What is wrong with AKBC TV?

BY PRISCILLA CHRISTOPHER

When the Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation (AKBC) Television station went off some  weeks back, many thought it was the usual interference caused by thunderstorm and the wind which would be restored in a short while but this was not to be as hours and days later, the state-owned station has statically remained in accessible.  Today makes it 6 days since the state Television station went blank without any effort by the management to notify their publics of the seeming official shutdown of the television station. Viewers have since then been in the dark on the reason(s) for this awful occurrence and the effort (s) the management is making to restore it operations. 

From knowledge of mechanicals, one may conclude that the primary challenge here is technically inclined since the TV station alone is not on air and, from speculations, it can be deduced that the station is either lacking in manpower or in the basic infrastructures and facilities it needs to operate. While the former may be completely untrue, the latter could be absolutely true as no station can function without technical hands to see to the welfare of its hardwares.

As a station serving the needs of virtually all local government areas of the state and all sectors of its economy, the AKBC TV carries out informative, educative and informative functions to its teeming viewers through the presentation of programmes such as news, in-depth analysis, documentaries, shows and etc; some of which are relayed by an intermediary body or media group. In the course of these programmes; advertisers, agencies and organizations with promising services and products showcase what they have got to the public thereby, creating awareness of such which were previously unknown or re-enforcing the presence of already existing ones.  Similarly, members of the public whose interest such programs and advertorials are targeted make it a point of duty to tune in to the AKBC TV station when due to keep up with trends, information and adjustments which may have occurred between their last view of a programme and the next. 

From the foregoing, one can readily conclude that quite a number of people have been deprived of following-up on their choice programmes as well as getting informed, educated and being entertained in the last 6 days of their complete deprival from watching the station. Being a state with no monopoly of stations, the AKBC should not be found wanting in its functions given the consequences of such which are evidently, more than disastrous. Though the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) exists, no one station can effectively cover an entire state with all its units no matter how broad and far its coverage reaches and, for a station which is strictly government-owned, the AKBC as of now, is primarily set to talk about the events of the government of the day even though it’s all about propaganda. So, how do people get to see what the government is doing or has done in the last 6 days?

One of the consequences of this prolonged station blackout is the flow of audience to other television stations which is very certain. The more an audience tune in to a station and find it blank, the more they are forced to check out on other stations, and when they come across an appealing programme, it becomes impossible to bring them back. This would invariably result in the loss of audience, programme presenters and subsequently, advertisers to sponsor their programmes as well as presenters to buy their airtime. 

But what is really wrong with the AKBC TV? And what is the management doing about it? It was gathered that the station’s 3 newly-acquired generating sets suddenly began fluctuating and thus, weakened the transmitters. A super mega tale if one may say! This however, is not the end of the story as no technician so far, has been able to proffer any solution to the catastrophe and if care is not taken, the State’s TV station will be needing the services of a foreigner to repair a generating set.  From all indications, corruption is at work at the AKBC TV or how can 3 newly-acquired generating sets go all comatose within a short time frame and at the same time without warning? Why also, has the efforts to put them in order proven abortive such that they will be needing the services of an outsider? What about the station’s technicians, why are they not able to do their job well? Could it be that the generating sets or its parts were politically purchased and can only be replaced politically too?  

Sincerely, these are questions the management of the station and the Ministry of Information and Communications must answer as this level of Information black-out is more than a mere slap on their honourable face. Perhaps it is high time this Ministry and the government at large took off their firm hold on the administration of the AKBC TV affairs and allow them function independently. Ownership and control do not imply spoon-feeding and breast-feeding and as such, issues of interferences on who to buy this and that, who to do this and that, as well as who will perform what and which are decisions that should be left wholly in the hands of the station’s management. The Commissioner for Information and Communication should have no business whatsoever with who repairs or buys a station’s generating set or its parts simply because he/she is the Commissioner. They may give suggestions but not laws and instructions as though the station were theirs. 

It is this attitude of the government interfering with the affairs of agencies, organizations and the AKBC that has often led to red-tapism, delay in the enforcement of policies and recruitment of staff, poor performance and delayed outcome. The attention of the AKBC is management is hereby drawn to the fact that the public expects more from them than what they are giving and that their failure to act accordingly will result in the massive loss of their audience and advertisers to other available stations. The plant and technical unit especially should desist from buying fairly-used machine parts and apparatus to ensure the longevity of the hardwares. Likewise, the management of the station should by this occurrence learn to be more proactive and strict on accountability of all those handling projects that concerns the integral welfare of the station. A word is enough for the wise.