, recommending that the
case
> file of the unresolved murder be re-opened, Babangida went to court to
stop
> the implementation of the report.
>
> Dele Giwa, former Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch, was killed via a parcel
bomb
> on October 19, 1986.
>
>
> NUJ BOSS RESIGNS, ALLEGES REPRESSION
>
> Chukwudi Achife, the chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria
> Union of Journalists (NUJ) has resigned his position.
>
> In his resignation letter addressed to the National President of the
union,
> Achife said he was forced by extreme circumstances to quit, to guarantee
his
> safety.
>
> The unionist alleged repression by the Enugu State government. He claimed
he
> has been targeted for persecution by agents of the state government since
> May 2, 2002when he issued a statement warning officials of the state
> government to desist from harassing and intimidating journalists in the
> state.
>
> He said he further incensed the government when he failed to accept that
the
> mysterious midnight fire which gutted a portion of the Press Centre,
> including the office of the chairman, as an act of God.
>
> "I have been under fear and pressure as I continued to receive mysterious
> phone calls warning me of danger to my life and exhorting me to leave the
> state", he claimed.
>
> In another development, former President of the NUJ, Alhaji Sani Zorro has
> blamed the Jigawa State governor, Saminu Turaki for last week's riots in
> Dutse, the capital.
>
> Speaking on the Hausa service of German Radio, Zorro said the violence
> clearly showed that the state governor had completely lost grip.
>
> An irate mob last week set ablaze government offices in Gumel local
> government area of the state following the reported plan by the state
> governor to dethrone their Emir, Alhaji Ahmed Muhammed Sanni.
>
>
>
> PRINT MEDIA
>
> BUSINESSDAY MERGES WITH BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL
>
> Nigeria is on the threshood of recording its first corporate merger in the
> media industry as two rival business publications, Business Confidential
> owned by Capital Alliance Nigeria and BusinessDay owned by BusinessDay
Media
> Limited prepare to come under the stable of a new media company, Nigerian
> Media Holdings Limited.
>
> The ground work for the merger is said to have been done by directors of
the
> two companies. The Nigerian Media Holdings Limited has already been
> registered as an offshore company, a clear indication of a desire by the
> promoters of the merger to attract offshore funding for the deal.
>
> The merger allows Capital Alliance, established five years ago with a
> portfolio of leading investors, to acquire substantial equity stake in
NMHL,
> and in return facilitate the injection of fresh funds into the business.
>
> The ratio of equity stakes of Capital Alliance and BusinessDay in NMHL was
> still not clear by last week, but a formal statement to this effect is
being
> expected.
>
> However, there were speculations last week that the major impetus for the
> merger was to facilitate investment by a leading international media
group,
> which has expressed a strong desire to enter Nigeria.
>
> Both Business Confidential and BusinessDay are fairly young business
> publications in the Nigerian market. Business Confidential was launched
more
> than two years ago while BusinessDay will be a year old on the newsstands
on
> July 2, 2002.
>
>
>
> BROADCAST MEDIA
>
> 2003: NBC WARNS AGAINST UNBALANCED REPORTING
>
> Nigerian radio and television stations have been warned against showing
> preference or bias in reporting the activities of politicians and their
> political parties. The official broadcast regulatory authority, the
National
> Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which issued the warning, has threatened to
> invoke the law against any broadcasting station that shows bias in
reporting
> political events or activities.
>
> NBC's Director-General Mallam Danladi Bako said the warning has become
> imperative to forestall a repeat of 1983 events, when the media was caught
> in the web of the political turmoil because of the political learning of
> some media organizations, eventually leading to the fall of the second
> republic.
>
> Unbalanced reporting of political events and activities especially by
> state-owned broadcast organisations has become a major source of concern
for
> watchers of political events in Nigeria ahead of the 2003 general
elections.
>
> Mallam Bako said the era of using the power of incumbency to influence
> political events or the outcome of election results, using the mass media,
> has become unfashionable.
>
> Said he, "No amount of propaganda can save a drowning man. You can use the
> media but when the time for the people comes, they will vote for their
> preferred candidates".
>
> In a related development, the NBC has threatened to shut down any
> broadcasting station in the country that is owing its staff more than one
> month salary.
>
> Mallam Bako said the measure is aimed at "restoring sanity in the
> broadcasting industry".
