FG, Media Chiefs Divided over New Bill
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja, 11.17.2009
The Federal Government and the Guild of Editors were yesterday
sharply divided on the provisions, motives and constitutional
relevance of the Nigerian Press Council Bill as stakeholders
converged on the House of Representatives for a public hearing on the
proposed law.
The bill seeks to repeal the Nigeria Press Council Act Cap No. 128,
which established the Nigeria Press Council, and establish the Nigeria
Press and Practice of Journalism Council.
The bill, its sponsors said, will promote professionalism in the media
industry, deal with complaints emanating from the public about the
conduct of journalists and media houses as well as complaints
emanating from the press about the conduct of persons, organisations
or institutions of government towards the media.
But some veterans of the media profession, namely former Lagos State
Governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, former Information Minister, Prince
Tony Momoh, renowned journalism teacher, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye
as well as the President, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr. Gbenga
Adefaye, said the bill was unnecessary.
The media, they argued, would rather regulate itself through its
appointed Ombudsman. The media professionals said the proper thing to
do to strengthen the media to perform its constitutional role in a
democratic setting was for the National Assembly to expedite action on
the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill which has been pending
in parliament for over ten years.
Jakande, in his brief remarks, said the bill and its accompanying
controversies cannot be fully resolved at a one-day public hearing and
advised the House of Representatives to collate as much information as
possible and allow some time for an enlarged body of media
professionals and lawmakers to refine the legislation and make its
acceptable to every stakeholder.
Momoh said media stakeholders have been suspicious of any legislation
to gag the press, adding that the National Assembly has powers to make
laws to strengthen the press not to weaken it. He urged stakeholders
to examine the bill critically to delete areas that could weaken the
press and accept those provisions that could strengthen the press to
perform its constitutional roles. He observed that one thing that
would strengthen the press is the Freedom of Information Bill,
adding that access to information and the passage Freedom of
Information Act is one criterion in determining which country is or
not a democracy.
"Looking at the Constitution strictly, the National Assembly has power
to strengthen institutions that will promote access to information of
public interest so that the monitoring role of the media will be
enhanced. This is where an urgent pre-occupation of the lawmakers
should be the retrieval of the seemingly abandoned Freedom of
Information Bill. According to UNESCO, in 1990 only 13 countries had
adopted national right to information laws whereas today, at the last
count about 80 countries have done so and many more are working to
have such laws. They are now being regarded as part of the ways to
measure the presence and operation of democracy in any country that
claims to be democratic.
"Because of the reduction of the whole world to the so called global
village, there is no hiding place for any actions on the part of those
who govern that may tend to reduce the exercise of the freedoms that
have now been entrenched in various documents as inalienable rights
of man. Restrictive laws are therefore becoming not only unpopular but
also unenforceable. The bill as it is, if it becomes law, cannot be
enforced. The first casualty will be the Council because media bodies
are unlikely to accept to be part of the Council," Momoh said.
Adefaye said editors, being the interface between the media
entrepreneurs and professional journalists, were uncomfortable with
the bill because it seeks to dabble into issues that were better left
to the media owners. Adefaye said the provisions seeking legislation
on special wage structure, training, qualification and registration of
journalists were odd and unacceptable to the industry. He
acknowledged the need for the media to take responsibility for
sanitising the industry but maintained that such an exercise could be
handled by the media itself in collaboration with other stakeholders
to raise ethics, ensure compliance and strengthen professionalism.
Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha,
expressed disappointment at the combative approach of the media
owners and the Guild of Editors on the issue of the Freedom of
Information Bill. The posture of the media, Ihedioha said, was rather
arrogant and unhelpful to the agenda as parliamentarians needed to be
fully convinced and persuaded to pass the bill.
Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili,
who presented the position of government on the issue hailed the bill,
stating that it would re-position the Nigerian Press Council and
empower it to tackle the complex challenges associated with its
constitutional mandate.
She disclosed that the new legislation was necessary because the
Nigerian Press Council as presently constituted has been at
loggerheads with some key stakeholders as a result of some provisions
in the Nigeria Press Council (Amendment) Act 60 of 1999.
The areas of contention in the said legislation, Akunyili said,
include the provisions relating to the monitoring of the
activities of the press, monitoring of the performance of media
owners to ensure compliance with their mission statements as well
as the registration of newspapers and imposition of penalties on
erring practitioners and media houses. She said that the contention
was largely because of the perception that these provisions amounted
to press censorship and infringement on press freedom and had it even
resulted in the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN)
filing a suit against the Federal Government.
Akunyili however gave assurance that the bill would guarantee press
freedom, guard against arbitrary closure of media houses and make the
Press Council an appellate body to which all complaints in the
industry will be channelled.
Sponsor of the bill, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the piece of
legislation under discourse was not sacrosanct but a proposal to
sanitise the practice of journalism, eliminate quackery, improve
remuneration of media practitioners and enhance the media of the
profession without endangering the investments of media owners. Her
position also tallied with the presentation of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists and the Nigeria Press Council.
In response to the vehement opposition to the bill, the House
Committee on Information has appointed a technical sub-committee to
harmonise the divergent positions canvassed at the public hearing. The
technical committee, which has Momoh as its chairman, is expected to
present a harmonised report within two weeks. Other members of the
committee include Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, a representative each
from the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian
Guild of Editors, and Nigeria Union of Journalists, Nigerian Press
Council and the News Agency of Nigeria.
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