By Emmanuel Udom
Former Nigerian
president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, delivered
a killer tool for Nigerians, when he signed the Freedom of Information Act,
2011, into law, May 28, 2011.
Jonathan is
not a killer, but a humanist and a performer, who delivered democracy dividends
to Nigerians, while in office. Please, feel free to disagree with me here.
But,
with the FOI Act, up and running, governance at the federal, state and local
levels are in trouble in the country and politicians and government officials
know the game is up for them. Time will tell.
How? With the Act in place anybody
could write to any of the more than 800 public institutions in Nigeria and
demand for information on corruption, abuse of power and wrong doing. This is
where the killer angle comes in.
This is
where the Muhammadu Buhari-led regime,
that is busy preaching the gospel of change, should come in. Most public
institutions in Nigeria have heard about FOI and have read it.
But in truth,
some of them are behaving like the ostrich, pretending that the Act is not for
them. It is too late in the day to ignore the Act. It may be slow, but it is
gaining grounds in the country.
I agree
totally with my readers that in Nigeria, secrecy, bureaucracy, half truth or
outright falsehood are the hallmark of public ministries, departments and
agencies.
No government
official is comfortable when certain information is demanded or requested from
the person and he or she could threaten, ignored, ridicule or in extreme cases,
plot the downfall of the person requesting for information.
But, it may
be slow, the FOI act is up and running in Nigeria and some corrupt government officials
are not finding it funny. Statistics from the Media Rights Agenda showed that
out of more than 800 public institutions that were contacted between 2012-2013 on
the FOI issue, only 125 responded positively.
But, thanks to the Independent
National Electoral Commission, Police Service Commission, National Youth
Service Corps, National Orientation Agency and the Ministry of Justice.
These public agencies have appointed FOI
officers, who are not below the rank of an assistant director to handle issues
relating to information from those who request this information.
FOI is not a
tool in the hands of journalists, but for every Tom, Dick and Harry, who wants
information, within and outside the country. It is a global issue, not a
Nigerian affair.
Therefore, knowing
fully well the danger and risk involved in attempting to get information from government
and private agencies on corruption, diversion of funds, wrong doing and abuse
of powers, Edetaen Ojo, executive director,
Media Rights Agenda, assured that whistle blowers will be protected.
December
1-4, this year, Media Rights Agenda, supported by The MacArthur Foundation held
a training workshop on FOI Act 2011, for more than 50 pre-selected journalists from
south- west states in Nigeria.
This writer,
still bubbling from fresh angles gathered during the training spoke with a
cross section of ordinary persons in Lagos and Ogun states on what they know
about FOI Act 2011.
Kinsley
Etim, a free newspaper reader at Vesper bus-stop, along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway,
Ifo, Ogun state, confessed that he graduated from the University of Uyo in Akwa
Ibom state and has since been looking for a job.
His words: I
have read about the FOI Act, but I think it is for journalists, who are daring
enough to face corrupt cabals in Nigeria, not me.
But, Mercy
Appah, a self-acclaimed born-again at Iyana Ipaja bus-stop, Lagos, expressed pessimism
on the Act working in a country where corruption is endemic.
“Nothing
works in Nigeria”, she thundered, insisting that “the signs we are seeing mark
the beginning of endtime”.
There are a
thousand and one Etim and Mercy, who in ignorant are either afraid or keeping
miles away from the FOIA and yet they talk loudest at newsstands, beer joints,
the social media and public places about
the wrong moves past and present government in Nigeria have made.
Politicians are
presently shouting themselves to high heavens, calling on the- powers- that be
to kill the social media, stone dead. But, these politicians and government officials
should come out with documents, as opposed to propaganda and blackmail. The
social media has come to stay. The angle is not to kill it, but find a way of
controlling or regulating the social media.
But, independent
checks at the office of the Attorney General of the Federation showed that
despite initial challenges, the FOI Act is up and running and the courts are
getting more and more worked up from cases relating to the act.
Do not
accept this, do your own independent checks for confirmation. I have been
empowered by MRA and I will do the job. Good luck and God bless.
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