>
>
>
> FG's 32 FM STATIONS, MISPLACED PRIORITY - GOV
>
> The Nigerian Government's decision to establish 32 FM radio stations
across
> the country, has been described as a misplaced priority.
>
> Governor Abdulkadir Kure of Niger State, North- Central Nigeria, who made
> this observation in Minna while receiving the Director-General of the
> National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mallam Danladi Bako, said the
> project "has no direct bearing on the people."
>
> Kure who was elected on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party
> (PDP), identified politics as the motive behind the proposed stations. "We
> are mindful of next year as election year. The stations are to promote
> politics at the expense of agriculture", the Governor said.
>
> He observed that even though the people needed to be informed, agriculture
> and food production was their priority concern.
>
> He said the money earmarked for one of the stations to be located in Minna
> would have been more meaningful to the people if diverted in purchase of
> fertilizers and other agricultural inputs.
>
> In a similar development, Governor Adamu Aliero of Kebbi State, North-West
> Nigeria, has said he would not provide land for the federal government for
> the establishment of its proposed Frequency Modulation (FM) radio station
in
> the state.
>
> Aliero, however, suggested to the Executive Director of Radio Nigeria,
> Alhaji Yusuf Nuhu, who presented the request to him in Birnin Kebbi, the
> state capital, that the equipment for the proposed station should be
> installed at the Kebbi State-owned station to boost its services to the
> people.
>
> Meanwhile, the Osun State government, South-West Nigeria, has pledged to
> revive the state's television station. The state governor, Chief Bisi
> Akande, made the pledge in Iwo, when he paid an official visit to the
> refurbished state AM radio station.
>
> Akande, who expressed displeasure over the neglect of the station, said
his
> administration would do everything possible to reactivate the station.
>
>
>
> INFOTECH
>
> MTN MAKES $132M IN TEN MONTHS
>
> Despite claims of harsh operating environment, operators of the Global
> System of Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) services in Nigeria have
recorded
> impressive results.
>
> MTN Nigeria, one of the three GSM networks in Nigeria which launched its
> operations in August 2001, has for far earned US$132 million (about N16.9
> billion) in revenue.
>
> According to M-cell, the parent company, the figure represented more than
> half of the US$230 million made by the cellphone operator outside South
> Africa in the past year.
>
> M-cell said turnover surged by 49 percent to US$1.24 billion compared with
> US$830 million in the corresponding period last year.
>
> MTN Africa operations outside South Africa includes Uganda, Cameroun,
Rwanda
> and Swaziland. They contributed 19 percent of M-cell overall revenue. MTN
> Nigeria contributed 10 percent of the total revenue figure in less than a
> year of operation.
>
> The average revenue per cellphone user in Nigeria is said to be about $60,
> excluding connection fees as against $56 on MTN network in South Africa.
>
> Rob Nisbet, M-cell Financial Director, said MTN Nigeria had more than
> doubled original subscriber projections of 174,000 to 425,000 in 10
months.
>
>
> IILL: FIRST BANK SACKS FORMER MD, OTHERS
>
> Mr. Bernard Longe, the former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of
> First Bank Nigeria plc who was suspended last March for his role in the
> bank's $100 million exposure to Investors International (London) Limited
in
> the botched privatization of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL),
> has been sacked from the bank.
>
> Longe's sack was announced last week at the end of an extra-ordinary
meeting
> of the company's Board of Directors in Abuja, Nigeria.
>
> The convertion of the suspension to a sack is said to have been the
outcome
> of the board's investigations into the IILL deal, which went awry.
>
> Also sacked for their roles in the transaction was the former Executive
> Director, Risk Assets Control, Mr. Uzoma Nwankwo and the Head of Treasury
> and Funds Management, Mrs. Funmi Oyetunji.
>
> First Bank under the management of Longe had contravened the Bank and
other
> Financial Instructions Act (BOFIA) of 1991 when it advanced a loan
facility
> of $96.2 million to the IILL consortium.
>
> The Act states that no bank can give loan to a single client in excess of
35
> percent of the value of shareholder's funds.
>
> The bank's fund as at March 31, 2001 was N17.093 billion. The loan to IILL
> amounted to 63.856 percent of its shareholder's funds, thus exceeding the
> limit by over 28 percent.
