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Communication Scholar Describes NBC Code As Undemocratic, Calls For Its Urgent Review

Published

4 years ago

November 13, 2021

Former head of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, has called for an urgent review of the National Broadcasting Code, describing the extant edition, issued last year by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), as inconsistent with democracy.

The renowned communication scholar, made the call yesterday at the public presentation of “Question Marks on the 6th NBC Code Amendments”, a publication by Consortium of Independent Broadcasters and Free Press Advocates.

At the event, which held at the Lagos office of the Independent Press Centre (IPC), Akinfeleye stated that the code is an attempt by the government to over-regulate the broadcast space, adding that many of the provisions in the 6th NBC Code are unnecessary as they had already been addressed by previous laws.

“The first thing is that we have existing laws that address the concerns of the NBC. The NBC is trying to over-regulate the media in a way that is inconsistent with democracy, which is oiled by free press. A free press is required to make the government accountable at all times, not sometimes. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a revision of the NBC Code,” he said.

The publication, co-edited by Lanre Arogundade, IPC’s Executive Director; and Dr. Akintunde Akanni, acting head of the Mass Communication Department of the Lagos State University, described the NBC Code as a change from regulation to strangulation. Arogundade noted that the Code contains provisions that could undermine democratic norms and standards and jeopardise the values of broadcast sector liberalisation as well as free enterprise.

“Consider the fact Section 2.127.2 of the Code seeks to confer arbitrary powers on the NBC to, among others, shut down a station for violating the provisions relating to web/online broadcasting without making any provision for stations that may be concerned to seek redress,” he said.

He also identified Section 5.6.1 as dangerous. The section, he noted, prohibits the use of user generated content (UGC) that may “embarrass individuals, organizations, and the government.” Arogundade warned that the section is capable of limiting citizen’s input into media content.

“By including the government among those that should not be embarrassed, the provision is capable of intimidating the media while encouraging public officials to dodge the responsibility of accountability since they can always resort to the claim of being embarrassed.

“In other words, the provision is capable of undermining the obligation imposed on the media by Section 22 of the Constitution to monitor governance and hold government accountable to the people and therefore should be expunged,” he contended.

He similarly stated that Section 5.6.5, which requires a broadcaster to identify the source of UGC, will constitute an erosion of the privileges conferred on the media to protect sources that wish to be anonymous, branding it a violation of Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act.

VANGUARD reports that the media rights activist equally slated the provision of the code that seeks to compel broadcast rights holders to sub-license their content to competitors, saying it has the potential of discouraging investment in the sector.

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NGO Says Starving Gaza Children Too Weak To Cry

Published

9 hours ago

August 27, 2025

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The head of Save the Children described in horrific detail on Wednesday the slow agony of starving children in Gaza, saying they are so weak they do not even cry.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president of the international charity, Inger Ashing, said famine — declared by the UN last week to be happening in Gaza — is not just a dry technical term.

“When there is not enough food, children become acutely malnourished, and then they die slowly and painfully. This, in simple terms, is what famine is,” said Ashing.

She went on to describe what happens when children die of hunger over the course of several weeks, as the body first consumes its own fat to survive, and when that is gone, literally consumes itself as it eats muscles and vital organs.

“Yet our clinics are almost silent. Now, children do not have the strength to speak or even cry out in agony. They lie there, emaciated, quite literally wasting away,” said Ashing.

She insisted that aid groups have been warning loudly that famine was coming as Israel prevented food and other essentials from entering Gaza over the course of two years of war triggered by the Hamas attack of October 2023.

“Everyone in this room has a legal and moral responsibility to act to stop this atrocity,” said Ashing.

The United Nations officially declared famine in Gaza on Friday, blaming what it called the systematic obstruction of aid by Israel during more than 22 months of war.

A UN-backed hunger monitor called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative said famine was affecting 500,000 people in the Gaza governorate, which covers about a fifth of the Palestinian territory, including Gaza City.

The IPC projected that the famine would expand by the end of September to cover around two-thirds of Gaza.
AFP

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Again, Russia Claims Another Village In Ukraine’s Region

Published

3 days ago

August 25, 2025

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The Russian army Monday claimed to have captured another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, moving deeper into Ukrainian territory as peace efforts stall.

Russian forces are slowly but steadily gaining ground in costly battles for largely devastated areas in eastern and central Ukraine, normally with few inhabitants or intact buildings left.

Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had seized the settlement of Zaporizke in the region, which Russian troops recently advanced into for the first time in the three-and-a-half-year offensive.

Kyiv denies that Russian troops have gained a foothold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, an important industrial hub.

After another push by US President Donald Trump to broker a Ukraine-Russia summit, hopes for peace dimmed when Russia last week ruled out any immediate meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.

The central region of Dnipropetrovsk has previously been largely spared from fighting that has ravaged swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, until Russia said its forces broke through in July.

Dnipropetrovsk is not one of the five Ukrainian regions — Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea — that Moscow has publicly claimed as Russian territory.

Ukraine said Russia had launched over 100 drones Monday, killing a 37-year old civilian driver and wounding two people in the northeastern Sumy region.

Moscow said Kyiv had launched about two dozen drones targeting western Russia

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US Comedian Reggie Carroll Shot Dead In Mississippi

Published

3 days ago

August 25, 2025

Editor

A United States comedian, Reginald “Reggie” Carroll, has been shot dead in Southaven, Mississippi.

The 52-year-old Carroll, widely known as the Knockout King of Comedy, was reportedly killed on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds.

The Southaven Police Department confirmed the incident in a Facebook statement on Saturday.

“Southaven officers located one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.

“The officers and medical personnel provided life saving techniques but the individual succumbed to his injuries,” the statement partly read.

The victim was later identified as Carroll, a Baltimore native.

Police said one suspect was arrested and charged with his murder.

“One male is in custody and has been charged with the murder of Reginald Carroll.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Mr. Carroll.

“Thank you to the community for their patience and understanding,” the department added.

The police further assured that there was no ongoing threat to residents, describing the case as “an isolated shooting.”

Carroll, who built his career in stand-up comedy, gained national recognition touring with Katt Williams and headlining his own showcase, Knockout Kings of Comedy.

He also featured in the 2000 edition of Showtime at the Apollo, appeared on the UPN sitcom The Parkers alongside Mo’Nique and Countess Vaughn, and starred in the 2022 television film Rent & Go.

In 2023, he produced the stand-up special Knockout Kings of Comedy.

The Southaven Police Department disclosed that an investigation into his death is ongoing.