Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has maintained that Nigeria will meet up with the June 2017 deadline date for switch over from analogue broadcasting to digital.
Mohammed made this known on Wednesday in Abuja when he met with members of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, BON.
According to him, it would be disastrous for Nigeria to miss the new deadline having done so twice before.
The Minister said to meet up with the new deadline; he had to constitute a Ministerial Task Force on the project.
He said that the pilot scheme for the switch over would hold by the end of April in Jos as part of efforts to meet the deadline.
“Based on the efforts we have made and what we have on ground at the moment, we are confident that we will not miss that target date since some establishments will be directly affected in the pilot phase, as they will be required to switch over from analogue to digital.
“We consider it proper not only to carry BON along, but also to provide it with updates on the process,” he said at the meeting on Wednesday.
Mohammed said the government was aware of the misgivings and concerns expressed by some stakeholders over the switch over and they would be addressed in due course.
According to him, “For now, our focus is on the success of the pilot phase in Jos.
“After that has been achieved, we will all return to the drawing board to chisel out the rough edges, address the concerns of the various stakeholders and throttle along full speed to meet the target date.”
He called for support of stakeholders in the sector for the success of the switch over.
