By Frank Tietie
Children’s Television programming and production must be a matter of public concern, and governments and parents cannot leave it entirely to ideologically driven groups in society.
The ongoing controversy about dressing up the characters of Sesame Street in Pride colours to mark the Pride Month of June is significant because children should not be targeted for any form of indoctrination by stereotypes that are alien to their pristine nature.
In the history of the development of television programmes for children, African countries, including Nigeria, didn’t catch up with the rest of the world because of the high costs associated with animation and character modelling. Even makeshift attempts like Tortoise’s Wonderful Store by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) could not be sustained and improved upon.
Governments of countries like the United States were intentional about television programming for children; hence, interventions like Children’s Television Workshop (CTW) received government funding to produce programmes like Sesame Street for expected social outcomes among children who would be the adults of the society. Thus, American children’s programmes like 321-Contact and Great Space Coaster were meant to inspire children in science, technology and space engineering, bearing in mind the need for their citizens to sustain the arms race and competition to dominate space in the Cold War era. It paid off for the Americans, and some of us in Africa were influenced by it, too.
African countries didn’t invest much resources in developing media programmes for children during the Cold War, understandably for many reasons. Still, they cannot continue to allow the children to be indoctrinated by alien cultural agendas which threaten the traditional sexual orientation of Africans.
It is difficult to understand why African leaders, particularly those of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, did not consider the battle for control of their children’s minds one of the most critical issues of their future existence regarding liberty and freedom from external or foreign manipulation.
More sadly, even religious groups whose primary goal is to develop high ethical and moral standards among citizens have abandoned the battle for the minds of men and taken to erect buildings and monuments, leaving parched souls to the influence of radical and neo-liberal ideologies which make nonsense of faith.
It is utterly irresponsible for parents, schools, religious groups and the government not to take an interest in the popular programmes their children consume en masse, especially when they are free of charge on the Internet or through cultural exchange programmes. Cable (paid) television must also be scrutinized.
It was sad to note that when the raging debates about whether the most widely viewed Teletubbies or Peppa Pig among Nigerian children were said to be promoting LGBT values, Nigerians primarily cared less, forgetting the future impact such could have in their children.
Therefore, the solution lies in deliberate investments by the government and well-meaning groups, especially churches and mosques, in funding producers of children-friendly programmes with conservative values designed to produce future healthy and well-adjusted citizens for national development and preservation of the human race.
In a free world, where indoctrination is allowed as a right within the ambits of the law, African governments, through their ministries of education and culture, together with conservative religious groups, must make deliberate investments in ensuring that they don’t lose the pop culture war to liberals who care less about the ethics, culture and traditions peculiar to African peoples.
It is time to protect children’s media programmes from the influence of gay and LGBTQI values.
*Tietie
Nigerian Lawyer and Media Personality writes from Abuja
