The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has called on broadcast stations in the country to reject any political ad with kids as models and characters as such actions are against the country’s broadcasting code.
This call was made by the NBC Director-General, Balarabe Ilelah, during a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja.
He said, “Instead of developing local content, some broadcasters still rely on foreign children’s content, particularly cartoons which often are laced with themes of violence and immorality.
He also revealed that the commission has noticed the increased usage of children in political advertisements by politicians and how the broadcasters would air such adverts in negation to section 7.7.1(d) of the code.
“This provision is grossly violated as the commission had clearly established this through programme audit it regularly undertakes,” he said.
He urged the participants to critically appraise the performance of broadcasters in the area of children programming to come up with a holistic policy direction.
NBC also called on broadcasting stations to devote 10 per cent of their daily airtime to children’s programmes to promote morality.
“NBC is deeply concerned about how some provisions under Chapter Four of the NBC code are being ignored or deliberately violated by broadcasts outfits. Let me refer you to Section 4.2.2 (k) which requires broadcasters to devote at least 10 per cent of their total airtime to children’s programmes.
Ms. Vanessa Phala, the Country Director, International Labour Organisation, Country Office for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, who was represented by Dr. Kolawole Agatha, the National Programme Coordinator, Africa Project said that relevant authorities must act urgently to protect children rights and restore their childhood.
She added that the National Programme Coordinator, Africa Project, said that so many children were trapped in slavery, forced labour and trafficking.
According to her, some are forced to participate in armed conflict; used for prostitution, pornography or illicit activities, and other dangerous ventures.
Also speaking, the Director-General, National Orientation Agency, Dr. Garba Abari, said that the stakeholder’s conversation was essentially to mobilise efforts to campaign for the elimination of child labour in the country.
Abari described child labour as an aberration anywhere in the world that ought not to be tolerated.
He explained that the illicit practice “strips children of their dignity, denies them the right to education, and exposes them to harmful and hazardous conditions.
“As a society, one of the things we owe our children is protection from abuse.”