Evaluative study of the freedom of information act on. Nigeria dos not have press freedom because of too many laws constraining media practice. The board of wanifra reminds nigeria of its obligations as a signatory to international conventions regarding freedom of expression, and it unequivocally calls on nigeria s international partners to do more to pressure president buharis government into guaranteeing an environment that better protects media freedom and the independence of. It should be obvious now that this paper is not concerned with analyzing specific laws inhibiting press freedom in nigeria. The name is derived from cash inducements hidden in brown envelopes and given to journalists during press briefings. My fear is that this administration in the next four years may not condone some publications. It took place at the headquarters of the united nations educational, scienti.
The twoday national conference on the theme freedom of information act 2011 and the fight against corruption and corporate fraud in governance, organized at abuja, was the institutes way of lending its voice to the federal governments fight against corruption and corporate fraud using the foi act as a point of reference. Therefore, these newspapers typically acted as advocates of their owners political interest. This billseeks to pigeonhole nigerians from freely expressing themselves. The existing legislations in nigeria that regulate press freedom for the reasons spelt out in section 45 of the constitution are the criminal code and the cybercrimes act. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. The nigerian press under the military download ebook pdf. Law of contempt, law of defamation, law ofpublication, national broadcasting commission act, and so on. Department of mass communication delta state university, abraka, nigeria abstract this paper takes another look at the state of press freedom in nigeria, given fifteen years of uninterrupted democracy in the country.
Analysis of impediments to nigerian press freedom babcock. May i with all humility, therefore, take the liberty to speak on the topic freedom of expression in nigeria. It was sir tom stoppard, the british playwright and screenwriter that succinctly opined that i still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate shortterm weapon. Many of the major figures in this struggle are herbert macaulay, nnamdi azikiwe, ernest ikoli, obafemi awolowo, anthony enahoro, dutse mohammed ali. Press freedom has become one of the major challenges facing journalism practice in the world. Making press freedom, freedom of expression, and access to information for citizens, shared values, and respected principles in africa, is essential for the long term survival of the independent media and its stakeholders. Right to freedom of expression and the law of defamation in nigeria imo j.
Press freedom suffered its greatest setback during the long years of military rule in nigeria. The law which regulates the operations of the media have no specifics on limitations of media. Freedom of the press 2015, the latest edition of an annual report published by freedom house since 1980, found that global press freedom declined in 2014 to its lowest point in more than 10 years. Freedom of speech in nigeria has been talked about for many. Evidently, the quest for free press in the nigeria society as reflected in the doggedness and dauntlessness of the press in the performance of their noble role in the face of constant and continued repressive and murderous measures across regimes has not been a forlorn struggle. This is where the problem occurs in the country of nigeria. This paper explores the factors hindering press freedom in nigeria using some relevant examples. The press under military rule in nigeria 1966 1993. Some media laws in nigeria institute for media and society.
Pdf exploring the factors affecting press freedom in nigeria. It is known to subjectively measure the level of freedom and editorial independence that is enjoyed by the press in every nation and significant disputed territories around the world. This decree established a council most of which members are appointed by the government with a mandate to supervise the conduct, work, administration, registration and deregistration of journalists. Nevertheless, there are constitutional justifications for press freedom in nigeria. Other existing legal constraints to press freedom can be found in the nigeria press council act cap n128 lfn, 2004.
Nigeria foi was enacted in 2011, foi is an act 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 of disclosing certain kinds of official. Further weakening of press freedom in the united states would be a setback for democracy everywhere. The study found that in actual practice, there is no rule of law in the country. At a public hearing on nigeria s social media bill held in abuja last month, the voice of chris isiguzo, president of the nigerian union of journalists nuj, rang clearly across the room. Punch editorial board exhibiting increasing intolerance for the freedom of the press, the countrys security agencies have lately been attacking the media. Chapter 4, section 39 of the nigerian constitution. The struggle for a free press in africa al jazeera america. Findings also reveal that nigerian press freedom is a paradox and only exist on paper i. Two journalists have been shot dead while covering islamic movement in nigeria protests one in july 2019 and the other in january 2020 without any proper investigation with the aim of identifying those responsible. Different laws regulating themass media in nigeria include law of sedition.
There are a lot of factors in nigeria that have militated against press freedom. Click download or read online button to get the nigerian press under the military book now. Apart from two brief interregnum 196066 and 19791983, the military ruled effectively between 19661998. Despite global changes in human rights issues and efforts by other countries in the world to entrench every aspect of human rights into their nations constitution, nigeria shows no tangible commitment towards freedom of expression as a pivotal aspect of our fundamental human rights. Evaluative study of the freedom of information act on journalism practice in nigeria oberiri destiny apuke department of mass communication, taraba state university, p. Download the nigerian press under the military or read online books in pdf, epub, tuebl, and mobi format. The rate of decline also accelerated drastically, with the global average score suffering its largest oneyear drop in. Department of state has never designated nigeria as. Nigerian viewpoints on the draft constitution, 197677, daily times, lagos, 1977, pp. Constitutional limitation result in a situation whereby the press is declared free yet everywhere it is in chains. Press freedom must be distinguished from freedom of speech. This much was demonstrated at the screening of the avalon dailys documentary paying the price press freedom in nigeria, held at freedom park, lagos.
