NIGERIA MEDIA MONITOR

{------

# 03-13 MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1998

*	POPE WANTS 12 JOURNALISTS RELEASED
*	NUJ LAUNCHES FUND FOR DETAINED COLLEAGUES
*	GANI WITHDRAWS SUIT AGAINST TNT
*	JOURNALIST, ACTIVIST RECOUNT ORDEAL IN DETENTION
*	WE HAVE REVOLUTIONIZED BROADCASTING SAYS NBC BOSS
*	NIGERIA NEEDS $6B TO DEVELOP TELECOM

NEWSREEL

POPE PLEADS FOR DETAINED JOURNALISTS
Catholic Pantiff, Pope John Paul II, has requested Gen. Sani Abacha to release
political detainees, among them are 12 journalists.

The Chief Vatican Spokesman, Dr. Navano Valls, told newsmen in Abuja, March 22, that
the Pope made the request to Gen. Abacha during their meeting on March 21, the first
of his 3-day visit to Nigeria.

He said the request was followed by the presentation of a list of 60 political
detainees to General Abacha. He declined to name any of the detainees on the list, but
confirmed that General Abacha accepted in principle to consider the detainees' case
and take appropriate action.

But TEMPO, an independent paper, published a list of 60 names which it claimed was the
authentic list presented to Gen. Abacha.

The journalists' names on the list were Ben Charles-Obi, Chris Anyanwu, George Mbah,
Kunle Ajibade, Moshood Fayemiwo, Mohammed Adamu, Babafemi Ojudu, Onome Osifo-Whiskey,
Tokunbo Fakeye, Rafiu Salau, Bagauda Kaltho and Soji Omotunde.

NUJ LAUNCHES FUND FOR DETAINED COLLEAGUES
The Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) is launching a N2.5
million ($30,000) welfare fund to cater for the basic needs of the families of
detained journalists.

Chairman of Press/Human Rights Bureau of the council, Mr. Iyobosa Uwagiaren, who
unfolded the plan in Lagos added that the launching would hold at the Lagos Airport
Hotel, on April 23 at 10.00a.m.

He said that several journalists were currently being detained by State Security
agents for unknown offences or serving jail terms in various prisons in the country
for alleged coup plot.

He said that well-meaning Nigerians both in public and private sectors were being
contacted for the launch and appealed to the general public to rally round the effort.

Mr. Uwagiaren advised the government to see journalists as patriotic citizens who are
interested in the progress and development of their fatherland.

GANI WITHDRAWS SUIT AGAINST TNT
Lagos based rights attorney Chief Gani Fawehinmi, has decided to withdraw the civil
action against TNT newspapers.

In a press statement, he said: "this is not the time for any discordant relationship
between any member of the anti-Abacha-pro-democracy community and the press that is
haunted and unjustly mistreated by the government of General Sani Abacha. 

What prompted the civil action, according to him, was the unjustified caption in the
TNT newspaper of Wednesday, January 7, 1998 which stated as follows: "Alleged Coup: I
will defend Diya with my life - Gani".

He queried, "How can I defend Diya with my life when it is known to all and sundry in
Nigeria that Diya and his clique in government are anti-June 12?"

Chief Fawehinmi added, since 1993, I have put my life on the line for the
actualisation of June 12. How can I put my life again, the same life on the line for
anti-June 12, when I am not a mad man? That was what annoyed me in the publication".

He concluded: This is not the time for any quarrel between the press and the Nigerian
pro-democrats.  I therefore withdraw the suit. I have accordingly filed a notice of
discontinuance in the court.

NIGERIA NEEDS $6b TO IMPROVE TELECOM
A minimum investment of $6 billion (N504 billion) is needed to improve Nigeria's
telecommunications network, according to Communications Minister, Major-Gen. Patrick
Aziza.

Speaking in Abuja on March 24 at the maiden edition of "Nigeria Telecom '98, an
international seminar on "Beyond deregulation: Achieving sustainable development in
the Nigerian telecommunications industry," he said the amount would be used to install
three million telephone and 200,000 cellular lines demanded by subscribers across the
country.

Gen. Aziza said the government was constrained by paucity of funds, hence the need to
enlist the support of the organised private sector (OPS) and investors.

