‘Why our radio stations remain only partially digitalized’
The General Manager, Yobe Broadcasting Corporation (YBC), Salisu Musa, speaks on the challenges of running radio stations, including inability to fully digitalize. He also recalls the peculiar difficulty of running the station amidst Boko Haram insurgency
How would you describe the state of the Yobe Broadcasting Corporation?
We have two radio stations running concurrently. The Sahel FM and Yobe Radio (AM). When I came on board, only the FM station was functioning but with the help of the engineers, we overcame the challenge of the AM station by repairing two transmitters that were abandoned. We worked on the first 225-kilowatt transmitter and it was successful. We gave the second transmitter a trial and it worked with the help of some information the engineers downloaded from the internet. That helps us greatly in making it fully back on air.
How are the stations running with respect to digital technology?
The transition to digital is still work in progress. I have been attending conferences and workshops on the issue. Based on the instruction issued about two years ago, by now every station should have gone digital, but with the exception of Plateau Radio and Television, no radio station has complete digital equipment in this country as at the last workshop we attended.
Are your stations entirely on analogue?
No. We have digital transmitters but the rest of the equipment is analogue. It is by special effort of our engineers that we are blending the two to make it meaningful in terms of the quality of the sound. The state government is trying to digitalize the station but it’s demanding financially. It runs into hundreds of millions. That is why only Plateau Radio and Television was able to go digital throughout the country. When we went and enquired how much they spent to digitizalize the station, they said N700 million. Not every government can spend this huge amount for a radio station. Kano State is also trying to digitalize its station but they are doing it in installments. They have reached about 40 per cent now.
What is your percentage here?
It’s about 40 percent.
What makes your station different from others in the country?
We get tremendous support from the state governor. He honors almost every request we put to him. Recently, our power generating set developed a problem. We requested for one through the office of the Secretary to the State Government. To my surprise the governor approved two sets. There was even a time that the Yobe Television made submissions to the governor. He asked the commissioner if YBC did not make any request and asked him to intimate us to forward our submission too. He approved the two generating sets so that in the near future we would ask for something else, atleast not generating sets. Also when there was fire outbreak at the FM station, we wrote to the governor and he responded quickly. He has been very supportive.
Yobe has been one of the epicenters of Boko Haram militancy. How did you cope when the insurgency was so severe?
It’s been one of the most difficult times in my career. Our station is located on the major route the insurgents used each time they wanted to attack Damaturu. At a point, only few staff were running the stations because they had their houses within the premises. Our only link of communication was the phone. Most of us found it very difficult to come to the station. But despite all that, there was no day that we did not go on air throughout that trying period.
Many radio stations are finding it difficult to be self-reliant. How are you doing in that regard?
The government has been very forthcoming financially. The diesel we use for transmission is allotted to us free. We lift about 53 drums every 30 days. On our own, we strive to reduce overdependence by being prudent. Before I came, the diesel only lasted for 20 days but I was able to block leakages. And we use our local sources to buy fuel and maintain our two operational vehicles for sourcing news and production materials, although they are very old now and can’t get to all places. We have been promised one or two brand new vehicles by the SSG. Probably if expected new vehicles arrive in the next few weeks, we will be among the beneficiaries.
Do you receive any assistance from outside the state?
Yes, BBC, SAVI and some other nongovernmental organizations have been supporting us in terms of staff training and equipment, and the training is across the board. All the departments, news, engineering, administration and commercials are covered. What we do here is rotating the staff so that everyone is trained. Also, we have a tradition of stepping down training. Whoever attends, no matter how junior, must step down the training to those that have not attended.
How do you cope running these two stations concurrently?
It’s very difficult because we don’t have adequate manpower. At a point in the early stage of the life of the corporation, employment was done anyhow. People who did not have the professional knowhow were employed. That is why one-third of the workforce is not groomed in the art of running a media station. This is one of the most difficult situations I found myself in. Thanks to these workshops we have been attending and the knowledge we share amongst the staff, we are getting by. We pay much attention to training. Whoever secures admission to study relevant course, we approve readily. We also invite lecturers from higher institutions to help train our staff.
Another challenge is that we still have problem with our news department because most of the groomed hands have gone for greener pastures, creating a vacuum. This has been a very serious and disturbing issue. Another problem we have is that a good number of the new staff have been released to study, leaving a fresh vacuum, but we hope most of them will be back in the next few years to improve on the bulletin. In fact, at the moment we don’t have a functional current affairs department.
With the approvals for in-service studies, is there any bond to retain such staff?
Yes, the staff must sign the bond before they are released for the in-service training. Nobody can escape that.
How do you enjoy the monopoly of running these radio stations?
For me, it’s one of the very important aspects of the job. We have dominance of listenership. Our signals cover the entire state. So, the NGOs, federal government agencies and parastatals and even the state government cannot miss us in terms of jingles or advert. This has given us advantage.
What do you do to retain your advertisers?
We are timely and always give them quality production. The only challenge we usually have is when we are to offer life coverage of major events.
How does live coverage become your challenge?
Any time we are covering the major events live, particularly those involving the state governor, we must sacrifice the programmes that are supposed to go on air at that particular time. This is where we usually have problems with our clients because they had paid for a particular period of transmission.
What development plan do you have for this station?
My prime focus is on the manpower and facility development. I want us to go 100 percent digital but, before then, the manpower should be professionally toned to the job. We expect this to happen few years from now when most of the in-service staff return with the professionalism to handle our sensitive programmes and departments. Also, we are looking for more collaboration with media organizations locally and internationally to train and support us with equipment that would boost our station in terms of quality and coverage. In fact, my ambition is for the YBC to go international.