The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) needs a total overhaul – I believe you will agree with me except you are one of those profiting from the sorry state of the first television station in tropical Africa. You see, NTA is a classic illustration of how well, trumps how far.
On Wednesday, the Super Eagles of Nigeria played an African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Lesotho in Lagos, and only the NTA beamed the match live. If you did not stream it online, we both likely watched the match that ended 3-0 in favour of the Nigerian team on NTA.
I do not know about you, each time I accidentally or deliberately tune to NTA, I see the level of progress Nigeria has made over the decades. You will see 10 things go wrong while watching NTA for just 10 minutes. What a shame of the nation.
The now NTA began 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.
NTA was founded in 1977. By May 1977 all the state television would then be merged and re-branded as Nigerian Television (NTV), owned by the Nigerian Television Authority. Obisesan and Makuda continued in the roles of Chairman and General Manager of NTA. As of 1979, NTA had reached about 20% of the Nigerian population.
In terms of quantity, NTA has done well but in quality, it is abysmal in all its ramifications. As it is common in a country where anything goes, capable hands are almost never allowed to manage government parastatals. As the mouthpiece of the government or a propaganda tool, different governments have come and gone without improving on the quality of NTA so long it successfully broadcasts government’s message to all Nigerians across all the states. Quality improvement on the channel is insignificant.
The match was played in 2021 but the broadcast quality reminds one of the 80’s live soccer. One good thing, finally, about the poor quality of the video and audio of NTA is that it affords the Generation Z to at least experience what it felt like to watch TV and live in the 80’s.
From its brown and orange logo to its old and haggard signature tune, NTA apparently needs to be saved from this imbroglio. Who then will save NTA? The answer is obvious: None in sight!
The reason NTA still exists may just be because it reports government activities, programmes, and policies from skewed and subjective perspective. To the government, that is all that matters. Quality can be buried.
When NTA changes, check very well, Nigeria may have just changed.
