Press Censorship: Catastrophe loom in returning Nigeria to reckless military days

When Nigeria left the claws of military rule particularly in the enduring fourth republic from 1999, ray of hope appeared to be dawning on the Press in the Country.

The expectations must have been the coming of an era where the Press would assume the state of freedom to operate without censorship. The perception must have been a sight of the coming of the workings of an atmosphere where unrestrained freedom would be given to the media as one key institution of democracy. It is no doubt that the clause of “the freedom of the press” is one major character of well established democracies. Since, the clamour and antagonism against military rule were borne out of the yearnings for freedom for a shift from an autocratic rule to an administration of civil liberty, the thought of freedom of the Press wouldn’t have been far from heart.

The encoding of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria appears to have been drafted along the lines of the thought of installing a democratic system where all institutions would give expression to the navigating pillars of the principles of democracy. Hence, the enshrinement of such provisions as fundamental human rights such as freedom of expression and the freedom of the Press could find expression in the Constitution. The categorisation of the Press as “the fourth estate of the realm” has well emerged from the perception of the conceptual role of the depth of freedom with which the institution is allowed to operate in well established democracies of the world. Under such climate, the Press is given the ample space as watch dogs to checkmark all activities of the major three arms of government  for accountability to assume deeper dimension; hence serving as the fourth estate.

While the shift from military rule had been sustained from 1999, it has appeared that the shift has more or less fallen into what can be categorised as mere restoration of ‘civilian rule’ than a grounded system of democracy. The political ecosystem appears to have been hostile to permit the depth of freedom with which certain key institutions as the Press ought to be given ample space to operate. While the Press, as expected, should be operating at the height of unrestrained configurations, the assessment of such profile in Nigeria appears to have been over time skewed with the use of state apparatus to limit such reality. The disposition appears to have assumed more confrontational dimension under the present Administration with perceived threats strategically galvanised to silence the biting teeth of the Press in the Country.

The attempt to censor the Press under the present Administration is apparently moving towards the strategic dimensions of reflecting the hostile disposition of the draconian military Administration. Although, there appears to be existing configurations limiting the extent of an open clampdown on the Press, it is apparent that the turn to encode such hostility under disguise of administrative strategies can be perceived deeply. Recently, the issuance of fines against media houses under the disguise of regulations through Agencies of the Government have been taking turn. While the hostility to social media has been known to be a resounding cry of the Nigerian Government justified by the claim of the spread of false information, extending the tentacles of such restrictions beyond the permissible elastic point appears to be mind troubling. The move towards halting the use of social media in the Country, with the recent ban on Twitter had attracted much outcry. It appears, however, that power custodians would not stop at extending their claws to conventional media in their political attempt to silence channels of accountability in the Country. Hence, exploiting political attempts at censoring the media has begun to assume troubling dimension.

Following the resounding bell of exploiting state apparatus to silence the Press, the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), comprising the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) had met on Thursday July 1, 2021, at the NPAN Secretariat in Lagos, to interrogate the ongoing attempt by the State through the National Assembly to muzzle the Nigerian Press via an amended, draconian Nigerian Press Council Act and the National Broadcast Code. The importance of the meeting was underscored by the high level of attendance which featured Presidents and General Secretaries of the three bodies and some key members of their Executive Councils. Also in attendance were Media NGOs.

The amendment bill which is a source of concern for the private print media is titled: An Act to amend the Nigerian Press Council Act. Cap. N128, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1992 “to remove bottlenecks affecting its performance and make it in tune with the current realities in regulating Press and for related matters.” The provisions of the amendment bill seeks “to regulate the print media via a press code and standards, grant or revoke publishing licenses, register or delist journalists as well as ensure truthful, genuine and quality services and media practitioners. It confers on the Press Council the power to determine ethics and fake news, investigate infractions and impose fines on journalists, publishers and distributors. It proposes fines of up to N.25m on the journalist, and N5million on a corporate body. It specifies jail terms of one to three years and fines ranging from N.25m to N5m on journalists, news agents and media outlets.

“It proposes a fine of between N2m to N5m to erring purveyors, two years in jail and compensation for fake news while the medium of publication is liable to N10m fine or closure for one year in addition to payment of N20m as compensation to the aggrieved party.”

Following the July 1 meeting presided over by Kabiru A. Yusuf, President, NPAN/President NPO,  it has been observed that “the bill, draconian and anti-press freedom is a poor mix and resurrection of the obnoxious Public Officers Protection Against False accusation Decree No. 4 of 1984 and the Newspapers Registration Decree 43 of 1993, both vestiges of the dark days of military rule. It assumes that there are no extant laws to penalise media infractions and exact restitutions for the aggrieved persons.

The position of the body reads in part, “The new NBC is no less galling, making the Minister of Information the Monster Minister with sweeping powers to make and enforce regulations online and offline. The meeting noted that the bill as currently concorted, is a sinister, draconian legislative ambush, which seeks to choke the media with exactly those prayers the NPAN has taken before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, seeking relief to unshackle the press in a democracy, and  encourage it from performing its constitutional responsibility of holding the government accountable to the people at all times, as enshrined in Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

“The ambush is amplified by the hush- hush manner of a legislative public hearing which was conducted, without a formal invitation to  the key stakeholders — NPAN, NGE and NUJ — while the only one that got an invitation, received same at the venue and on the day of the hearing.  The meeting recalls that the tango over this law has a long history from the 1978 attempts by the state to shackle the press, using a state-imposed Press regulatory platform.

“The meeting having painstakingly studied the provisions of the proposed bill in the context of its implication for free speech, press freedom, media independence, safety of journalists and the right to operate as a business in accordance with the laws of the federation, reaffirmed its position as with its precausors and restate as follows:

“That the proposed bill is unconstitutional as it runs against the principle and tenets of the rule of law. That it is subjudice of a pending case on the subject matter before the highest court of the land – the Supreme Court. That it violates the rule of the National Assembly not to deliberate on matters that have been surrendered to the Court for adjudication.

“That the bill seeks to criminalize journalism business and practise despite the surfeit of  laws of country with enough provisions and avenues for legal redress where individuals or groups feel ‘offended’ by  media reports or business infractions.

“That the bill smirks of an attempt at undue suffocation of the operations of the  media business away from the Company and Allied Matters Act provisions. That the bill seeks to invest the regulatory bodies with judicial powers, and usurp the powers of the courts. That the bill lacks any redeeming feature of a good law as it is discriminatory and offensive to public good and morality.”

The threats which the calculated hostile attempts pose to the Country is huge. This remains mind-boggling when thought is given to the fate that befalls the Country when such gate-keepers as the Press putting the Government on its toes for accountability are being silenced. It is known that Nigerians who are presently bearing the burdens of hardship from administrative irresponsibility would be made to bear the brunt at the receiving end. It is, hence, essential for Nigerians to rise against such calculated attempts to keep them in the dark, while a few keep at feasting on the commonwealth with gross irresponsibility. It is sacrosanct for the custodians of power architecture in the Country to note that a resort to clampdown on the Press by strategic censorship measures would only yield forces of resistance, since such political demeanour is known to be counter productive to the tenets of democracy. The end result will only brew catastrophic storms to the configuration of democracy in Nigeria with debilitating forces of disturbance resisting growth and development.