Yemi Olakitan on the Freedom of Informatiion Bill

The Nigerian media has suffered immensely in the hands of past military dictators. They have fought for press freedom through the years. The (FoI) bill is part of the gains of the fight for press freedom. However, unless the community of pressure groups that advocated for the signing of the bill into law remains active, the Nigerian media may not be able to reap its full benefits: Yemi Olakitan writes. When President Goodluck Jonathan signed into law, the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill, which for more than a decade the Nigerian media and its supporters campaigned for, stakeholders agreed that the president and the National Assembly had given the media an opportunity to advance the cause of democracy as well as the economic and political destiny of the nation. The (FoI) Bill empowered the media and members of the public to seek information at the highest level of governance for the advancement of public good and individual prosperity. The House of Representatives passed the Bill on February 24, 2011 and the Senate delivered on promise on March 16th. Both Chambers passed the harmonized version on May 26, 2011.It was conveyed to President Jonathan on May 27th, and he signed it on May 28, 2011. Ekiti state and Lagos state have since adopted the Freedom of Information Act at state level and extended the response date from 7 days to 14 days. This bill is perhaps the greatest victory for the Nigerian press regarding its freedom since the military era particularly the Abacha regime during which the official secrecy act and other draconian decrees reigned supreme and the junta’s brutality made it an impossibility to seek public information or criticize government. In this new era, the (FoI) bill makes it an offense punishable by law for any public official to withhold public information from a person who requests for it, such official can be fined to the tune of N500, 000 and may serve one year prison sentence. It also protects the officials who release such information. One of the benefits of the bill is that it helps to fight corruption and provides the public with information by which it could hold public officials accountable. It would also help the governed to understand the government in an in-depth manner. The public can now make an informed opinion concerning national issues and pressure the government accordingly. The media and law enforcement agents are the greatest beneficiary, because they constantly need information to do their work effectively. The ball is now in their courts to ensure that the law helps them to do their work well. Having suffered in the hands of military dictatorship for a very long time, the way forward for the Nigerian media is to fully exploit the potential of the (FoI) bill for the betterment of Nigerians and our democratic prosperity. The expectations in many quarters is that with the bill, the Nigerian public and the media will be able to enjoy full access to public information at all levels of governance from both the public institutions and private establishments that make use of public funds. However, it seems that this has not been the case as Nigerians still complain about lack of transparency, for example, during the recent NLC industrial strike and the subsidy removal saga, many still talked about the lack of transparency of the Nigerian oil sector. No one knows who the so-called cabals are or those who are behind the reported corruption of the oil sector. A massive flow of information in the media would contribute to press freedom and robust journalism. Taking the subsidy issue as an example, it is easy to observe the widespread ignorance that surrounded the matter. Most Nigerians on the streets who carried placards did not understand the meaning of the word subsidy, and the issues that surround it; even the very educated ones are not really clear about what was going on. Many were on the streets because the price of fuel has gone up, transportation fare has risen and pure sachet water was no longer selling at N5 naira. The Nigerian media need to rise up to the occasion and do what is expected. It is impossible for investigative journalism to thrive unless the media rises to implement the (FoI) bill in full gear. The Nigerian Union of journalists must come together to set up a strategy for its full implementation at all levels so that Nigeria can reap the gains. Everyone agrees that corruption is the bane of the Nigerian society since one of the benefits of the bill is to fight corruption, it places a responsibility on the Nigerian media to ensure that government officials do not hide information that can help Nigerians hold them accountable. Alfred Opubor, Nigeria’s first mass communication professor, was reported to be fond of drumming it into his students’ ears at the University of Lagos in the mid 1970s that “facts are sacred, but comment is free” and “every conscientious reporter must take steps to speak to all relevant parties before filing a story”. What the professor was saying was that the cardinal principles of journalism should be practiced in Nigeria as well. This (FoI) presents a unique opportunity for the Nigerian media to go all out for information and inform the average Nigerian in such a way that he can no longer be deceived by unscrupulous politicians and business men, looting public funds. The media must ensure that it is no longer business as usual and that the (FoI) bill does not become another one of Nigeria’s laws that fail at implementation. It must not become a toothless bulldog that looks scary but cannot bite. Unless, the media enforces this law, no one will, and the situation would remain like the past, when it was difficult to obtain useful information and officials were scared of loosing their jobs if they released certain information, since they did not have a legal backing. Today, the situation has changed with the bill signed into law. It is now left for the Nigerian media to bring the law out of the cupboards and put it into action. All the civil rights organizations, Newspaper Proprietors Association, lawyers, members of the academia, journalists, who fought for the signing into law of the bill need not go to sleep because the fight is not yet over. The fight should continue until we see that there is a free flow of information at all levels of governance and those who need information get them. The stakeholders who fought for the bill should ensure that it truly contributes to press freedom and that all secret information are released so that the nation can thrive, not in the shadow of lies and deceit but in the light of truth and economic prosperity.