>
> This contravention and the fact that First Bank Management failed to
> disclose the transaction to the Central Bank of Nigeria (against BOFIA
> provisions) were the basis of the apex bank's attempt to punish the bank.
>
> The bid was blown on the questionable loan when IILL on March 27, lost its
> bid to acquire 51 percent equity stake in NITEL following its inability to
> pay $1.185 billion outstanding balance for the acquisition.
>
> Consequently, the consortium was made to forfeit the $131.7 million (out
of
> which about $100 million was provided by First Bank) which it paid shortly
> after its selection as preferred core investors to NITEL.
>
> Following Longe's sack, Mr. Moyo Ajekigbe, former Executive Director,
Retail
> and Consumer Banking who had earlier been appointed acting Managing
> Director/Chief Executive has been confirmed as the substantive Chief
> Executive of the bank.
>
>
>
> BANKS LEND $700M TO GSM OPERATORS
>
> The success of Global System of Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) operation
in
> Nigeria may have been assisted by the support of Nigerian banks. Nigerian
> banks exposure to the two premier GSM networks in the country, Econet
> Wireless and MTN Nigeria, is said to be over US$700 million.
>
> Bolaji Balogun, Econet's Chief Marketing Officer disclosed that Econet
> received about $150 million support from the banks in terms of loan, from
> the $400 million it raised from the local market.
>
> In the same vein, he said the MTN may also have mobilized $350 million
from
> the local market.
>
> The two networks have in between them 20 banks they do business with.
>
> Mr. Balogun said the high exposure of Nigerian banks to the GSM operators
> was an index of the level of confidence they have in the operators.
>
> Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on GSM operations
> in Nigeria has blamed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for the
> inefficiency in the sector. The committee's chairman, Tony Anyanwu said
the
> commission has exhibited laxity in the basic function of regulating the
> telecom sector, and blamed it for NITEL's inability to fully commence GSM
> operations.
>
> Anyanwu said the situation where NCC has since 1992 failed to design
> regulatory instruments would create imbalances and inefficiencies recorded
> in the sector.
>
> He said laying claims to a successful licensing auction was not part of
the
> mandate of a regulator.
>
>
>
> GOVT ADVISED TO SUBSIDIZE RURAL TELEPHONY
>
> In order to make telephone services available to the rural areas of the
> country, the Nigerian Government has been asked to subsidize rural
telephone
> operations.
>
> Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, a telecom operator who gave the advice, said the
> government could utilize proceeds from various telecommunications auctions
> in the country to subsidise the provision of telephone services in the
rural
> areas.
>
> Omo-Ettu also advocated for a bill by the National Assembly, specifying
that
> any money generated from the telecommunications sector should go into
> building infrastructure.
>
> "We have been building value-added services and these cannot run without
> infrastructure", he said.
>
>
>
> ADVERTISING
>
> APCON, NBC FIGHT UNWHOLESOME ADS
>
> The official Advertising and Broadcasting regulatory agencies in Nigeria,
> the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and the National
> Broadcasting Commission (NBC) have agreed to join forces toward fighting
the
> issue of unwholesome commercial broadcasts now prevalent in the industry.
>
> The agencies, at a recent public service symposium held in Abuja, the
> Nigerian capital, resolved to ensure proper vetting and approval process
of
> all advertisements using Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) machinery.
>
> The agencies said they had observed with concern the existence of large
> number of commercial broadcasts, which did not meet globally accepted
ethics
> of commercial broadcasting. Specifically, trado-medical, home video and
> religious broadcast are listed among the genre of advertisement, which
> breached the broadcast and advertising codes.
>
> APCON registrar, Dr. Josef Bel-Molokwu, lamented the council's inability
to
> punish unregistered advertising practitioners who violate code of
practice,
> blaming the situation on the lacuna in the council's enabling laws.
>
> Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and governments worldwide
> have been called upon to complement the ban on tobacco products
advertising.
> Mr. M.O. Babatunde of the Consumer Protection Council, who made the appeal
> at the same symposium, revealed that tobacco smoking had been identified
as
> the leading cause of preventable deaths. He said about 4 million people
were
> said to be dying yearly from tobacco-related diseases, majority of them in
> the developing countries.
>
> -----ENDS----
>
>
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