The National Broadcasting
Commission (NBC) has said it did not issue a statement banning the songs of
Olamide, Davido and 9ice from being broadcast.
The NBC said it is not in the
business of banning songs, saying by virtue of the broadcasting law, radio and
television stations are to ensure that songs containing vulgar or suggestive
lyrics and visuals are not aired.
Idachaba Armstrong, director of
broadcast monitoring, told TheCable that a ban notice of ‘Wo’ and ‘Wavy Level’
by Olamide, ‘Fall’ by Davido and ‘Living Things’ by 9ice did not emanate from
the NBC.
The ban notice, which was issued
by the National Broadcasting Corporation, had been circulating on social media
for the past couple of days.
Reacting, Armstrong said: “First
of all, NBC is a commission, not a corporation.
“Nobody at NBC issued a statement
to the effect. We can’t be issuing a statement on every album released in his
country. The broadcaster has the responsibility to do the needful.
“NBC does not ban songs, we don’t
have any business with the artistes. It is left for NBC to tell stations to
ensure the songs and videos are fit for broadcast before putting them on
air.”
Armstrong emphasised the need
for broadcast stations to do “gate-keeping” so as to determine
the songs that are unsuitable for broadcast.
“The whole idea of offensive
vulgar lyrics. It is the responsibility of broadcasters to ensure they don’t
come on air,” he said.
“They are supposed to do what is
called gate-keeping and they should have editorial control over their content
but broadcasters now carelessly air songs without exercising that editorial
discretion.
“They abdicate that
responsibility and then expect us to start chasing them.”
‘The songs are actually
offensive’
The director of broadcast
monitoring, however, said he has ascertained that the songs in question are
“actually offensive”.
He said: “I have reliably
gathered that some of those songs are actually offensive, regarding the lyrics.
Some of these songs are for clubs.
“These stations that should
practice self-regulation are lazy and unprofessional in their conduct.”
Armstrong said broadcast stations
are aware that any lyrics or song containing offensive content cannot be put on
the air, adding that any station found wanting will be sanctioned.
“We will impose the necessary
sanctions on the stations. If the stations contravene any of the broadcast
code, they will be fined,” he said.
Explaining how the process of
sanctioning a broadcast station works, he said: “Once NBC picks it up, we call
the stations to order and impose the necessary fine. First, we caution you,
then impose a fine afterward, which can be between N50-N100k. But if they are
recalcitrant, it can rise to N500k.”
Since the news of the purported
ban hit the internet, fans and several entertainers have heavily criticised the
commission.
Health ministry’s grouse with Olamide
Fans of the artistes have also
mixed up the alleged ban with the ministry of health’s notification that
Olamide’s video for his hit song ‘Wo’ contains “dangerous public health
content”.
The ministry had on Sunday notified
the public via Twitter that some of the scenes in the rapper’s video violated
the 2015 tobacco act.
“The content & video contains
scenes that violate the ban on Tobacco Advertising, Promotion & Sponsorship
provision of the act #ClearTheAir,” one of the tweets had read.
According to the 2015 tobacco
control act, the advertising, promotion or sponsorship of tobacco or
tobacco products “shall attract a fine of not less than N3,000,000 and a term
of imprisonment of not more than one year”.
The rapper on Tuesday took to
Twitter to state that he did not intend to promote tobaccoin his video.
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