FRCN zonal structure: Benin short-changed Read By Josef Omorotionmwan THIS is Radio Benin, broadcasting from its Headquarters in Yenagoa and Port Harcourt”. At first, this might sound like a broadcast from a professed wino but, indeed, it is a perfect representation of the raw deals that Edo State has been getting from her neighbours. This is perhaps not the best place to engage in a protracted debate of on-shore/off-shore dichotomy of oil resources; but in passing, it is appropriate to mention that a situation in which the little oil in Edo State is ceded to neighbouring States is most undesirable. Right from October 1, 1963, when Nigeria attained a Republican status, children of pre-school age had an excellent grasp of the rhymes of Regions and Capitals: Northern Region – Kaduna; Eastern Region – Enugu; Western Region – Ibadan; Mid-West Region – Benin City. Those were the four Regions we had then. Today, apart from the defunct Midwest, the other regional Capitals still remain the Headquarters of their emerging geopolitical zones. But the Headquarters of the South-South zone has been up for grabs. At the peak of the murky politics, even the major political parties went their separate ways – the PDP retains Port-Harcourt as the Headquarters of the South-South Zone; and that’s where it conducts its conventions and other political activities; while the APC still holds on to Benin City as the Zonal Headquarters. This confusion reigns supreme in the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN. By virtue of being the Headquarters of their defunct Regions, Enugu, Kaduna and Ibadan have been Zonal Headquarters of the FRCN in their respective Sub-Regions. While in the South-South, it has been a matter for conjuncture. During the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, the Headquarters of the FRCN South-South was located in Yenagoa; and since Jonathan’s departure, we hear it has shifted to Port Harcourt. Benin City has remained perpetually schemed out. The injustice inherent in this scheme can only be appreciated within the context of a fair understanding of the history of the FRCN. What started as listening out-posts for the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, in 1933 has gradually mushroomed into the biggest radio network in Africa. The Colonial Radio relayed the overseas service of the BBC through wired system with loudspeakers at the listening end. It was called Radio Diffusion Service, RDS. In April 1951, the RDS metamorphosed into the Nigerian Broadcasting Service, NBS, with a Briton, Mr. T.W. Chalmers, who was the then Controller of BBC Light Entertainment Programme as the first Director-General. An Act of Parliament No 39 of 1956 gave birth to the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC, which came into effect in April 1957. The Director-General was Mr. J.A.C. Knott, OBE. In 1978, the NBC had a major re-organisation which transformed it to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, and the NBC was instructed to hand-over its stations that broadcast on Medium Wave Transmitters in the States to the State Governments while taking over Short-Wave Transmitters from the States. The Reverend Victor Badejo became the first indigenous Director-General. Today, the FRCN with its Headquarters in Abuja has national Stations in Enugu, Kaduna, Ibadan and Gwagwalada FCT; plus Lagos Operations Office. These national Stations and Lagos Operations Office control all the 37 FRCN FM/MW/SW/ Stations spread across the nation. In the Second Republic, the Federal Government established FRCN Stations in all the States ruled by the opposition parties, essentially to facilitate NPN’s capture of the States in the 1983 general elections. However, the military coup of December 1983, which ushered in the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, as he then was, put paid to all this. In 1984, all the new FRCN Stations, except the major national Stations in Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu and Lagos, were closed down and their facilities were handed over to the respective hosting States. In 2006, the Federal Government attempted a restructuring of the FRCN to provide for six Zonal Stations – covering the six geo-political zones as follows: North-Central (Head Office in Makurdi); North-West (Kaduna); North-East (Maiduguri); South-East (Enugu); South-West (Ibadan); South-South (Yenagoa); and Operations (Lagos). The rip-off was very glaring and Edo people considered it a slap on their faces. This writer was in the team that led a powerful delegation to Abuja on how Benin City was short-changed. At the peak of it all, the authorities in Abuja offered us an appeasement. We rejoiced home that our request had been granted. Alas, what was approved for us was an FM Station while the Zonal Headquarters remained in Yenagoa. That was how we asked for rain and got a rainbow! Evidently, a lot of distortions, deliberate falsehood; and even outright disinformation and misinformation have paraded the FRCN imbroglio: Many have hidden under the guise of donating land for FRCN in their States – a clear case of carrying coal to Newcastle! Unknown to the usurpers, our founding fathers were proactive and they had foresight, hence a large expanse of level land spanning over 3km2 was acquired for the FRCN at the Aduwawa axis of Benin City – for whatever expansions might be necessary, including large offices, development of staff housing scheme, adequate space for public utilities, etc. And whenever FRCN might want to experiment on the idea of a Broadcasting University, the land is there! In all this, one is reminded that there is still credence in the old belief that any child who says his mother will not sleep will himself see no sleep. Perhaps because of the continuous scheming out of Benin City, no government white paper has been issued on the FRCN Headquarters. Understandably, some conscientious insiders in the FRCN Family are insisting that the right thing must be done. Indeed, it costs nothing, but means a lot, to do the right thing; and the right time to do the right thing is now. Simply return the South-South Zonal Headquarters of the FRCN to its rightful place – Benin City! This way, FRCN will truly live up to its avowed mandate of uplifting the people and uniting the nation.
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