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An Appraisal Of Freedom Of Information Act In Nigeria
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Over the
years, the agitation for the emergence of a free press society, has been
on the front burner of national discuss, especially among journalism
practitioners in Nigeria. This is owing largely to the fact that the
expediency of having a legislation that guarantees a high level of press
freedom cannot be ignored. It cannot be ignored apparently against the
backdrop of the attendant positive effect it could have on any society.
The
need for a Nigeria Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) had been
emphasized by many media scholars. For instance, Ogbondah (2003:128) did
note prior to its enactment that:
“The National Assembly should
enact or guarantee the press and members of the public the right of
access to government-held information including computerized records.â€
Similarly,
the Media Right Agenda (2004:4) at some point, wrote thus about the
FOIA Bill when passed into law as an Act of Parliament, it will make
public record and information in the custody of any government-Federal,
State or Local available to every person in Nigeria. Accordingly, the
right of access of official information, which the Bill grants will be
legally enforceable; with the Freedom of Information Act, it will be
possible to find out from Governors, Council Chairmen, Ministers, the
President or other public officers, details of any transaction conducted
in those offices. The law, it is believed, will also give protection to
public officers who discover the perpetration of a fraudulent act and
reveal is thereby discouraging corruption among public office holders.
Moreso, Johnson, as cited by Ogbondah (2003:128-129) also, stated
that:
“A
democracy works best when the people have all the information that the
security of the nation permits, no one should be able to pull curtains
of secrecy around decisions which can be revealed without injury to the
public interest.â€
Before now, the challenges posed by anti-press laws
that inundate the Nigerian constitution, have made the process of news
sourcing gathering and dissemination, seemingly impossible for
journalism. This was well capture by the Nigeria Guild of Editors
(2001:96) when it observed that:
“We are conscious of the
responsibility of the press but we cannot perform our role creditably
unless the shackles wrought by repressive laws are erased from our law
books… the realization of this objective is contingent on the freedom of
the press to function without any hindrance.â€
Unfortunately, the
media being the forth estate of the realm and the watch-dog of the
leaders and the led cannot successfully carryout this sacrosanct
function, without the ample freedom to seek, gather and disseminate
information. Taking a cue from the functional aspect of the freedom of
Information Act, Yalaju (2001:205) averred that:
“The right of access
to information is aimed at strengthening the media by securing and
protecting freedom of expression and the press particularly.â€
It is
against the above grounds that the recently enacted FOIA seeks to make
information more available to journalists in the same way it would be
available to every other person who might request any information. It is
also expected that with the law in effect, the media would have access
to more accurate information, which would improve the quality of media
practice.
There is no gain saying the fact that the Nigeria Freedom
of Information Act was proposed in the context of international
affirmation of the rights of citizens to access information held by
public bodies as fundamental human right. It is therefore instructive to
note that the FOIA is one of the criteria for gauging a truly
democratic state. It goes without saying that democracy is at its best,
when the people have all the information that the constitution of the
nation permits.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The purpose of this work was to do an evaluative study of the Freedom of Information Act and media practice in Nigeria. The survey research method was adopted. To this end, the researcher issued 220 copies of the questionnaire to randomly selected journalists, broadcasters, advertisers, editors and lecturers in Port Harcourt metropolis. Interviews were also conducted to guide the study development. Simple percentage and tables were used for data analysis. While the study used the development med ... Continue reading---
