4 Chapter UNIFIED CONDITION OF SERVICE POSSIBLE By Osita Nweke Executive Secretary, BON Introduction Before I recount the working and welfare situation of journalists working in the nation's broadcast media, I will briefly give a brief history of Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria. Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria(BON) is the voluntary umbrella body of over 350 publicly and privately owned Radio and Television stations, founded in 1973, when the existing broadcasting stations pooled their resources to cover the“ 2 nd All Africa Games” hosted by Nigeria. Since then, BON has provided the rallying point for Chief Executives of publicly and privately owned Radio and Television stations to articulate issues of mutual interest geared towards moving forward the broadcasting industry in Nigeria. The objectives of BON are: - To serve as a meeting point for all Radio and Television Stations including Cable and Satellite Operators in Nigeria. - To encourage and sustain great co-operation and collaboration among broadcasting organisations. - To this regard, BON has facilitated the joint acquisition and exploitation broadcast rights of key global events, notably: - Nigeria 1999 – World Youth Football Championship - The Biennial Africa Cup of Nations Football Tournament - Olympic Games - Commonwealth Games - English Premier League - The World Cup among others etc. Other objectives of BON are, to seek and utilize available resources for manpower training, research and development and set training standards and to set, regulate and monitor professional standards and ethics of its members. To ensure proper co-ordination of its activities, BON has five Standing Committees namely: 1. Technical 2. Commercial 3. Finance 4. News/Programme 5. Legal