The Federal Ministry of Information yesterday revealed that signals coming from the controversial Radio Biafra have been successfully jammed by the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Shade Yemi-Esan, who disclosed this to State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, revealed that the President frowned at the conditions of Journalists and other media practitioners whose salaries are being delayed or unpaid.
She further stated that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the reopening of federal information centers abroad to boost the Nigeria’s image abroad.
The development was the outcome of a meeting between officials of the Ministry of Information and President Buhari who yesterday received briefing from them on the activities of the ministry.
According to Esan, the President further directed that producers of Nollywood movies should be made to have uninhibited access to whatever is the due that should accrue from their work, charging the Ministry to reduce the menace of piracy.
In her words, “The Federal Ministry of Information went to tell Mr President what we have been doing; the major activities in the ministry which are geared towards publicity of government programmes and how we get the feedback from Nigerians which influences policy decisions.
“We also talked to him about the nine parastatal that are under the ministry, the work they are doing and some of the challenges they face.
“We are happy with the response we got and the concerns of Mr President on the work we are doing, especially the publicity aspect. He wants us to intensify publicity because he wants every Nigerian to know about the policies and programmes of this government.
“He also raised concerns about piracy in Nollywood and he has instructed us to work harder to ensure that the producers of Nollywood films get what is due to them and that we reduce piracy to the barest minimum.
With regard to the divisive transmissions from Radio Biafra, the Permanent Secretary said: “We also have a report on that. Right now the signals from radio Biafra have been jammed successfully by the NBC.
“The commission is also working with security agencies to get those that are behind that radio because it is an illegal radio. It is not licensed by anybody to be on the airwave in Nigeria,” she stated.
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