The minister said the government was determined to improve the telecommunications
density which stands at N700,000 lines to over 100 million people. This translates to
one line to 200 people and far below the one line to 100 people prescribed by the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Gen. Aziza, represented by the ministry's Permanent Secretary, Dr. J.A Manza, said the
$6 billion would be needed immediately to improve the telephone density and "introduce
modern facilities to meet the demands of the social and business communities".

Besides the $6 billion for the immediate needs, a yearly requirement of $600 million
(N5.1 billion) will be needed for network expansion.

The minister admitted that the financial burden cannot be borne by the government
alone "especially when tele-communications is also in competition with other sectors
of the economy".

He explained that with this in view, the government decided in 1992 to deregulate via
Decree 75 which established the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to "create
the required regulatory environment for telecommunications services".

According to Gen. Aziza, based on this, the "government expects that the combination
of the resources of government and private operators will provide the desired
investment level to accelerate telecommunications network expansion which will then
enable government to withdraw and allow the private sector to take the driver's seat
to achieve sustainable telecommunications development".

He said, as the sector is being opened up for both domestic and foreign investment,
the emerging telecom environment will offer a range of new opportunities for
investors.

He added that part of the policy thrust of the Vision 2010, recommendations on the
sector is that a target of approximately eight million lines should be installed by
the year 2010, based on an average growth rate of 20 per cent yearly.

"A partnership with the private sector therefore presents the only way to attract the
multi-billion dollar investment requirement for our network expansion if we must
achieve this objective".

He called on private entrepreneurs to join hands with the government to urgently
develop "our telecommunications infrastructure"

INTERVIEW  -1
WE HAVE REVOLUTIONALISED BROADCASTING- NBC BOSS
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) was established in 1992 to issue
broadcasting licences to both government and private operators, regulate and monitor
activities in the industry among other things.  In the last five years some of these
functions have been performed concurrently.  In this chat with SYLVIA DALLAS - SALAMI,
the Director-General of the NBC, Dr. Tom Adaba, comments on the challenges of
broadcasting regulation in the country while taking stock of their achievements and
constraints.

Q: The NBC was established over five years ago with the aim of licensing new stations,
regulating the broadcasting industry among other operational targets.  So how would
you assess the commission's performance in the last five and half years?

A: The past five years have been very eventful. In an environment where one starts
with absolutely nothing and is expected to make something out of that nothing, when
one looks back to see the various developments over the years, one has cause to
glorify God for directing our ways this far.

It was a daunting task in the sense that there were many broadcasting houses owned by
government that were already in existence long before the decree that set up the
commission.  Now this new organisation was saddled with a responsibility to ensure
that all these stations were also regulated.  But we could not grant licences without
setting out rules of the game.  So we set out first to recruit personnel - seasoned
broadcasters, veterans, lecturers in communication departments of some higher
institutions and many other professionals.  These people came together to draw up the
code that will guide the rest of us in the industry.  I must say that NTA and FRCN
were particularly helpful in this direction because they had some in-house rules
already and this helped to set a foundation along with the inputs of the other
professionals.

We also had to fashion out modalities for the issuance of licences and on June 10,
1993, the first set of licences were issued by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the then
President. The law says that the licences had one year within which to ensure that
such a licence is utilised in a functional way. Unfortunately, the June 12, 1993
imbroglio had an adverse impact on the economy and broadcasting sector, like many
others, was also affected.  For the licenseEs, equipment needed to take off were not
there even after the one year grace elapsed - these facilities are not manufactured
here.  The commission however raised these issues before the present Head of State,
Gen. Sani Abacha who graciously agreed to give them an extension of one year, after
which he granted yet another one year. Today, we can see the results - we have a
concentration of television stations in Lagos but we hope that this will spread out in
the near future because other parts of the country also need to experience the
informative, educative and entertainment value of TV. We now have TV stations in
Ibadan, Benin, Kaduna and Obosi.

For cable, we have quite a spread of them. As for Radio, that was not coming up at all
initially. We had to recommend applications for the approval of the Head of State on
an experimental basis. The first one was given to Ray Power 100.5 FM and I believe Ray
Power gave a good account of itself.  As a result, 10 other licences have been issued.
Now that the licences have been issued, our role is to ensure that everyone adheres to
the rules of the game-copyright stipulations, the local content programming percentage
and so on.

