Today, May 3, is the World Press Freedom Day.
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference.
Since then, May 3, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.
May 3 acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom. It is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. It is an opportunity to:
Celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom;
Assess the state of press freedom throughout the world;
Defend the media from attacks on their independence;
And pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Journalists in Nigeria of course joined their colleagues across the world to mark the day.
Journalism in Nigeria has had a checkered trajectory. It has seen the good, the bad and the ugly.
Evidence abounds of harassment of journalists, in form of physical attacks, arbitrary arrests and detention on flimsy charges as well as enactment of obnoxious laws against the practice of journalism and journalists.
Earlier in the year, media practitioners and civil society groups who gathered to review the “State of Media and Citizen’s Freedom in Nigeria,” noted the heightened harassment of media practitioners under the present government.
They also noted and condemned the continued shrinking of the civic space in the country.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Director, International Press Centre, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, one of the organised of the forum disclosed that between April and September 2019, his centre recorded 27 attacks on journalists in the course of discharging their duties.
Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) who moderated the panel discussion, noted that while attention had been focused on the hate speech bill at the National Assembly, the Federal and State governments were quietly implementing aspects of the bill.
He reeled out several cases of journalists and other citizens, including those of Agba Jalingo, Omoyele Sowore, Jones Abiri, who are facing terrorism, treasonable felony and cyber stalking charges for commenting on activities of government.
Jones Abiri, the Publisher and Editor, Weekly Source was charged to court in 2019 under the Cybercrimes and Terrorism Act.
Prior to his arraignment before the court, Abiri spent over two years in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) without access to his family or lawyer.
Agba Jalingo, the Publisher of CrossRiverWatch spent 174 days in detention before he was arraigned in court and obtained bail.
He was accused of public disturbance and treason following an article alleging that the Cross River governor, Dr. Ben Ayade diverted N500m belonging to the state.
Omoyele Sowore, politician and publisher of SaharaReporters was arrested by the DSS on August 3, for planning a nationwide protest against the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was accused of treason and trying to violently overthrow the government.
These are but a few of the harassments that media practitioners face in the country.
Media outfits have had their premises ransacked by security agents, equipment have been confiscated and sometimes destroyed while personnel have seen security operatives lay siege to their homes.
Is there hope for a free press in Nigeria, can Journalism in Nigeria be without fear or favour? How can that be achieved?
Mrs. Cordelia Onu, a media practitioner, does not see any light at the end of the tunnel that might suggest a free press in the near future.
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She said: “A free press is impossible in a situation where journalists depend on news sources for survival. Whoever pays the piper calls the tune; if state governors pay correspondents monthly, how on earth are the reporters expected to give unbiased coverage? If media houses don’t pay reporters and they depend on brown envelopes for survival, how can we expect freedom?”
What then is the way forward?
Mrs. Onu simply responded: “I honestly can’t think of any. Aren’t we all journalists now?”
A grim prognosis indeed for the Nigerian press and journalists. Going by Mrs. Onu’s position then, Journalism without fear or favour will remain a mirage in Nigeria for reasons already stated.
Dr. Jide Jimoh of the Department of Journalism, School of Communication, Lagos State University, sees journalism without fear or favour as an ideal “towards which journalism practice tries to gravitate worldwide but has not been achieved anywhere.”
In Nigeria, he said “it’s hampered by many factors, chief of which is repression and intolerance from governments at different levels. There are cases of intimidation, seizure of equipment, expulsion from seats of power, maiming and even killing of journalists. All of the above cannot engender journalism practice without fear or favour.
“Governments and politicians need to realise that a free press is needed to achieve the goals of society. A fettered press leads to a stunted polity.”
He posited that there can be a freer press in Nigeria pointing out though that “there is no absolute freedom anywhere in the world.”
He explained: “There are socio-political, environmental and economic factors that affect the extent of freedom in any society. For example, during wars and crises certain restrictions may apply but a situation where every government official hides under security to deny press freedom should be condemned.
“Another area is the attitude of publishers and journalists towards welfare. Some publishers outsource the welfare of their staff to the sources they are supposed to keep in check. It’s a recipe for servitude to the sources rather than service to the people. A south east Governor in Nigeria recently barred a journalist from government house. That is to be condemned but did you also listen to the part where he said he will stop their allowances? Which allowances. Your guess is as good as mine!”
