Forget Recession, We Must Switch To Digital Broadcasting Now – Lai Mohammed

This was part of a resolve reached at the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting, on Wednesday, which was presided by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

On the heels of this development, the council directed all its relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, to key into the process.

The need according to the government is to keep up with the rest of the world in digital broadcasting.

It will be recalled that in April, 2016, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said in Jos Plateau State, that over N34 billion had been allocated for the programme.

He said the funds will be used to procure digital spectrum necessary for the migration policy, as part of the pilot scheme towards the digitalisation process in line with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) directive that all countries should migrate on or before June 2017.

Briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting, the minister who admitted that Nigerians are currently passing through the plague of economic recession, stressed that the country will not do away with the digitalization process due to the adversity.

He said: “The main highlights of today’s council meeting are the swearing in of the four special advisers and permanent secretary for foreign affairs, after which only one single council memo was considered and that council memo was a note in respect of an update from my ministry in the process of migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting.

“Yes, Nigeria might be going through a very difficult time, it doesn’t mean that we are going to be cut off from the rest of the world.

“20 years ago, Ethiopia had a famine that ravaged the whole country, they have risen from the ashes of that famine to become one of the strongest economies of the world.

‘’The fact that we are facing temporary problems does not mean that we are not going to be at pace with technology development all over the world. This is a global issue. It simply means that if we do not move from analogue to digital broadcasting, we may not be able to even receive signals on your television.

“Again, the government would assist to subsidize in getting the boxes but look at the job creation that digital migration is going to bring to Nigerians; look at the opportunities it offers our young men who are very talented to provide content to television stations.

“So, it’s going to impact very largely on the broadcast industry, even piracy which has been a menace to us today.”