The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that no matter the difficult times being experienced by Nigerians, it would not abandon its global responsibilities.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The minister said that the only memo considered at the meeting was in respect of an update from his ministry on the process of migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting.
He added that the pilot scheme in Jos which was successfully deployed at the end of April was working well and those who were in possession of the set up boxes can view 15 channels with clarity in the city and that the council reaffirmed its support for the ministry to meet the deadline of June 2017 and directed that the relevant ministries work together to achieve the deadline.
Meanwhile when the minister was asked what he would be telling Nigerians who would be surprised that FEC meeting could be exclusively devoted to digitalisation at a time when many citizens are hungry, the minister said the government could not shut down because of hardship.
Mohammed responded: “Yes, Nigeria might be going through a very difficult time but that does not mean that we are going to be cut off from the rest of the world.
“20 years ago, Ethiopia had a famine that ravaged the whole country. They have risen from the ashes of that famine to become one of the strongest economies of the world.
“The fact that we are facing temporary problems does not mean that we are not going to be at pace with technology development all over the world.
“This is a global issue. It simply means that if we do not move from analogue to digital broadcasting, we may not be able to even receive signals on our television.”
The minister said while the government would assist to subsidise the prices of set up boxes, the digital migration would create jobs for Nigerians.
