NIGERIA 2.9 Government promotes a political and economic environ- ment which allows a diverse media landscape. ANALYSIS: In a ‘one party’ State where the government controls 28 states (out of 32) there is no active effort to promote a diverse media landscape. Yet, there is also no restriction which may be leading to more opposition stations. But even they would only work under a strong patronage system. There is a healthy competition with advertisers going to private media. The panel felt that license fees in broadcasting are too high to encourage the establishment of more stations. The Value Added Tax (VAT) as well as certain taxes and tariffs increase the prices for importing media equipment. In general the economic environment is rather hostile towards the media. Yet the introduction of VAT to newspapers is still resisted by the owners. The policies of the NBC which encourage diversity in some respects were noted in the earlier discussion. SCORES: Individual scores: 2; 2; 3; 3; 3; 3; 1; 3; 3; 2; 2 Total score: 2.4 Average score: 2.2 16 African Media Barometer - Nigeria 2008