President Bola Tinubu has promised to review tariffs imposed on newsprint, broadcast equipment, and other materials used by media organisations as part of efforts to ease the financial burden on the Nigerian media industry.
The President also promised support for the Nigerian media to challenge what they described as big tech dominance and anti-competitive activities in the media space.
The President made the commitment at the weekend while receiving a delegation of the Nigerian Press Organisation, led by its President and publisher of The Guardian, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru, according to a press statement released on Sunday and signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria, Mr Segun Adediran.
The President, on Friday, had an interfaith dinner with the NPO delegation at the State House, with notable industry leaders present, including veteran journalist and Grand Patron of NPAN, Chief Olusegun Osoba; publisher of Vanguard newspapers, Mr Sam Amuka; Chairman of ThisDay/Arise News Channel, Mr Nduka Obaigbena; Chairman of Channels Television, Dr John Momoh and the Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority, Alhaji Saliu Abdulhamid Dembos.Also at the dinner were veteran journalist and former president of NPAN, Mr Ray Ekpu; President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr Eze Anaba; the Chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited, Angela Emuwa; Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Mr Joseph Adeyeye, MD of ThisDay, Eniola Bello, MD/EiC of Nation, Mr Victor Ifijeh; Executive Director of The Guardian, Toke Ibru, among other managing directors.Others at the dinner were the President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, Mr Danlami Nmodu and the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, among others.
Executive members of NPAN and top media practitioners across all platforms, and representatives of civil society were also present at the event.Tinubu was in the company of Vice President Kashim Shettima, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and other senior aides in the administration.
Speaking with media leaders, Tinubu said his government would checkmate the fiscal hurdles and “digital cannibalisation” which currently threatens revenue generation and the general sustenance of the press in the country.According to the statement, the President, addressing the delegation, described the press as an indispensable partner in the “nation’s journey towards economic stability, press freedom and social cohesion.”
Tinubu said, “You have the government’s full support, because we know how important your work is to the sustenance of democracy.”The President further said the government was reviewing the tariff exemption list to include items used by the media, such as “newsprint, plates, chemicals, and radio and television broadcast equipment, which currently attract tariffs of 5 to 10 per cent.”
In a speech delivered earlier on behalf of the NPO, the Deputy President of NPAN and publisher of BusinessDay, Mr Frank Aigbogun, accused some tech companies of “increasingly scraping proprietary creative content to train AI models, often by breaching digital paywalls.”
He said the report followed a letter written by the organisation in January to the government, alongside a statement complaining about the existential threat Big Tech operations pose to local media.
The NPO requested the President to direct the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to work with the media to investigate complaints that Big Tech dominance and anti-competitive practices were costing local media at least 70 per cent of its legitimate income, estimated by some sources at hundreds of millions of dollars, in addition to the loss of jobs and opportunities.Speaking on the tariff, the NPO welcomed the development, noting that “these items would enjoy a status similar to that of educational and research materials.”
Speaking, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris, disclosed that the administration had commenced engagement with tech companies, including Meta and Google.
“The government will not allow anybody to come here, reap from our economy, and go away without giving back,” he said.