Analysis of Challenges of Facing Freedom of Information in Nigeria
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The main objective of the study is to ascertain the challenges facing freedom of information in Nigeria, but to aid the completion of the study; the researcher intends to achieve the following specific objectives;
- To ascertain the challenges to attainment of freedom of information in Nigeria
- To examine the merit of freedom of information to the growth on Nigerian democracy
- To examine the role of press freedom in democratic governance
- To examine the relationship between freedom of information and good governance in Nigeria
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
In 2011, the Nigerian Government signed the FOI Bill into law, thereby making Nigeria the ninth country in Africa and among the over 90 countries in the world to have passed this bill. The Act, according to Media Rights Agenda (2011), is indeed very explicit in its mission, which is simply to: Make public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information, protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy, protect serving public officers from adverse consequences for disclosing certain kinds of official information without authorization and establish procedures for the achievement of those purposes and; for related matters. Described as a legal instrument that would not only radicalize reportorial engagement of journalists, FOI Act, it has been argued, will foster a greater opportunity for investigative journalism, promoting the democratic process. The FOI Act has indeed created high expectations from the public concerning journalism practice in the country – expectations of truthful and adequate information from the media on all spheres of the society; a broader window of opportunity to practice unfettered journalism and a powerful investigative tool that empowers the media to hold public officers accountable to the people. However, these expectations become a reality only when the media practitioners put this powerful investigative tool to use. As Enonche (2012) observes ‘Nigerians finally have vital tools to uncover facts, fight corruption and hold officials and institutions accountable’. Given the enabling power of the FOI instrument, the critical question now is: are the Nigerian journalists making use of this important tool? This supports the argument that ‘a law is useless or ineffective if not put to use/operation’. In the light of the foregoing, we argue that, for the FOI Act to meet the high expectations and achieve the objectives of ensuring a more open and transparent society as well as enthroning democracy and responsible governance in Nigeria, the media must move beyond the euphoria that accompanied the establishment of the FOI Law, to come to terms with the provisions of the Act and begin to harness some of the expectations therein through the appropriate utilization of the Act. The Executive Secretary, of the Nigerian Press Council (NPC), Mr. Bayo Atoyebi explained how the media can harvest the benefits of the FOI Act as he clarifies: ‘by first understanding the law and making bold to use it and grow our reportage from speculative to the factual’. The media should use FOI Act request to assess the level of compliance with relevant laws including the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Public Procurement Act (PPA, 2007), the Electoral Act (especially aspects of it dealing with political finance monitoring) among others. FOI Act can also be deployed by the media as a tool to carry out its oversight functions as envisaged by section 22 of the 1999 Constitution. In this way, FOI becomes an indispensible tool in the reporting of accountability and anticorruption issues. The burning question is, do Nigerian journalists see and use the FOI Act as an investigative instrument to grow reportage from speculative to factual? Beginning from mid 2012, training workshops were organized in different Geopolitical Zones in the country. The main objective was to familiarize the journalists with the essential elements of the FOI Act and how they can use the Act to conduct investigative reporting in the country. Having undergone these series of workshops and trainings in the use of the Act, it becomes pertinent then that we interrogate Nigerian journalists’ knowledge, perception and use of the (FOI) law as an investigative tool in their day-to-day practices. This raises the concern of this paper as to whether the Nigerian journalists have adequately began to use the Act to protect the people’s right to know, or to contest encroachment by government.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to examine the challenges facing freedom of information in Nigeria.
Sources Of Data Collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on the study analysis of challenges facing freedom of information in Nigeria. 200 members of Nigerian union of journalist were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
INTRODUCTION
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY CONCLUSION RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study to analyze the challenges facing freedom of information in Nigeria.
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing challenges facing freedom of information in Nigeria.
Summary
In view of the analysis made from responses of respondents, it is therefore submitted that the Freedom of Information has the potency to enhance the journalism practice in Nigeria, national development, guarantee national security, transparency and good governance and press freedom. However, the anti-press law that adorn our law books, unfortunately have the capacity to frustrate the FOI in Nigeria. More so, the FOI is a catalyst for freedom with responsibility. This is so because the media now are made to assume the full states of the change agents they have often been denied. The FOI places on the shoulders of the journalists a rather “heavy burden” the task to report in manners that are not only responsible but also engender development. It is in journalist’s adherence to journalism tenets that they would avoid the pitfall of irresponsible journalism practice – to which much is given much is required. It is in this light that journalists must know that freedom must be matched with responsibility.
Conclusion
Considering the fact that the FOI Act is still a recent development in the Nigerian media terrain, one will not be too surprised with the findings of this study. This notwithstanding, there is an urgent need for training and retaining of journalists on the use of the FOI Act before this prevailing low usage subsists and becomes a tradition. Lack of FOI Act usage tends to have a negative spiral effect on the investigative skills with the FOI Act if left unchecked. As is widely acknowledged, erosion of skills leads to a downward trend because unskilled journalists who attempt to use the Act on an infrequent basis will achieve less useful results from the FOI request than the few who use it frequently. On the other hand, if journalists become adequately educated about the FOI, the possibility exists that they will be encouraged to use it more and government and other public would be under greater pressure to be compliant and accountable. Again, if adequate sensitization and orientation were given to the public and private institutions concerning the provisions in section 2 (3) of the Act, there certainly will be a change in the way the Act was administered such that the institutions concerned proactively and willingly disclose information in a timely and less strenuous manner, then journalist would be more likely to use the FOI.
Recommendations
In view of the findings made in the study, the following recommendations are hereby submitted:
- That journalist should go beyond just being aware of the passage into law of the FOI, but to be well acquainted with relevant provisions of the Act. It is when they do that, that they can make the most of the Act.
- That the workability of the law in Nigeria remains a concern. Allaying this concern will be highly predicated on how well strict compliance is made to the relevant provision.
- That some of the anti-press laws that adorn or law book should either be expunged or repelled. It is in that, that the FOI can be beneficial to the Nigerian nation and its citizens alike.
- That effort must be made to punish public office holders who attempt to frustrate the public’s effort to get information.
- Journalist should hold tenacious to the ethics of the profession and as report in manners that will advance the cause of development of the people.
References
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