The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has expressed its readiness to support Nigerians’ cultural reorientation by mandating telecommunication companies to ensure that subscribers have access to contents that will preserve and positively impact on Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, who made this commitment when the Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Otunba Biodun Ajiboye, led a team to his office discuss potential areas of collaboration between the two organisations.
The telecoms industry regulator harped on the importance of collaboration among MDAs and other stakeholders in the effort to re-orient Nigerians towards their cultural values even as he spoke on the risks associated with using foreign content to shape Nigerian culture if domestic content output remained low.
Maida expatiated: “If we don’t produce our own content that will drive home the culture we want to preserve, it is the content we consume from outside that will shape our culture. NICO has a much bigger part to play here. While we provide the pipe that is delivering the content, those producing the content have a major stake in influencing the type of content to be shared.
“Today, if you watch Nigerian movies, the accent they speak with as well as their dress does not totally reflect Nigeria; even the topics are not rooted in our culture”, the EVC added.
On the NICO management’s proposal for telecommunication operators in Nigeria to include cultural content on caller tunes, short codes and robot calls for cultural information, Maida assured the commission’s support for the proposal and readiness to act on it as appropriate in order to increase local content in telecoms services in the country.
Earlier in his remarks, the NICO chief had highlighted the increasing need to leverage digital infrastructure to enhance Nigeria’s arts, culture, and creative industries.
Ajiboye also hinted of the Institute’s plans to launch a Global Cultural Digital Platform called “DuduPlugs” to promote Nigeria’s diverse cultural heritage and keep Nigerian culture vibrant in the face of deepening foray of Western cultural values into the Nigerian cultural space
He said: “Our Global Cultural Digital Platform is an attempt to bridge the gap between culture and information technology.
“This has the capacity to showcase our e-commerce, language, and other elements that can ride on the back of our communication platforms, reaching the world robustly and exuding the pride of our culture”, the NICO boss added.
Photo Caption
L-R: NCC’s Executive Commissioner Technical Services, Engr. Abraham Oshadami,; Executive Secretary-CEO of NICO, Otunba Biodun Ajiboye,; Executive Vice-Chairman-CEO of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida; Director of Research and Documentation at NICO, Mr. Michael Ekoko; and the commission’s Director Public Affairs, Mr. Reuben Muoka, when Ajiboye led the Institute’s management team on a courtesy visit to the NCC’s headquarters in Abuja…recently
