BON ready to institute Media Merit Awards

Alhaji Abubakar Jijiwa, Director General of VON and Chairman BON

BON ready to institute Media Merit Awards
Adoba Echono, Abuja

The 54th General Assembly of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) has ended with a ten point resolution calling on broadcast stations to highlight news and programmes that will promote the unity, stability and healing of wounds caused by the post-election violence.

The General Assembly also proposed that the Elections Debate Group should ensure that an enabling Act was enacted to make it mandatory for presidential, gubernatorial and local government and chairmanship debate to hold in any election.

As a strategy to enhance professionalism, the organisation said it would institute a merit award to deserving members and practitioners.

Broadcasters Post Mortem

The media was commended for its performance and coverage of the just concluded elections in Nigeria.

The organisation further resolved to ensure that all member stations worked toward transiting unfailingly from analogue to digital broadcasting from June 12 2012.

The meeting in its resolution also called for a recourse to the NBC-BON Consultative Forum to resolve contentious issues in the industry.

In an earlier address, the Director-General of Voice of Nigeria and the Chairman of BON, Mallam Abubakar Jijiwa said: "broadcasters are happy that the media contributed largely to the success of the electoral process, which the 2011 general election."

Post-election coverage

He said BON will use the general election to appraise its performance in the areas of reportage, coverage and public enlightenment, and thereafter come up with a blueprint on post-election coverage.

In an address at the occasion, chairman of Nigeria Elections Debate Group, NEDG, Aremo Taiwo Alimi, said that the "NEDG has proposed  to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and will jointly sponsor draft bills at the National assembly to make debates mandatory for presidential, governorship and local government chairmanship candidates".

Alimi said there was need to hold a National Broadcasters' Summit, which would come up with a Broadcaster's Agenda for Nigeria as well as the promotion of community radio.

The 54th General Assembly which took place in Abuja, has as its theme: “A Broadcaster’s Post Mortem.”

The next General Assembly is scheduled to take place in the third quarter of this year.

Iheanacho