Q:  In a bid to regulate the broadcasting environment, the commission must have had
its own share of problems, what are these problems and what efforts have you made to
surmount them?

A: For some of the older stations the very thought that they had existed before NBC
ever came into operation made them feel they were above the law.  And this is not what
it should be. University of Ibadan was established way back in the 40's but the
National Universities Commission (NUC) came into operation, UI many other first
generation universities and to fit into NUC. The same, therefore, applies to NBC and
the older broadcasting houses.

It may have taken sometime for people to accept the reality of NBC but, today, NBC has
come to stay. We have made deliberate efforts to foster understanding between the
commission and operators. Of course it has taken us some education and
conscientisation to enlighten people that we are not a transmitting station but a
regulating body and that there is need to regulate broadcasting activities which are
rather hypersensitive to ensure that there is no abuse of our air waves.

Funding has been a major problem. For an organisation like ours, we had to make extra
requests, but thank God, government is beginning to give us due attention at least in
terms of equipment purchase for monitoring purposes.

Q: As a seasoned broadcaster and trainer, what is your evaluation of private
broadcasting in the Nigerian broadcasting system?

A: When the private stations came into operation, the older stations felt a bit
threatened because their infrastructure was new - most of the transmitters and other
technical equipment were state of the art facilities. So they towered above the older
stations whose decrepit facilities were no match for these new ones. In the past,
governments were not giving due attention to their stations. But the good thing about
the emergence of these new stations is that they have made every station in this
country to sit up and begin to do something serious.  Many have had to go back to the
drawing board to strategise on how to compete effectively with the new phenomenon.  In
the past, broadcasting houses were lethargic and apathetic to their duties because
they believed that whatever they gave to their audience would have to be accepted
because there was no other alternative.  Now there is the element of choice and the
station which does not fit in will simply get lost.  This in itself is a major
achievement that private broadcasting has brought into the broadcasting arena in this
country.

In terms of programming, stations that were hitherto given to many repeats in a week
have had to reconsider their habit. Now, one can easily see that the resourcefulness,
the ingenuity and artistry of programmers and producers is beginning to re-emerge and
that resurgence is most welcome.

Q:  I understand the NBC has seven zones in the country.  How effective is this zoning
system especially with regards to monitoring?

A: We have two approaches to monitoring. There is the direct human involvement and the
technical one. For the human approach there are people who watch each of the TV
channels and frequencies on radio to supply reports. In an advanced country like
France, each channel that has been allocated by government has a recording of all the
programmes in the entire country and there is somebody who watches them, taking notes
to know whether they're working according to specifications or not.  But this will
probably take the entire budget of this country to achieve.

So for our purposes we have zones in the country where individuals are physically
present to monitor the various channels around. Ordinarily, we should have at least
three officers per channel taking turns every eight hours to ensure that whatever is
transmitted is recorded but that is not feasible right now.  So our best bet is to
work in blocs of states and we believe that late in the year we'll have staff in each
state capital.  This is so because those monitoring at the state level will report to
the zonal headquarters which will in turn report to the national headquarters. Right
now, what we have at the zonal levels is just a foundation.  Because of the financial
situation in the country, there is a paucity of staff as against the number of
stations that are available.

The technical element (surveillance with equipment) is just being solved with the
assistance of the Federal Government. Government is to procure equipment that will
take care of monitoring of signals that are being transmitted in this country.

Q:  Many of the licences issued in 1993 are now due for renewal. Recently the NBC
embarked upon a public hearing forum to assess the performance of the stations within
the Lagos zone. What is your assessment of this experiment?

A:  It has been  resounding success. Even in cases where we did not see the kind of
crowd we expected, the level of informed suggestions and questions asked by the people
who attended was simply amazing. It showed that people have been listening, watching
and are thus constructively critical. Particularly in the Lagos area, some questions
which the licencees gotnwere serious, some were literally roasted and I think it was
good for them.  In fact many of the speakers spoke with much authority.

