KEBBI: Tale Of Rogue Radio Station And The Road To Badeggi
By Ibrahim Adamu Sani
There has been understandable outrage over the unilateral closure of Badeggi FM by Governor Umar Bago of Niger State. Public commentators have almost entirely focused on the governor’s abuse of power and the dangerous precedent it sets and rightly so. No elected leader should act as though he is above the law or immune to the dictates of due process.
But while I join in condemning Governor Bago for the high-handed manner of his action, I am also compelled to interrogate the other side of the matter; the one that has been largely ignored in the public discourse. That is the question of the radio station’s own strict compliance, or lack thereof, with the canons of our profession in its daily conduct.
The popular narrative is that Badeggi FM was abruptly shut down by the governor simply because it gave airtime to opposition voices. While this political intolerance may be part of the story, the more immediate trigger; what is whispered among those close to the Government House, was that the station has repeatedly aired unverified, inflammatory commentary targeting the administration’s agricultural policies, particularly the governor’s ambitious but controversial plan to transform Niger into a major rice-production hub. Badeggi FM allegedly crossed the line when it not only questioned the viability of these projects but also accused the governor of diverting inputs meant for local farmers, a charge the station could not substantiate with verifiable evidence.
That was the real matchstick. Bago, ever impatient with criticism he deems unfounded, saw it as calculated sabotage. Instead of going through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) or the courts, he reached for the crudest weapon in the armoury of political power, the governor’s fiat. And with a few words, Badeggi FM went silent.
Now, Niger is not the only state to find itself in this kind of tangle between politicians and media houses. In Kebbi, for instance, we have our own experience with a certain radio and TV station that have long abandoned professional ethics in favour of blackmail and sensationalism. These stations, operated by one establishment have thrown all sense of decorum to the wind, operating in a manner that demeans the very calling of journalism.
Their method is simple and crude. They began by making friendly overtures to Governor Nasir Idris, fishing for favour and access. But when the governor proved immune to their flattery and refused to dance to their tune, the tone shifted. Out went the polite requests; in came slanderous broadcasts, thinly veiled falsehoods, and an endless stream of insinuations against the government.
The arm-twisting became more blatant and desperate when the stations began importing rogue on-air personalities from outside Kebbi, media mercenaries suspected to be bankrolled by a former minister in the Buhari administration, to launder half-truths and package misinformation as news, passing off exaggerated gossip as scoops.
It gets worse. During the last Ramadan, the same outfit applied for and received funds under the pretext of airing Tafsir and other religious programming. The money was collected, but the promised content never aired. In any serious regulatory environment, that would amount to fraud, plain and simple.
Now, imagine if Governor Nasir Idris decided to follow in Bago’s footsteps and simply pull the plug on this station. You can already hear the uproar from regulatory bodies and civil society organisations, screaming “press persecution” at the top of their lungs. And yet, no one seems equally eager to demand accountability from these errant broadcasters. That is why I maintain that the NBC and other oversight institutions must take their duties more seriously.
As a journalist myself, I find the conduct of such radio and TV stations not just detestable, but reprehensible and dangerous. They drag our noble profession into the mud, reducing it to a blunt instrument for personal vendettas and political extortion. It is only out of professional courtesy that I have refrained from naming this Kebbi-based establishment. But make no mistake, they know themselves. And if they do not desist, my current stance of not naming and shaming will change.
As a concerned and patriotic indigene of Kebbi State, I will not stand idle while these opportunists damage the image of our state and undermine our government for reasons that have nothing to do with public interest and everything to do with personal gain.
We must start tightening the noose around the necks of predatory media outfits; those set up not to inform, educate, or entertain, but to shake down political office-holders for illicit financial flows. They are legion in this country. Many operate entirely as fronts, using their platforms as leverage to extract patronage or, failing that, to unleash smear campaigns.
These operators have no scruples. If they find a leader who is willing to compromise, they gladly become his personal propaganda mill, churning out lies disguised as achievements. It is a toxic dance of mutual convenience until the music stops. This is why I commend Gov. Idris for rejecting the sinister overtures of these stations in Kebbi.
For the sake of states like Kebbi where the governor has shown great restraint in the face of daily provocations, the NBC must be far more vigilant. Its priority should not only be reacting to the rash actions of frustrated leaders like Umar Bago, but proactively curbing the activities of rogue stations before they trigger confrontations that threaten press freedom as a whole. Because when the excesses of the media are left unchecked, it only fuels the excuse for politicians to wield the hammer.
Before I conclude this piece, let me make it clear, that the people of Kebbi will not fold their arms and watch treacherous mediapreneurs undermine progress in pursuit of selfish agendas. Whoever holds the leash of these loudmouths should understand that the people see, the people know, and the people will respond at the appointed time.
For now, I want to commend Governor Nasir Idris for his restraint in the face of provocations that would have pushed lesser leaders toward rash actions. He has so far refused to match recklessness with recklessness. But this restraint must be matched by an assertiveness expected of our regulatory bodies towards mainstreaming a regulatory environment that ensures both politicians and media operators are held accountable.
The lesson from the Badeggi FM saga is twofold. First, political power must never be allowed to trample on the rule of law. Second, media houses must uphold the canons of journalism or be prepared to face lawful consequences. One without the other leaves us vulnerable to either state tyranny or media anarchy, both of which are dangerous to democracy in equal measures. The programme, ‘Ga Koshi Ga Kwananan Yunwa’, is a clear testament of media weaponisation and yellow journalism.
Sani writes from Abuja
