Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
The Federal Government has charged independent broadcasters across the country to strengthen Nigeria’s information sovereignty, promote national cohesion, and fortify digital security as part of their core responsibility to the nation.
This was the main thrust of the goodwill message delivered on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, by the Ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa. He told participants at the Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (IBAN) 2025 Annual General Meeting and Conference that broadcasters are “on the frontlines” of safeguarding Nigeria’s national identity.
The Spokesperson who spoke under the conference theme, “Broadcasting for Information Sovereignty, National Cohesion and Digital Security,” said the topic was “not only timely but absolutely critical to our nation’s future.”
According to him, information sovereignty is now the digital age equivalent of territorial integrity, stressing that Nigeria must maintain control over its stories and public narrative.
He also stated: “It is about Nigeria’s right and capacity to tell its own stories, shape its own narratives, and counter the corrosive effects of foreign-sponsored disinformation and cultural homogenization.”
He lauded broadcasters for investing in local content, stressing that such efforts “assert our sovereignty in the global arena” and position media professionals as “vanguards of our national story.”
On national cohesion, he reminded broadcasters that the public airwaves are “a sacred trust,” saying the microphone and camera can either mend divisions or widen them.
His words: “I urge you to use your platforms to amplify the threads that bind us together—our shared values, our common challenges, and our collective hopes”.
He also warned that digital threats pose a direct danger to national stability, urging broadcasters to prioritise cybersecurity and safeguard their platforms from cyber-attacks and influence operations.
“A breach in your digital security is a potential breach in our national defence,” he said, adding that securing broadcasting infrastructure is now a matter of national security.
The Ministry further stressed that Nigeria’s international image depends significantly on the narratives shaped at home.
“The narrative you build at home is the narrative we project abroad,” the spokesperson said.
Ebienfa urged for a stronger partnership between the government and the broadcasting industry to protect Nigeria’s information ecosystem, counter misinformation, and project a more unified national identity.
He also charged broadcasters to see themselves as “essential partners in nation-building” and to continue shaping a Nigeria that is “confident, cohesive, and in control of its own destiny.”
END
