Media Big Guns Hail FoI Law

President, Nigeria Guild of Editors, NGE, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, President, Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena and other frontline journalists have hailed President Goodluck Jonathan for signing into law the Freedom of Information Bill, FOI.

According to Adefaye in a statement, the NGE had received the news of the assent of Jonathan to the FOI bill with gratitude to a president who had kept his words.

President Jonathan had, during the last Presidential debate, made a pubic commitment to signing the FOI bill into law once presented to him by the National Assembly as a personal commitment to openness, transparency, accountability and good governance.

“President Jonathan has really started well with this sign-post for good governance. By signing the FOI bill into law, the President has more than anyone else empowered the citizens to participate in the governance of their own affairs.

“The people can now legitimately seek public information, corroborate their facts and make useful suggestions towards achieving greater good for the majority. With access to information, citizens can fight corruption and closet government and confront the few who misappropriate our resources to themselves alone,” he said.

Adefaye added that for the media, the signing of the FOI law had expanded the frontiers of press freedom for Africa ’s most vibrant press, saying that no more would it be permitted for the journalists to hurry to press with half truth and misinformation when they could officially verify their facts.

Also speaking, Nduka Obaigbena, publisher of the Thisday newspaper, said the signing into law of the bill was good for journalism, adding that “though not perfect, it is a good start.”

The Editor, The Nation, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho stated that the signing of the bill into law was good for the profession, saying that it was certainly a step in the right direction.

He added that it would help to expose many things people in authority were hiding from public glare.

Vice Chairman , Nigeria Union of Journalists, Lagos Council, Mr. Deji Elumoye hailed the signing of the bill into law, saying that “it is good for the profession and the development of Nigeria at large because before now, the media didn’t have access to public information.

“Before now, you can hardly get information because of what those in authority call official secret. With the signing into law of the bill, it is a welcome development.  You can now ask any public officer to give you information as this law makes it mandatory for them to divulge information,” he said.

Former President, National Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, Mrs. Toro Oladapo stated that the signing of the bill into law by the president was a welcome development and good for the profession.

“It is good for the profession because it will give us relief as it will help the press in information gathering.  The barrier has been eliminated and this is good for the media.

“We need to now educate the press on how to use the opportunity provided by the law to get information and erase the notion that I can now do and undo.  We should not misconstrue the idea behind the law; it is to promote ethical standard,” she stated.

A senior journalist with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Mr. Peter Dada added that “the signing into law of the bill is a good development and good for the practice of journalism.

“Our people will be able to do their jobs properly.  It will enhance our investigation of certain things.  People in public office will now be conscious of what they are doing.”

Lawyers have also reacted to the FOI which was signed into law by the president.

Though they all agreed that it was a sign of good things to come, they, however, differed in their reactions.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Nwobike said: “Let’s hope the law will not be mismanaged by the press, security agencies and members of the public.

“One thing is to make laws, another aspect of such law is the implementation and what has always been the problem of Nigeria is not making laws, but enforcement of such laws. Let’s hope we will get it right this time.”

Another Lagos lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, said the law was long overdue.

“The signing of the bill into law by the president will usher in social democratic reforms which Nigerians have been yearning for.

“It will expose all government officials’ underhand dealings and transactions that have always been kept away from public view. It is a welcome development,” he said.

The editor of Nigerian Weekly Law Publication, Barrister Oluwole Kehinde, in his comment, said: “It is a good development, but I hope there would be no conflict between the law and the Official Secret Act, because there are some areas which had been excluded from the FOI Bill.

“In view of this, the judiciary has a lot to do to reconcile the two laws.”

To Chief Benson Ndakara, the law is a sign of “good omen. It will afford every Nigerian access to government information unlike before when government businesses were done in secret.

“The law will be of great help especially to lawyers seeking information or documents from government circle.”

Another Lagos lawyer, Barrister Supo Osewa, described it as a new dawn in the nation’s democracy “as it would go a long way to curb corruption.

“People have been yearning for it. With the backing of the law, if well implemented, it will go a long way to expose corrupt leaders and make them accountable to the people.”

A former judiciary editor of  The Guardian newspapers, Barrister Gbolahan Gbadamosi, praised the president for taking the gauntlet to sign the bill into law even though he said the Bill is “half baked and coming from the president’s bakery. Half bread is better than none because the original Bill has been watered down. There is room for improvement especially as the bill is not meant for journalists alone.”

Human rights crusader, Festus Keyamo, said signing the bill into law is just the beginning of liberation.  “The struggle continues.”

—Akin Kuponiyi & Kazeem Ugbodaga