THOUGH at face value radio and television are said to be used ostensibly to educate, inform and entertain, the settlers deftly and subtly used them as weapons of colonisation.
Be it programmes on radio, TV or any form of screen, the main point driven home was to show the superiority of whites vis-a-vis the indigenes.
All Africans were then stereotyped as daft characters in propaganda films circulated countrywide.
Unconciously, the superiority of our colonisers was accepted as a given.
It does not end there; even on a global scale, American films which have saturated the Third World markets invariably show Americans as brave heroes, ready to conquer even the unknown in the universe.
But we are now aware of all this.
That is why we applaud the impending introduction of digitisation by the Ministry of Media, Information and Broadcasting Services.
The availability of 12 channels, which can easily reach every corner of the country, gives us a wonderful opportunity to reverse the mental colonisation process imposed by the settlers using their tools.
This time perhaps, more effectively.
There is therefore need for specific projects to fill the huge space created by digitisation in the multiplicity of channels and platforms.
What then is of supreme importance is content.
The content must be designed in such a way that it promotes the national values, national character shaped by the liberation ethos and national identity.
Creative arts like drama, film, literature and poetry, among others, can be used as crucial subtle tools in shaping people’s mindsets.
This is especially so with digitisation which makes it easy for every radio and TV programme to reach every corner of the country.
Key will be the appropriate packaging of the programmes, so that whether it be music, drama or film, content must always stick to the underlying philosophy in influencing the mindset.
While the notion of entertaining, educating and informing must never be lost, the goal-driven agenda must always be distinct.
Whatever is produced for consumption must always be loaded with ideological content.
Although the national broadcaster has decided to take only six channels, leaving the other six to independent players, the onus is on the responsible Ministry to see to it that private stations are kept in check.
The notion of unfettered media democracy in any polity is a mirage.
It is the task of the national broadcaster’s six stations to keep in check any mischief by the private players.
Not only that.
The national broadcaster is also expected to fight systematic media lies directed against us by the more pervasive Western media.
Effort must be made to make sure that no available space is sacrificed at the altar of financial gain by sponsors whose objectives might be at variance with basic values of our national objective.
At present, it is unfortunate that a good number of programmes are devoted to religious narratives and some sensational stuff which have nothing to do with nation building.
The fact that a minimum of 75 percent of all programmes should have local content is a guideline which should be religiously followed.
However, to produce good quality programmes of local content in huge quantities to satisfy 12 broadcast channels is not easy.
Hence the need for intensive relevant personnel training.
The Hollywood film production model introduced in the early 1980s, though impressive, proved it had its own cultural and financial shortfalls.
It was not the kind of training suitable for a Third World country with limited resources and a culture based on ubuntu.
It is gratifying that the Information Ministry is taking appropriate steps to make sure that we won’t be found wanting when the 12 channels are launched before the end of the year.