“DSTV’s monopoly is colonalisation by another means”
–Chris Kehinde Nwandu, public relations consultant, Trend TV/CTL
By Chediebere Onyemaizu

Kehinde Nwandu

What is your reaction to Federal Government’s breaking of DSTV’s monopoly in DTH operations in Nigeria?

It is a welcome development.

How do you mean?

It is long overdue. This is what we have been craving for years now. We have been saying that there is need for level playing ground in the industry. It is wrong that a foreign organisation wield monopoly and is vested with the power to do and undo. It rubs off negatively on local providers who are in the business, or also want to go into the business. Many of them have spent millions of dollars in acquiring equipment and infrastructure.

Can you name one or two?

Well, I know of Trend TV and CTL.

What has been the experience all these years?

The experience for us has been full of constraints. We believe that the Nigerian people deserve to have a choice in every aspect of life, just as it is happening in other aspects of the economy. So, we believe that the liberalisation of DTH operation in Nigeria will afford Nigerians the right to make a choice. Due to DSTV’s mononply, so many Nigerian indigenous companies that tried to come into the industry have been frustrated out.

Can you name some of these indigenous operators?

There is CTL, there is Disc Engineering, there is FSTC, there is TITV, and so many others that had been in the business but are no longer there.

How do you react to the insinuations that indigenous DTH providers are not actually able to compete with DSTV because they do not have the financial wherewithal to do so?

Anybody can say anything he/she likes. I know this insinuation is coming from DSTV or its likes, but I can tell you that DTH operation is not something somebody wakes up and says he wants to go into, because it is a capital intensive industry. We at Trend TV/CTL, we have been in this business for 11 years. If we are not serious-minded, we wouldn’t have gone into it, and I tell you that even our DTH operation which we started about two years ago, we spent nothing less than $40 million to acquire infrustructure, personnel, programmes et cetra. What we are fighting against is a situation where DSTV will go ahead and buy up programmes on behalf of Nigeria. This is wrong. It is colonalisation and it is not done anywhere. If you want to buy a TV right, buy for your country and not for Nigeria, because Nigerians are capable of doing so.

Are there evidences to show that Trend TV/CTL or any other indigenous DTH providers have gone to the international channels to buy TV rights and were refused?

I cannot speak for other companies but I can tell you that Trend TV/CTL has severally done that and we were turned down. What we are saying in essence is that the DTH field should be thrown open, just as it has happened in the Global System on Mobile Communication (GSM) industry. DTH or Cable TV is not supposed to be elitist. It is a means of education, information and entertainment and people should be made to afford it, so as to know what is going on all over the world.

Again, how do you react to insinuations that indigenous DTH operators are envious of DSTV’s success and that is propably why they are now talking about DSTV’s monopoly.

Like I said earlier, people have freedom of speech. But have you not been watching Nigerian stations – Silverbird, Channels, NTA channel 2 et cetra. Have they been messed up? It is an insult for foreigners to come here and dictate to us – that we cannot handle issues concerning ourselves. For God’s sake, you cannot cry more than the bereaved. We have more stake in this country than any foreigner and you cannot tell me that a Nigerian will go into business to mess up his name, his business and the country as a whole. It is never done, for example, Trend TV is the first indigenous cable TV to have a 24-hour channel dedicated to Nigerian movies. No foreigner can do that for you. Instead, what they give us is “African Magic” which they show for about six hours only.