From Simeon Nwakaudu, Makurdi

THE Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, has urged the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, (NBC) to immediately remove the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from the nation's airwaves over the broadcast of a negative documentary on the nation's commercial headquarters, Lagos State.

The Sultan stated that the portrayal of Lagos State in the documentary was not a true reflection of what was happening in the state, stating that the state government had made marked improvements in different sectors of the state.

In an interactive session with the Nigerian Governors' Forum peer review team, the Sultan noted: "If I were the Federal Government, of course am not, I would have ordered the NBC to yank off the BBC from the airwaves pending when it redresses the situation or presents a balanced documentary on the situation in Lagos, the nation's commercial capital".

"I felt bad when I watched the documentary on Lagos State because I know that so many good things are happening in that state, which the BBC as a reputable organisation ought to have highlighted", he said.

He stated that as a leading international medium, it was incumbent on the BBC when presenting the report of a community to ensure that both the negatives and the positives were highlighted. He said the series being broadcast by the BBC dwelt totally on the negatives, which fell below the principle of fairness.

"We have good and bad sides. If you show the bad side, then it is incumbent on you to show the good side as well. If we are to show the bad side of America, so many people will not visit that country", he said.

According to him, Nigeria is the only nation of the world with about 50 per cent Christian population and 50 per cent Moslem population that enjoys relative peace for the better part of the year, which is never promoted by news organisations like the BBC.

He said: "The BBC would never promote such positives where peace is enjoyed almost throughout the year. Once there is a problem in the nation where peace is disturbed with a few killings, that would be the focus of the BBC rather than the over 300 days of peaceful co-existence within the years".