After successfully completing his two-year tenure as the chairman of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), the Chairman of Channels Media Group, Mr. John Momoh, OON, has now handed over office to the elected BON Vice-chairman (and acting Chairman), Mr. Godfrey Ohabunwa.
John Momoh was elected BON Chairman in July 2016 in a keenly contested election during BON’s annual delegates’ conference to set a new record as the first private media owner to chair BON. Before the election, BON was traditionally headed by the DGs of Federal Government-owned media institutions. However, an amendment in the BON Constitution enabled a rotational system and elections into offices in 2016.
According to BON’s amended constitution, Mr. Momoh’s tenure was from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2018.
Upon officially assuming office in 2017, John Momoh brought his well-known reputation as a transformative industry pioneer to bear on the Organisation, and BON enjoyed several positive changes with him at the helm of affairs.
Some of these notable achievements include:
• Extensive free training of BON members. The number of trainings under his tenure is the most by a BON Chairman.
• Purchase of property to house the BON Secretariat. Mr. Momoh ensured that under his tenure, BON purchased its own permanent building in 2018, after 46 years of operating in rented apartments.
• Increased attendance by members at BON events and increase in membership. BON had 125 members as at January 1, 2017, which has increased to 143 as at December 2018. Notable among these new members are the two signal distributors in Nigeria.
• First time a BON Chairman would consistently host BON meetings -several CWC meetings, 68th, 69th and 70th General Assemblies, 17th AGM), thereby setting a new standard for BON in the running of the Organization and hosting of BON meetings.
• Pioneered and successfully launched a Broadcasters Hall of Fame to honour veterans in the Broadcast industry (including Christopher Kolade, Vincent Maduka, Anike Agbaje-Williams, Tom Adaba etc).
• Effectively galvanized BON TV members to work together to broadcast the 2018 FIFA World Cup in conjunction with Kwese Free TV, earning BON members a record sum as revenue.
• Membership Debt significantly reduced by tens of millions, which had a significant positive impact on the BON Secretariat.
Apart from the above, Mr. Momoh tirelessly advocated for changes in the broadcast industry, leading to positive developments for all broadcasters including:
– Cancellation of NBC’s plan to shut down media houses over non-payment of fees
– Involvement of BON in the consideration of the digital switch-over during the Senate’s public hearing on the issue
– Stakeholders meeting between BON, Minister of Information and NBC leading to an improved relationship between the Regulator and BON; as well as a commitment to regularly meet to discuss issues
From the announcement of Mr. Momoh’s success at the BON polls, the reputation of BON was heightened and brought to the consciousness of the Nigerian and international public, leading to more international partnerships with the Organization. An example is the participation of international media in the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates which were organized under the leadership of Mr. John Momoh.
In view of all these achievements, some BON members clamoured for Mr. Momoh to stay on as Chairman, a request which he unequivocally declined. In fact, no Broadcaster indicated interest in running for the position of BON Chairman when the Secretariat called for elections in September 2018; leaving the position vacant. Only the position of Vice-chairman of BON was contested at the September elections.
Communiqué Of The 70th General Assembly And 17th AGM Of BON
Mr Momoh successfully handed over office to the elected Vice-Chairman of BON on Friday, 18th January 2019, and BON has now announced that elections will be held in April 2019 to fill the position of Chairman.
BON was established in 1973, and today comprises over 140 members who collectively own over 250 radio and television stations in the country. BON’s vision is to foster a future-proof environment for radio, TV and to serve their audiences and contribute to the development of our society.