Dr. Jimoh however, offers some hope that “A freer press can be achieved through continuous education of journalists on the sacred nature of their duties to society. It’s more of a public service rather than a private franchise. That duty ought to be pursued with a sense of mission to free society from ignorance, want and misery by putting governments in check as enshrined in section 22 of the Nigerian Constitution.”
Dr. Olubunmi Ajibade of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, has this to say: “First l say without equivocation that the press in Nigeria is not yet free in the true sense of it. There are overt and covert threats to press freedom in Nigeria. They include undue ownership influence, advertisers’ influence, threats from official sources, economic pressures that undermine editorial independence. Owners of news media exert direct and indirect control on what should be published and what should not. He who owns the piper dictates the tune. This applies to both publicly and privately owned news media. Advertisers also exert indirect control because they have the money to make media houses do their bidding. To worsen the situation, economic crisis make media houses bow to the wishes and interests of their big advertisers because advertising revenue is the life wire of media business.
“Recently, the Presidency barred some media houses from covering Also Rock Villa, the seat of Federal Government. This is direct assault against press freedom. I learnt those excluded are labelled “unfriendly media”.
“There are media houses that expose their staff to all kinds of unethical practices because they are not paid salaries as at when due. This is an indirect threat to press freedom.
He however, expressed the view that “there can be press freedom in Nigeria, although there is no absolute freedom of the press anywhere in the world. One of the prerequisites is that people must understand that press freedom is not the freedom of journalists alone. It is the freedom of every citizen to seek, to receive and impart opinions, news and information without prior restraint. In a true democracy, press freedom is strongly essential. Without free press, democracy cannot survive because the press is the link between the people, to whom power belongs, and their elected representatives in government.
“To ensure press freedom, we should have what United States of America has in the First Amendment, which states that Congress shall make no law abridging freedom of the press. It is enshrined. What we have in Nigeria is a mere statement in Chapter Two of the Constitution that is Injusticeable. That is, it has no force of law even if it is trampled upon. That is the way to go. Free press is everybody’s right. We must all defend it because we have right to be informed about what is going on in the society.”
Mr. Ugo Onuoha, a former Managing Director of Champion Newspapers Ltd, says there is no press freedom in Nigeria.
His words: “Freedom of speech is a fundamental right. And press freedom is an extension of free speech. There’s no press freedom in Nigeria. Any semblance of it in the past has been wiped out by a combination of factors. I will mention a few. 1. The extant regime is intolerant of contrary views and readily resorts to self help to muzzle opposition. We have had cases of journalists being jailed for months no end without trial. One state governor recently said he will deploy horse whips to deal with reporters and that he has no need for due process of the law. Meanwhile, he had banned the ‘offending’ reporters for life from working in that state. 2. Journalists in Nigeria are vulnerable. They are poorly remunerated. The poor remuneration is even hardly paid. 3. They are poorly equipped for the job. 4. Some of them are in the payrolls of governments and corporations and sundry individuals especially politicians who pay them stipends for their loyalty. You can’t faithfully serve God and mammon. But that is the dilemma of many journalists in Nigeria. 5. Many media houses are distressed so journalists are looking out for themselves and their dependants.
“We must, however, acknowledge that globally journalism as we used to know it is going through a difficult phase. Even advanced societies are not ‘immuned’ from the dramatic and drastic changes the media are going through.”
Mr. Onuoha summed up his thoughts thus: “In my assessment the future does not look bright for journalists in Nigeria.”
Well, Mr. Onuoha has given journalists, publishers and governments a lot to chew on. He may nno, like Mrs. Onu, see light at the end of the tunnel, but there is a saying that “where there’s life, there’s hope.”
Well, Mr. Onuoha has given journalists, publishers and governments a lot to chew on. He may not, like Mrs. Onu, see light at the end of the tunnel, but there is a saying that “where there’s life, there’s hope.”
Let us then hang on to the hope that someday, somehow the change we desire to ensure a free press, not only in Nigeria but across the globe will come.