President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured the media industry owners of tariffs slash on imported newsprint, plates, chemicals, including radio and television broadcast equipment, which currently attract tariffs of 5 to 10 percent.
The tariffs slash is aimed at cushioning the harsh economic headwinds affecting local media across all platforms.
President Tinubu gave this assurance on Friday during an interfaith dinner with a high-level delegation from the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), led by the NPO President and Publisher of The Guardian, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru.
The delegation also included industry leaders and patrons, among them Aremo Olusegun Osoba, publisher of Vanguard; Mr Sam Amuka, Chairman of THISDAY/ARISE News Channel; Prince Nduka Obaigbena; Chairman of Channels Television, Dr John Momoh; Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Alhaji Saliu Abdulhamid Dembos; former NPAN President and veteran journalist, Mr Ray Ekpu; President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr Eze Anaba; President of the online publishers’ association, Mr Danlami Nmodu, Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP); and President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, among others.
Tinubu described the press as an “indispensable partner” in the nation’s journey towards economic stability, press freedom, and social cohesion.During the meeting at the State House , the President said that his government would help dismantle the fiscal hurdles and “digital cannibalisation” currently threatening the survival of the press.
President Tinubu said that his government was already reviewing the tariff exemption list, emphasising that media items would enjoy a status similar to that of educational and research materials.
“You have the government’s full support, because we know how important your work is to the sustenance of democracy,” the President said.
Earlier, the Deputy President of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and Publisher of BusinessDay, Mr Frank Aigbogun, requested the president to direct the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to work with the media to investigate complaints that Big Tech dominance and anti-competitive practices were costing local media at least 70 percent of its legitimate income, estimated by some sources at hundreds of millions of dollars, in addition to the loss of jobs and opportunities.
In response, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, said that the government had already begun “engaging Big 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.
