ABUJA: Nigeria’s broadcasting authority said Thursday it had shut down a private radio and a television station both owned by a key opposition figure who earlier claimed his media operations were targetted in a crackdown.
The National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) said it suspended the license of the Daar Communications Plc, owners of the African Independent Television(AIT) and RayPower FM radio for breach of the broadcast codes.
The NBC said in a statement it had summoned the management of the stations for two years to address alleged bias in their broadcasts and for failing to meet financial obligations to the regulatory authority.
The statement charged the two had “embarked on use of inflammatory, divisive, inciting broadcasts and media propaganda against the government and the NBC for performing its statutory functions of regulating the broadcast industry in Nigeria.”
NBC said it took the decision Thursday to “suspend the license” of AIT and RayPower FM “for failure to abide by the Commission’s directives and the provisions of the law.
“The shut down order is until further notice,” the statement said.
The two broadcast stations are owned by a business tycoon Raymond Dokpesi who is also a key member of opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Dokpesi earlier Thursday addressed a news conference to accuse the NBC of intimidating his media empire on the instruction of the Nigerian presidency.
“We are on a road previously traveled. A media and press clampdown is in the offing,” Dokpesi said hours before the suspension of his license.
Dokpesi, established RayPower FM as the pioneer private Radio in 1994 and AIT in 1998.
Reporters Without Borders places Nigeria in 119th place out of 180 on its World Press Freedom Index.
It says journalists are often threatened, subjected to physical violence, or denied access to information by government officials, police, and sometimes the public itself.
Nigeria shuts private TV, radio close to opposition
Nigeria shuts private TV, radio close to opposition
- Reporters Without Borders places Nigeria in 119th place out of 180 on its World Press Freedom Index
Paris exhibition marks 200 years of Le Figaro and the enduring power of the press
- The exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive
PARIS: One of France’s most influential newspapers marked a major milestone this month with a landmark exhibition beneath the soaring glass nave of the Grand Palais, tracing two centuries of journalism, literature and political debate.
Titled 1826–2026: 200 years of freedom, the exhibition celebrated the bicentennial of Le Figaro, offering visitors a rare opportunity to step inside the newspaper’s vast historical archive. Held over three days in mid-January, the free exhibition drew large crowds eager to explore how the title has both chronicled and shaped modern French history.
More than 300 original items were displayed, including historic front pages, photographs, illustrations and handwritten manuscripts. Together, they charted Le Figaro’s evolution from a 19th-century satirical publication into a leading national daily, reflecting eras of revolution, war, cultural change and technological disruption.
The exhibition unfolded across a series of thematic spaces, guiding visitors through defining moments in the paper’s past — from its literary golden age to its role in political debate and its transition into the digital era. Particular attention was paid to the newspaper’s long association with prominent writers and intellectuals, underscoring the close relationship between journalism and cultural life in France.
Beyond the displays, the program extended into live journalism. Public editorial meetings, panel discussions and film screenings invited audiences to engage directly with editors, writers and media figures, turning the exhibition into a forum for debate about the future of the press and freedom of expression.
Hosted at the Grand Palais, the setting itself reinforced the exhibition’s ambition: to place journalism firmly within the country’s cultural heritage. While the exhibition has now concluded, the bicentennial celebrations continue through special publications and broadcasts, reaffirming Le Figaro’s place in France’s public life — and the enduring relevance of a free and questioning press in an age of rapid change.