The public forum, however, is not an inquisition. The idea is for people to tell you
where you've gone wrong or to commend where you've done right, in whichever case, the
stations have got a lesson or two to learn.  The idea, therefore, is for the stations
to have a rethink before getting back on the drawing board.  However, we have made it
clear that the public forum is not the only criterion for determining the renewal of
licence.  But I dare say it has been very helpful to us regulators and the licensees
as well. In fact some of the licenses have suggested that it will be better if the
forum is conducted on an annual basis so that they can know how well they're faring
directly from viewers and listeners. On the whole it was a huge success.
Source:  Nigerian Tribune, March 24, 1998.

INTERVIEW -2
LIFE IN CAPTIVITY
Ben Adaji, TheNews/TEMPO correspondent in Taraba State, just released from detention,
here narrates his experience to Innocent Atabo. Excerpts:

Q: What were the circumstances that led to your arrest and detention?
A: Thank you very much. You see, I was a prisoner of conscience. That is to say that
my arrest and detention was not on account of criminality, but because somebody out
there wanted to exhibit his absolute power to victimize underprivileged people like
me. As a man who believes in God.  I took the whole circumstance as an act of God. But
it is highly unfortunate that somebody who ought to know the law and the implication
of detaining a person beyond 24 hours is responsible for my arrest and detention.

Q:Who exactly was responsible for your arrest and detention?
A: As a matter of fact, I started having problem when I wrote a story on the crisis
that was going on in Takum between the Chambas and Kutebs. That was last December. The
Commissioner of Police in Taraba State ordered my arrest. I was arrested and detained
in the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for five days before being
charged to court. That was just round one. The second round of my ordeal resulted from
a story written by one Hammid Abubakar which was published in TEMPO.  I knew nothing
about the story. As at the time the said story was published, I was in my home town
for Christmas. Immediately I returned, some of my colleagues started telling me that I
had been declared wanted by the state commissioner of police. I learnt the man has
vowed that as soon as he set his eyes on me, he would shoot me. I felt I had not done
anything criminal to warrant such treatment. So, there was no basis for me to start
hiding for an offence I did not commit.

Q: Since you did not commit any offence that would warrant declaring you wanted by
security agents, what steps did you take?
A: People advised me to report myself to the director of State Security Service (SSS)
which I did. I was reliably informed that the director of SSS had discussed my case
with the commissioner that same day (31 December 1997). I was in my house at 8.p.m
when SSS boys came calling. They whisked me away to the police headquarters where I
was detained at the state CID as if I was a criminal.

Q: How many times have you been arrested?
A: This is the third time I was being arrested in two years. It might interest you to
note that my last arrest on 31 December 1997 was unusual and complicated. After I was
detained for two days at the state CID, on 2 January 1998, they took me away to the
divisional police cell in Karim-Lamido, about 400 kilometres from Jalingo.

Q: What is so unique about Karim-Lamido?
A: Karim-Lamido is a place reserved for criminals. When I was being taken to the
place, the question that came to my mind was why the four well-armed policemen were
taking me to Karim-Lamido? Had the commissioner of police instructed them to shoot me
and throw me into the bush? I only drew comfort in the fact that I had a clear
conscience that I did not commit any offence in Taraba that would warrant any
incarceration or summary execution.

Q: How were you treated at Karim-Lamido?
A: I was treated like a hardened criminal. I slept on bare floor for 42 days. When I
complained about feeding, the DPO, Hammid Yonson, told me the person that brought me
there did not give him money to feed me. That was when it dawned on me that they
actually wanted me to languish in detention.  My condition worsened when I fed ill.
The DPO, though a gentleman, said nothing was given to him to take care of me. So, 42
days, Ifed and treated myself without any assistance from the police.

Q: You stayed longer in detention than people expected. Is this all you experienced in
captivity?
A: You know what it means for somebody to dump you in a cell without telling you your
offence(s). Actually, I was living on faith. God guided me throughout my stay there.
I have every cause to thank my God for my survival, and eventual freedom. I must
emphasise that my personal liberty and fundamental human rights had suffered.

Q: What did you miss most while in detention?
A: As a matter of fact, I missed a lot of things. One, is my job which I cherished
most.  I also missed closed friends. In my cell, I was alone, nobody to talk to except
"blackies" and criminals. Above all, I missed my family - children, wife and
relations.

