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The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), once the bastion of national pride seems forgotten today as Nigerians argue over the price of DStv bouquets.
NTA started as the Western Nigerian Government Broadcasting Corporation (WNTV) on 31 October 1959 under the Chairmanship of Olapade Obisesan, a United Kingdom-trained while Vincent Maduka, an engineer, was the General Manager. NTA was based in Ibadan and is the first broadcast network in Africa.
There was a time when you heard that ringing sound and saw the multi-coloured lines on your television screen as a child – you knew what it meant. NTA was about to come on air at 4 pm with shows like Sesame Street, Voltron, and Muppet Babies.
We had British comedies like Allo Allo, Some Mothers Do Ave Them, Rent-A-Ghost and others. There were Nigerian hit TV series like ‘The Village Headmaster,’ ‘The New Masquerade’, Cockcrow at Dawn, Behind The Clouds, Riddles & Hope, Checkmate, Fortune, Samanja and many others.
Then, in the early to mid-90s, the Nigerian Television Authority started the wave of South American telenovelas when it aired The Rich Also Cry, Lady of the Rose, Wild Rose, Secrets of the Sand, Isaura and more.
The broadcast network was progressive in that it created NTA 2 Channel 5 to cater to a more urban elite, which included widely travelled Nigerians.
NTA’s nationwide news coverage
The news programming of the NTA was also stellar, with the entire nation watching NewsLine, hosted by great broadcasters like Patrick Oke, Yinka Craig, Frank Olize and Abike Dabiri.
NTA News at 9 was a national event. Newscasters and presenters like Cyril Stober, Ruth Benamaisia Opia, Elizabeth Banu, Aisha Bello, Bimbo Oloyede, Siene Allwell-Brown, Eugenia Abu, Modele Sarafa-Yusuf, Comfort Okoronkwo and so many others were celebrities.
Even in sports, we can’t forget the likes of Hameed Adio, the commentator of so many classic Super Eagles matches.
Today, all this great programming has disappeared, replaced with agricultural documentaries and stale TV shows.
So, what happened?
During the structural adjustment program implemented by the government of Ibrahim Babangida, the Nigerian Television Authority was mandated to commercialize some of its airtime, transitioning from public broadcasting to a partially commercial broadcasting network.
This resulted in the inclusion of sponsored and brokered religious programs, as well as the live broadcast of weddings and funeral services on the network which many Nigerians did not particularly enjoy.
Similarly, the authority faced criticism for its content being influenced by the government of the day and politicians. This interference is said to diminish the professionalism of its newscasters and Nigerians started to seek their news and entertainment elsewhere.
Further reading: Why I Launched A News Commentary Show – Bolanle Olukanni Tells Netng
The emergence of private TV stations in 1992 slowly chipped at its monopoly. However, in the early 2000s, it still put on a great fight with its morning show, AM Express, with a mix of veteran broadcasters, Yinka Craig, Sadiq Daba, and a batch of young and hip presenters Elaine Otueje, Mariam Anazodo and Katherine Obiang.
NTA still has the biggest audience in Nigeria due to its vast network, but despite this advantage, it is far from its glory days. So what happened? Lack of funding? Lack of vision? Lack of direction?
Your guess is as good as mine.
