The Radio, Television and Theatre Arts Workers Union of Nigeria, RATTAWU, has called on the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to convoke a stakeholders’ meeting where the issues surrounding the indebtedness of the defaulting fifty-two stations across the country will be discussed, with a view to finding a common ground.
In a press release signed by the General Secretary of RATTAWU, ComradeAkpausoh Akpausoh, on behalf of the National President, the union described the unilateral action of shutting down the broadcast stations as ill-timed and capable of sending wrong signals towards 2023 general elections.
It reminded NBC that the world is watching, and should not be given reason to find Nigeria drifting to undemocratic tenets.
While not holding brief for the debtor stations, RATTAWU recalls that the stations, coming out of the effects ofCOVID-19 and the current economic meltdown, need to be encouraged, instead of being shut down.
The union further said that the hike in diesel price, where public power supply is deficient, may have been part of the issues eating deep into the paltry treasury of the stations, and called on the Federal Government to give special palliative package to the stations for holding the forte during COVID-19 lockdown, and succeeded in spreading awareness that saved the nation from the devastating effects of the pandemic.
RATTAWU expressed worry over multiplier effects the shutdown would have on workers at the stations, saying it could lead to disengagement of staff of the affected media organisations.
It reasoned that the general insecurity in the country demands unfettered flow of information from the media to keep citizens abreast of safety measures, pointing out that with the shutdown, there would be darkness and near anarchy.
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