Q: What really led to your release?
Left to my captor, I should not have been released. However, it was the intervention
of my lawyer that facilitated my release.  I was granted bail. Currently, I am having
about three cases pending in court. One at the Federal High Court, Yola, another at
the Upper Area Court in Jalingo and the third at the magistrate court also in Jalingo.
It was the effort of a young lawyer, Festus Idepefo, who filed a motion, at the
Federal High Court, Yola, that finally forced the commissioner of police to charge me
to court. The matter is coming up in Yola very soon. Justice M.A Edet is saddled with
the responsibility of determining the legality or illegality of my arrest and
detention.
Source: Tempo, April 2, 1998.

INTERVIEW -3
MY STORY
Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, arrested and detained with
nine other delegates at a labour workshop a fortnight ago in Ilorin, the Kwara State
capital, was released on bail last week.

In brief encounter with Joke Hassan and Gbolahan Balogun Falana relates his
experience.

Q: You were arrested in Ilorin, what were you doing there?
A: I travelled to Ilorin strictly on professional ground. In the first place, I was
billed to present a paper at a labour workshop. Secondly, I had a case at the Ilorin
High Court. I was to attend the workshop on Wednesday 11 March and be in court the
following day. Evidently, the security forces in Kwara State got wind of my presence
and felt worried.

Q: Let's share your experiences before and after your arrest?
A: Actually, I was made to understand that the thinking in official circles was that I
was in Ilorin to mobilise labour leaders to join the anti-Abacha campaign hence the
desperation to abort the workshop and ter." That charge is a figment of the security
forces' imagination and we are going to challenge the constitutional validity of that
charge. It is perhaps good to note that my co-detainees included two other labour
leaders, Messrs. Dele Peters of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and
Mr. Yinka Tolani, an industrial relation expert. Others were Mrs. Grace Ciroma, the
Chairperson of the Nigeria Labour Congress Women's Wing in Jigawa State; Mr. Moses
Mantu, General-Secretary of the National Association of the Hotel and Personnel
Services Senior Staff Association, Mr. Emmanuel Uwadialo, General-Secretary, Nigeria
Union of Shops and Distributive Employees; Mr. William Omonua, Deputy
General-Secretary, Agriculture and Allied Workers Union: Joe Ajaero, a labour reporter
with the Vanguard and Mr. Chris Uyot of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

Q: What were your experiences like in detention?
A: Well, the experience was unsavoury as usual. For the six days that the 10 of us
were detained, we were made to sleep on bare floor and that applied even to the
married lady in our midst, Mrs. Ciroma, and the two elderly men, Mr. Uwadialo and Mr.
Mantu who are aged 65 and 63 respectively. Very fat mosquitoes fed lavishly on us.
The feeding was extremely dehumansing as we were only entitled to the so-called
three-square meals at the rate of N9 per day - N3 per meal. We were served some beans
which was nothing more than some boiled grains flowing in some pool of water.

Q: How was your release effected?
A: After we were charged to court, we were granted bail in a most liberal term. Permit
me here to express profound gratitude to the Ilorin branch of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) led by Messrs. John Bayeshear, A.O Mohammed, Mr. S Ashaolu, Oyawale
Olajide and a host of others. Even the inner bar was not left out as Chief Wole
Olanipekun (SAN) and Mr. Yusuf Alli (SAN) came to solidarise with us.
Source: Tempo, April 2, 1998 

/pre>

---

TO OUR DEAR READERS: Media Monitor is a dialogical project. We expect that its contents will elicit reactions from its readers. Consequently, you are all encouraged to share your feelings with one another on its pages. Letters not longer than 200 words marked for the attention of the Editor, Media Monitor, should be e-mailed to: ijc@linkserve.com.ng

MEDIA MONITOR IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY AND CIRCULATED WORLDWIDE BY INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM CENTRE (IJC), TEJUMOLA HOUSE, 1ST FLOOR, 24 OMOLE LAYOUT, NEW ISHERI ROAD, P.O.BOX 7808, LAGOS, NIGERIA. TEL/FAX 234-1-4924998; E-MAIL: ijc@linkserve.com.ng

---

Media Monitor

---