Which is the First Television Station in Nigeria? 

This article will enlighten you on the first indigenous television station ever in Nigeria. Before the advent of TV in Nigeria, there were other forms of sharing news to the public, one of the oldest include gong beating and town crying. With increase in technology, civilization brought with it, newspapers (print media) and radio and before long, television became an item in Nigeria. So which is the first TV station ever in Nigeria? Read along.

Before the first indigenous TV station in Nigeria came into existence, there was the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). However, on March 31, 1959, the Premier of the Western region at that time, Chief Obafemi Awolowo established Nigeria’s first indigenous TV station in Ibadan called the Western Nigerian Television (WNTV), also known as Western Nigerian Government Broadcasting Corporation. 

The establishment of the Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) was significant in the sense that apart from it being the first television station in Nigeria, Western Nigerian Television was the first TV station in Africa. After the establishment of WNTV, it became possible for a region in Nigeria to establish a TV station when broadcasting was removed from the exclusive list and added to the concurrent list, therefore allowing regionals the right to establish an independent (from government’s control) broadcasting station. Armed with this freedom, the Western Region House Parliament passed an act that established the Western Nigerian Television (WNTV).

While the establishment of the first TV station in Nigeria has some political underlinings, the Western Region House Parliament argued that the primary aim for the establishment of the TV station was to complement the under staffed educational sector and increase literacy among her citizens.

After the western region blazed the trail, the other regions followed suit, Eastern region in 1960 and Northern region in 1962. Each one entered into a partnership with a British broadcasting company called Rediffusion who supplied and installed their TV station equipments.

Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) evolved after a while to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).