Digital Switch Over: We cannot afford to fail — Lai Mohammed
…As Ministerial Task Force holds maiden meeting
By Abimbola Abatta, Osogbo
Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has said the Ministerial Task Force on Digital Switch Over (DSO) cannot afford to fail in the implementation of the project.
This is even as the minister added that the success of the project is hinged on the richness of the content offered.
The minister who doubles as the chairman of the committee said the above during his opening speech on Tuesday at the inaugural meeting of the Task Force.
According to him, “The success of this project is hinged on content. If the content is right, the 24 million TV households in the country will embrace it. If the content is wrong, they will not.”
Recall that on February 23rd, 2021, he inaugurated a 13-man committee to drive the DSO project.
Addressing members of the committee, he said, “As I said during my last press conference on the DSO, the success of this project now rests squarely on our shoulders, and we cannot afford to fail.”
He added that, “Even the purchase of the Set Top Boxes by Nigerians will depend on the richness of the content offered. Before now, we either gave out the boxes free or at subsidized rates. But now that the project is being commercially-driven, the sale of STBs will depend on the content.
“Based on conventional wisdom, sports, especially football and in particular the English Premiership and Champions League; entertainment, especially Nollywood/Kannywood movies; news, both local and international , and children’s programme, including cartoons, are indispensable if we are to get Nigerians to buy-in to this project. Therefore, the issue of content must be taken seriously.”
The Honourable Minister, noting that the project can help popularise the local football league, expressed confidence that the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) would be willing to work with the committee.
“We can work with the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) to have their weekly matches shown live. I have no doubt that they will be willing to work with us in this regard,” he said.
He further revealed the need for massive publicity in order to enlighten Nigerians on the DSO project, which, according to him, will prevent disinformation.
In his words, “Today, millions of Nigerians are still unaware of the true essence of the DSO and the opportunities therein.
“Recently, a newspaper article on the DSO said Nigerians will not be willing to buy STBs because of the cost, forgetting that the cost of the STB will be offset in the end by the non-payment for weekly or monthly subscription, which is a key selling point for the DSO. To prevent this kind of disinformation, we need to widely inform and educate Nigerians on the project.”
The minister also disclosed that “we have kick-started the process of implementing the Audience Measurement Scheme, which is critical to the success of the DSO project.”
“Once this scheme is ready, all content owners and channels will now be able to get commensurate benefits for their efforts and creativity,” he stated.
