FOI Act: Has anything changed ?

Nigerian Tribune: Nigeria: Monday, June 04, 2012.

On Friday, 27th May, 2011, Nigeria’s President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan signed into law the Freedom of Information Bill (FIB). Incidentally, that day coincided with the annual Children’s Day celebration. By that singular act by the president, the law is not only for the moment but a brighter future for the young and old in this country. No wonder, the signing into law of the bill elicited joy, handshakes and warm embrace by media practitioners, civil liberties organisation, Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, the Guild of Editors, International Press Centre, the Nigerian Bar Association, Media for Democracy, activists, Media Development Project, civil society groups, labour movement and indeed those who believe in good governance. There were editorials in the media commending the President; the National Assembly and groups that started the agitation for the passage of the FIB into law. One year after, has anything changed?

Going down the memory lane, such law was enacted in Sweden in 1776. Today, Sweden is one of the most stable democracies in the world. Even with an unpleasant climate, Sweden is progressing in terms of economy, transparency and accountability. Other countries that had passed similar law at various stages of development include France, the USA, Australia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, Germany and Malaysia. In Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa and Mozambique have equally passed such law. The general understanding is that the law could make for good governance.

Those who jubilated after the assent by the President believed that, there would be unhindered access to public records and information of public interest. They believe there will be probity, accountability and transparency in governance. About seven months after the passage, that is, January 1, 2012, pump price of petrol was jerked by more than 100 per cent until a nation-wide protest that lasted two weeks forced the President to revert to the present price per litre. Within the two weeks of protest and reversal to the present pump price, how much was made? Who would give us the record? Can the media have unhindered access to the income and expenditure by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on quarterly basis? Nobody is interested. It appears things remained the same. The media is still busy with its traditional reporting of events. What about our lawyers, our activitsts, human rights groups etc. Have they been forced to their shell? We miss the erodite lawyer, activist Gani Fawehinmi. He would have dug into all files and records and presented facts and figures about how Nigerians have been short-changed, marginalised, dehumanised because of government bad policies with no human face. With the passage of the Bill into law, has anything changed.

To all intents and purposes, it appears the agitators for the FoIB are now at limbo either because of fear to expose those in  high places with shady deals or because of fear of attack, humiliation, detention and perceived assassination. Today, corruption is on the high increase in high places among some of those who govern us. Who will look into their records? Who will ask them how much we have spent on security and yet insecurity persists daily in various forms? Who will ask while pre-paid meters have become scarce commodity? Who will ask while electricity tariffs have to be increased? Who will ask for these records? With the passage of the FoIB into law, has anything changed?

Those who could ask are being silenced gradually – that is the media. Not too long ago, some media houses played host to bomb blasts. Why? To stop them from probing into the affairs of the government. The remaining media houses appear to be feeling jittery and incapacitated on how to expose evils in the society. Is the F01 Act working? Lawyers seem to be making their money from a corruption-ridden society. It should be understood that the F01 Act is not for the media alone but for good governance. Who will bell the cat?  Fawehinmi would have cried foul and headed for the court for prosecution. Who among the remaining activists will bail this country out? Who among the media practitioners will have the courage of Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor and damn the consequences no matter whose ox is gored?

As a result of the dreaded Boko Haram, a number of defenceless individuals, including children have been killed, property worth millions of naira have been destroyed and uneasiness persists in the nation.

At a time, our President said a “cabal” exists in the military, the police and even in the Presidency. Who will help the President to unravel this “Cabal”? By now, Nigerians should be tired of letters of condolence from the presidency after massive loss of life and property as a result of the activities of dreaded Boko Haram. By now, Nigerians should be tired of governors’ visits to hospitals to empathise with victims of bomb blasts and their families. Perhaps, we should know that Nigerians are no longer thinking of a corporate nation but one in which they can escape being killed untimely, in the face of maladministration, insecurity, collapsed infrastructures, galloping inflation, persistent strikes, unemployment etc. Every right thinking individual thinks the Freedom of Information Act will right the wrongs, but with the passage, has any thing changed.