President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged the Federal Government’s support for Nigerian media organisations in their campaign for fair revenue from global technology companies accused of dominating the digital space and undermining local media businesses.
The President gave the assurance during an interfaith dinner with a high-level delegation of the Nigerian Press Organisation at the State House in Abuja on Friday.
President Tinubu described the media as an “indispensable partner” in Nigeria’s pursuit of economic stability, press freedom, and social cohesion, noting that his administration would support the evidence-based campaign by the industry against the dominance and anti-competitive practices of Big Tech companies.
He said the government would also help address fiscal challenges and what he described as “digital cannibalisation” threatening the survival of the press in Nigeria.
“You have the government’s full support, because we know how important your work is to the sustenance of democracy,” the President said.
President Tinubu disclosed that the government is reviewing the tariff exemption list and may include media-related items such as newsprint, printing plates, chemicals, and broadcast equipment, which currently attract tariffs of between five and 10 per cent.
If approved, the items could enjoy the same tariff-free status granted to educational and research materials, a move expected to ease the financial burden on media organisations grappling with rising production costs.
The delegation was led by the President of the Nigerian Press Organisation and Publisher of The Guardian Nigeria, Maiden Alex‑Ibru, and included prominent figures in the media industry.
Among them were former Governor of Ogun State and publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Olusegun Osoba; Chairman of THISDAY/ARISE News Channel, Nduka Obaigbena; Chairman of Channels Television, John Momoh; and Director-General of the Nigerian Television Authority, Saliu Abdulhamid Dembos.
Also present were veteran journalist Ray Ekpu, President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba; President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, Danlami Nmodu; and President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, among other industry leaders.
Earlier, Deputy President of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria and Publisher of BusinessDay Nigeria, Frank Aigbogun, alleged that some technology companies were “scraping” proprietary media content to train artificial intelligence models, sometimes breaching digital paywalls.
He urged the President to direct the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to collaborate with the media industry in investigating complaints that Big Tech dominance and anti-competitive practices were depriving local media organisations of up to 70 per cent of their legitimate revenue.
According to him, the losses are estimated to run into hundreds of millions of dollars and have also contributed to job losses in the media industry.
In his remarks, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the Federal Government had already begun engagement with major technology companies, including Meta and Google.
“The government will not allow anybody to come here, reap from our economy, and go away without giving back,” he said.
The meeting was also attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima and other senior government officials.
The Nigerian Press Organisation had earlier raised concerns about the impact of Big Tech operations on local media in a statement issued in January, warning that the trend poses an existential threat to the sustainability of Nigeria’s media industry.