By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigerian editors have alerted the public over attempts by Aso Rock to enact a “draconian” media law that will revive Decree 4 that Muhammadu Buhari used to curtain freedom of speech and jail journalists in his military junta days in the 1980s.
The media is not a political opponent or enemy of the government, the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) clarifies, saying attacks lobbed at the media by the political elite do not aim to win an argument on journalistic or legal values.
The attacks are “designed to bully media organisations,” NGE President Mustapha Isah and General Secretary Iyobosa Uwugiaren said in a statement.
Nigerians rail against Buhari’s dictatorship
Other Nigerians, the prominent and the man in the street, have also warned that Buhari is latching back to his dictatorship as military Head of State between 1983 and 1985 when he enacted Decree 2 and Decree 4 to muzzle freedom of speech.
Decree Number 2 of 1984 empowered security personnel to detain, without charges, individuals deemed to be a security risk to the state for up to three months.
With Decree Number 4 of 1984, Buhari jailed journalists for speaking truth to power. The Protection Against False Accusations Decree, as it was called, is considered by scholars as the most repressive press law ever enacted in Nigeria.
In the same vein, the NGE described as “draconian provisions’’ the two Bills at the National Assembly (NASS) to amend the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) Act and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Act.
Sponsors of the Bills argue that the intention is to moderate the “recklessness’’ of the media but the NGE countered that the Bills aim to criminalise the practice of journalism in Africa’s most populous country and largest democracy.
The statement insisted that the media, the “oxygen of democracy’’, will be strangulated if the Bills are passed in their present forms.
“At a time [when] there is a popular ongoing global conversation about the need for a #NewDealForJournalism’’ – for immediate and sustained action from, and collaboration between governments and other influential actors to improve the policy, funding, and enabling environment for independent professional journalism – we see the proposed legislations as unhelpful,” the NGE adds.
NGE not against media regulation
“While we are not opposed to an Act that will promote media stakeholders-driven regulatory council, the many draconian provisions in the Odebunmi Olusegun- sponsor Bills are actually aimed at criminalising media practice in Nigeria.
“While the intention of the sponsor of the Bills is suspicious, the Bills negate all known features of media regulatory bodies in the world.”
The NGE said the NPC Act 1992, created by the military dictatorship, gives the council board full responsibility to administer the council but the proposed Bill restricts the board to an “advisory capacity on a part-time basis without direct interference in the day to day administration of the council.’’
The Bill hands all power to the Executive Secretary.
“While the proposed NPC Act says the Board shall consist of one representative each from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE); Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN); Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON); Ministry of Information; two representative of the general public, one of whom shall be a legal practitioner and a woman and Executive Secretary of the council, who shall serve as the secretary to the Board, the board is a mere advisory body.
“The Bill also says that the Chairman of the Board shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister in charge of Information. And that all other members of the Board shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation by the Minister of Information.
“The intension of this kind of Council is suspicious.”
Ministerial approval not necessary to enforce press code
The NGE reiterates that it is a professional body that does not need the approval of the Minister of Information to establish and disseminate a National Press Code and standards to guide the print media, related media houses, and media practitioners, and to approve penalties against violations, as proposed in the Bill.
“The Guild is not aware of any media regulatory council in the world which says that media regulatory council shall establish a National Press and Ethical Code of Conduct for media houses and media practitioners, which shall come into effect and be disseminated after approval by the Minister of Information, and that the code shall be binding on every media house and journalist.
“Again, apart from the fines for journalist or media houses that violate the Act, the Bill also says that in an extreme case, the council shall order the striking out of the name of the journalist from the register; and suspend the person from practice by ordering him not to engage in practice as a journalist for a period not exceeding six months; as may be specified in the directive.
“This kind of media regulatory council will neither serve the interest of the media industry, strengthen its constitutional role – of holding public officers accountable to the people – nor serve the general interest of the public who are the original trustees of the media.”
In the NPC Bill, the NGE noted, Olusegun “mischievously smuggled in fake news” provision by stating that any person who publishes news, established to be fake thereafter, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N5 million or jail term of two years, or both.
According to the Bill, the culprit also has to pay N2 million compensation to the person(s), group(s), corporate bodies, government or any of its agencies the news was published against.
The Bill says that a print media outlet that publishes such news is liable on conviction to a fine of N10 million or closure of such media house for one year, or both, and is to pay N20 million compensation to the person(s), group(s), corporate bodies, government or any of its agencies the story was published against.
Fear of NBC becoming a tool for political interference
The NGE said Section 23 of the NBC Bill, which gives the Minister of Information powers to participate in making regulations, is unhelpful because that will turn the NBC into a tool for political interference.
In its view, the two Bills give the impression that the government is out to crush its enemy, whereas the media is “not an enemy of the state” and the Bills, if passed, will compound Nigeria’s negative image in the global community.
“Nigeria comes in at No. 120, the rough equivalent of a D+ in this year’s index by Reporters Without Borders. You’ll find similar results on the Democracy Index where Nigeria is ranked No. 110 – the lowest-ranking Hybrid Regime, one slot away from Authoritarian.”
The editors argued the bills are attempts to further stifle the democratic space in Nigeria that has challenges in all fronts.
They also expressed opposition to the “heavy involvement of the President and the Minister of Information” in appointments into the boards of the NBC and NPC which should be made by the chairmen.
“The NPC and NBC should be truly independent, and shouldn’t be under the supervision of the Minister of Information, who is a political office holder and affiliated to a political party.
“The Ghana model comes to mind here. Nigeria should be seen to be moving with time, instead of taking retrogressive steps in media freedom.’’
The NGE urged the NASS to remove “those obnoxious provisions” in the two Bills meant to “strangulate” the media instead of “regulate” it.