Similarly, the nigerian national assembly should, as well, repeal the official secret act of 1976. Malgwi2, bulama kagu3 and ibrahim danjuma4 1 department of business management, university of maiduguri nigeria 2 bursary department, university of maiduguri, 3department of education, university of maiduguri, 4faculty of management and human resource. Republic of nigeria, report of the political bureau. Reporters without borders rsf presents the 2019 world press freedom index. This paper takes another look at the state of press freedom in nigeria, given fifteen years of uninterrupted democracy in the country. Guest speaker, edem andah right, speaking during a lecture on the importance of freedom of information bill visavis press freedom for the development of democracy in nigeria to mark world press freedom day at the american corner, ibadan, recently. Press freedom in africa international federation of. Although government intervention reduced the amount of territory these groups controlled, the two insurgencies maintained the.
The researcher used the qualitative method of research. The importance of freedom of expression chapt er 2 the importance of freedom. Brown envelope journalism in nigeria is a practice whereby monetary inducement is given to journalists to make them write a positive story or kill a negative story. Kukah 1999 4 stated that journalism was the major vehicle through which the anticolonial struggle in nigeria was carried out. There is urgent need for rule of law in the country.
Nigeria freedom of information act 2011 and its implication for records and office security management ayuba a. Arbitrariness and extralegal measures in the application of these laws are problem to the nigerian press. However, this did not guarantee the freedom of speech since the majority of newspaper proprietors were actively involved in politics. Press freedom in africa 2010 1 by publishing, for the first time in 2009, a report on the state of press freedom in africa, the africa office of the international federation of journalists ifj and the federation of african journalists faj set themselves a twofold challenge. Constitutional rights project v nigeria communication nos 14094, 14194 and 14595 1999. Anything that does not favor the government, or the government doesnt like, they may descend on. I fear for press freedom in nigeria, as the buhari administration may get emboldened. The press and freedom of information in nigeria and the united.
Impact of contempt of court and invasion of privacy laws. Nigeria free speech and free press around the world. During this period, a total of five military regimes were in charge namely. Exploring the factors affecting press freedom in nigeria. These laws therefore serve as theroadblock to freedom of the press in nigeria. Udofa department of public law, faculty of law university of uyo, uyo, akwa ibom state, nigeria abstract section 391 of the 1999 constitution of nigeria guarantees freedom of expression as a fundamental right.
Nigeria is located in west africa and borders cameroon, niger, chad, and republic of benin. Pdf press freedom has become one of the major challenges facing journalism practice in the world. This constitution guarantees freedom of expression and of the press and speech, but nigeria s vibrant and flowing media region continues to face many attempts by state and nonstate enforcements to suppress political criticism and constrain journalists into silence. The country consists of 36 states and its federal capital, abuja.
Reporters without borders rsf presents the 2019 press freedom barometer. The press and government in nigeria are like two strange bed fellows. Freedom of the press is a yearly report by usbased nonprofit organization freedom house. Navigating a meeting point between the old and the new media i shall now turn attention to the paper. To worst the situation, nigeria government were still allowing some laws that constitute threat to freedom of press among others to be in existence and as a matter of fact some of them are not directly aimed at the media, but which because of their sweeping nature, posed a threat to media practice and efforts calling for media law reforms that. Nigeria 2 international religious freedom report for 2018 united states department of state bureau of democracy, human rights, and labor wa also attacked targets in yobe. Current status, challenges and implications for news media. The press freedom dimension challenges and opportunities of new media for press freedom to explore the emerging and rapidly evolving environment of press freedom created by the new electronic media.
I have observed that there is increasing frustration or at least a shift in focus internationally from the adoption campaigns of the last two decades or so in favour of exploring the challenge of ensuring more effective. The nigerian constituent assembly has concluded that the press in. Nigeria also amended its terrorism prevention act in 20 to criminalize actions that would be legitimate newsgathering activities for journalists covering the activities of boko haram, such as attending a meeting of the group or receiving information from the group. This study assesses the cybercrime act 2015 and its implications for online press freedom in the liberal authoritarian state of nigeria. It is a common practice in nigeria and many journalists do know that it is unethical. Nigeria is now one of west africas most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who are often spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed.
Freedom of speech and freedom of the press in nigeria. Nigeria requires no greater guarantees of frecdom of expression than those. Levels of freedom are scored on a scale from 1 most free to 100 least free. The african ejournals project has digitized full text of. Specifically, the study examines how the character of. But after opposition from the nigerian press and other nigerians, a vague amendment to the draft constitution was made to protect the freedom of the press during the civilian regime west africa, 1977. Pdf press freedom and nigerias cybercrime act of 2015. This paper focuses on the importance of press freedom, as a fundamental. Contempt of court, invasion of privacy, press freedom, democracy, nigeria. Press freedom and communication in africa eribo, festus, jongebot, william on. Others, it can be said, have only paid lips service to the call for press freedom to ensure for accountability and responsible government while some especially in the arab. In most of the new democracies, as this paper attempts to show, new parliamentary bills that are hostile to the media, are.
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