I feel highly honoured to stand here before such an
august audience to deliver this speech. It is really an honour for which I have
no words to express my appreciation to the proprietress and management of Zee –
Alpha International School.
Today marks a very important day not only for the
management, staff and students of this great school but, I believe, to
everybody here invited to grace the occasion. It is important to all of us in
so many ways, notably because the establishment of this kind of school around
here is a great service to the communities of not just Funtua but other
neighbouring local government areas of Bakori, Faskari, Dandume, and Danja, to
mention but a few. It is very difficult these days to find a standard school
such as this, especially at a time when all tiers of government are trying very
hard to resuscitate the fallen standard of education. Establishing this kind of
school is, to say the least, complimentary to government’s effort, and I salute
the owners of this school for a job well done. It is my hope that branches of
this school will be established soon in other neighbouring local government
areas, particularly in Bakori, my hometown.
Now to the subject at hand, the importance of sports
for the overall development of the country cannot be overemphasized. As a
matter of fact, I know of no school that has not incorporated sports activities
in its curricular and extra – curricular activities. It is through sports that
children get the necessary overall development of their cognitive, affective
and psychomotor domains. They also learn the spirit of winning and accepting
defeat, as our society is naturally competitive. All of us witnessing this
event have gone through sporting activities in all the schools we attended. So,
sporting activities in schools are nothing new. But organizing the activities
in such a grand style is what sets this school apart from other schools. I
must, once again, commend the school for putting up such a grand show.
Let me, at this juncture, digress a little to buttress
the importance of sports generally and to children, in particular. You see, I
work for the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). It is a government
organization established in 1992 to deregulate the broadcasting industry in
Nigeria. Before its establishment, the Federal Government had the sole monopoly
of running broadcast organizations such as Radio and Television Stations. After
the establishment of NBC, individuals began to set up private radio and
television stations in the country. Now 22 years after, Nigeria can boast of
more than 400 Radio and Television Stations owned by the Federal, State
Governments and Private Companies.
Now the functions of NBC do not only include issuance
of licences to anybody interested in establishing a broadcast station, but
setting out rules and regulations that guide the conduct of all broadcast
stations in Nigeria. In line with this, there are guidelines for showing
children’s programmes, as well as sports programmes, particularly foreign
programmes which a broadcast station cannot show during the time set aside for
the family, known as the family belt.
The Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which is a code of
practice for broadcasters, produced by the NBC, views sports as, “not only useful in the physical and mental
development of a person but also germane to broadcasting. In Nigeria, sport
also serves as an instrument of national unity and cohesion.”
The story of broadcasting in Nigeria cannot be
complete without informing you about an impending revolution that is going to
change the face of broadcasting in the whole world.
That change is, in broadcast parlance, known as digitization. In other words,
television broadcasting is going to change from analogue to digital platform.
Digital television broadcasting is a new broadcasting technology that is going
to replace the traditional analogue kind.
Digital television will give you better quality
pictures and sounds than you have now. In addition, it will provide you with
greater programme choice and interactive television that will make television
perform the tasks of computers and telephone handsets among so many other
benefits.
And this change is just around the corner, as it is
going to come sooner than you think; Nigeria is going to switch over from
analogue to digital broadcasting on December 31, 2014. And it is going to start
in Jos, Plateau State in April 2014! That is next month!
The choice of Jos as a starting point is deliberately
historic. This is because coloured television broadcasting started in Jos many
years ago!
When television broadcasting changes from analogue to
digital, it is definitely going to affect sporting activities on television.
This is because there will be much more programmes on television than we have
now, owing to the multiplication of channels which digitization is going to
bring about, including sports programmes. And in that sense, you all will be
major players in that area.
In conclusion, may I seize this opportunity to call on
governments at all levels to encourage schools to continue to provide a conducive
atmosphere for sporting activities to thrive, including private schools.
Thank you very much and I apologize for going this
length to explain this revolution, but I find it necessary to tell you how it
is going to affect sports in television broadcasting very soon.
Thank you.