AN EMPHATIC NO, TO GOVERNMENT PLANNED RE-MERGE OF VON WITH FRCN

BY GABRIEL OMONHINMIN I’m a huge champion of penny-pinching, but there are times when being miserly can be penny wise and pound foolish – as in stupid and destructive. I can’t help but point out that because it concerns me; I have no option but to join in the on-going debate, whether or not, it is proper for VON to be re-merged with FRCN, twenty-two years after it was excised from the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC. By virtue of the fact, that I worked as a senior member of the News Directorate of VON for fourteen years and interacted extensively with very many staff of the FRCN, both senior and junior, I am in a position to know so much about the workings in both organisations. Much as I welcomed the venerable Stephen Oronsanye panel’s recommendations, it is just and proper to point out areas of mistakes, so that these areas could be ratified before grave harm is done. That is the essence of this essay. For the benefit of the general public, it is appropriate to clarify the mandate of both stations. The FRCN main focus is to feed its Nigerian audience with local news development whereas Voice of Nigeria’s mandate is to broadcast the country’s view points to the rest of the world. The role of VON in the country’s foreign policy direction cannot be over emphasised. I am therefore compelled to give few instances when VON broadcast was helpful to the country’s foreign policy initiative. I was one of the correspondents that covered the Liberian civil war, at the heat of that country’s devastating crises, where Nigeria expended huge resources and men, the only source to accurately gauge Nigeria’s foreign policy drive outside the country then, was through Voice of Nigeria News broadcast. Nigerian Generals commanding troops in that country made it a point of duty daily to monitor Voice of Nigeria’s news broadcast. This to a large extent gave them a clear picture of the country’s foreign policy direction. As a matter of fact, I knew some soldiers, who made it a point of duty to monitor VON, especially Hausa, Fulfulde and Arabic news translation daily, as this was a kind of tonic required to boost their moral. Voice of Nigeria news was also the only source the Liberian elites at that time relied on, as they never completely trusted what were being dished out from other international news media, who obviously took sides in the crises. All the neighbouring countries to Liberia, made up of the MANU River region which Charles Taylor was working hard to destabilise, were daily looking forward to Voice of Nigeria news, to get information on where their helper would come from. I am, however, not saying that this function could no longer be carried out by VON if the organisation is eventually re-merged with FRCN. But one thing is certain; the station will never again be as effective in its primary assignment as it is now. Knowing the make-up of FRCN and VON, high level of intrigues, manipulation and fight for supremacy will be the other of the day. This will never in any way help neither stations nor the country. As a matter of fact, marked differences do exist between the diplomacy of old and the diplomacy of today. The only one way of settling international differences and the most persuasive method at government disposal is the word of honest men and women in any society. These men and women abound in Nigeria; they are people like Professors Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Emeka Anyaokwu just to mention a few. Presently, these national icons are not willing to speak to Voice of Nigeria, because of the way and manner the station is presently managed. For this situation to be reversed, and for the station to gain the respect of noble men and women in our society, the station needs to be properly structured. Nigeria, as a major player in present day international politics requires a reliable medium to air its views. This is where VON is needed most. Much as I have absolute respect for the person of Mr. Steve Oronsaye and I believe in some of his panel’s recommendations, His panel’s position that VON be re-merged with FRCN no doubt miss the point, the re-merger of both stations will not help the country as presently being envisage. Another point worth mentioning, is the fact that Nigeria, has not being lucky enough to appoint a man or woman, who actually knows what it takes to manage, the external image of a country like Nigeria. Without any iota of disrespect, people who have been at the helm of affairs in the country’s External Affairs Ministry had shown some degree of incompetence. Or better put, the country’s policy executors especially staffs of the External Affairs Ministry. They have been naive to recognize and take adequate advantage of the service of Voice of Nigeria in the country’s foreign police drive. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for instance is attached to that country’s Home Office. In this regard, the British government hardly initiates any foreign policy without first, fully briefing the BBC or requesting for the station’s contribution. This is not the case with the Nigerian government. Instead of Voice of Nigeria being supervised by the External Affairs Ministry, the organisation is presently placed under the Ministry of Information. One is therefore not surprised, that the Information Ministry treats VON matters as they do to any other local station under their supervision. This attitude no doubt, hinders the performance of VON as an international broadcasting station. The way things are now, it is absolutely impossible for VON to compete effectively with other international radio stations, such as BBC, RFI and Dutchweller radio, Germany. To push further the importance other governments attach to their external broadcasting stations, the French government had ensured, for some years now, that Radio France International (RFI) set up a full fledge Hausa Service Station in Nigeria; because of the station’s large listening Hausa audience in Nigeria, this sub-station is presently operating from the premises of VON in Lagos. At the height of the crises resulting from the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his Ogoni compatriots’ Nigeria’s External Affairs Minister then was Chief Tom Ikimi. When it became obvious that Nigeria was going to be sanctioned by the international community, the Voice of Nigeria, sought and got in touch with Chief Ikimi, who was already outside the country to attend the meeting where Nigeria was to be penalised. The Voice of Nigeria wanted to know from the Minister how he intends to manage the ugly development. Surprisingly, the Nigerian Minister of External Affairs, refused to speak with Voice of Nigeria. A few minutes after this encounter, the BBC correspondent then in Nigeria, rushed into VON office requesting for Chief Ikimi’s contact, and I obliged the correspondent. We could not believe our ears, when in the next hour, the Nigerian Minister for External Affairs was on BBC ranting, stating the position he had earlier refused to give to VON. Voice of Nigeria’s former Director of News then, Mohammed Okorejior, was so depressed that he could not hold back his emotions and the man wept. From the above picture, it is obvious that the Nigerian Foreign Affairs managers are largely to be blamed for the present lacklustre performance of Voice of Nigeria and the station inability to discharge its primary functions effectively. To be simply put, the re-merger of VON with FRCN will further compound these problems. Finally, I submit, that the purpose of diplomacy is neither the invention nor the pastime of some particular political system; it is an essential element in any reasonable relation between man on one hand and between nation and nation. An example is the recent modifications in diplomatic methods, with special reference to the problem of “open” and “secret” diplomacy and the difficulty of combining efficient diplomacy with democratic control. The role of a medium like the Voice of Nigeria is very vital if the country wants to be taken seriously in this new order. An effective VON will enable the whips to gauge the opinion of the country’s foreign policy direction in out and outside Nigeria. What is presently required is for VON to be immediately moved into the Ministry of External Affairs, and for the organisation to be further strengthened to carry out its function, as the country’s authentic voice. The station’s re-merger with FRCN will never help Nigeria. It will no doubt do more harm than good. Mr. Omonhinmin writes from Lagos.