BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR
THEY manage and mentor men and women, who are knowledgeable in all
fields of human endeavour. They are usually the force behind the
earth-shaking stories that help to re-shape society. But editors are
rarely seen.
And their contributions to policy formulation are hardly sought, a
neglect that has contributed immensely to getting the nation stuck in
the cesspool of socio-economic and political underdevelopment.
Perhaps, the story would have been different if the three arms of
government – the executive, legislature and judiciary seek the input of
the media, often dubbed as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, in policy
formulation, decision making and implementation.
Determined to change the tide, beginning with the on-going
constitution amendment exercise of the National Assembly, the Democratic
Governance for Development (DGD) Project of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the office of the Special Adviser to
the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, last Tuesday held
a parley with editors in Lagos.
The leading media lights in Nigeria and other stakeholders did not
disappoint. Speaking at the five-hour programme themed: “Media Dialogue
with Editors on the Constitution Amendment Process,” held at Sheraton
Hotel, they offered thought-provoking suggestions on how to improve the
1999 Constitution and make it a vehicle for the delivery of democracy
dividends to the citizenry and enthronement of an egalitarian society.
The editors said the country might continue to wallow in poverty and
want, political instability and tension if meaningful adjustments were
not made in the provisions of the constitution.
The areas they sought amendment include constitutional guarantee for
right to access to information, making media’s governance monitoring
function legally enforceable, affirmative action and gender issues,
youth empowerment and fiscal federalism among others.Media icons at the
parley included Editor-in-chief/General Manager of Vanguard Newspapers
and President Nigeria Guild of Editors, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye; former
Director General of the Nigeria Television Authority, Dr Tonnie Iredia;
Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Mr. Mohammed
Adoke (who was represented by his Special Assistant, Mrs. Stella
Aborime); and UNDP Country Director, Mrs. Ade Letkoetje.Also present
were Vanguard Daily Editor, Mr. Mideno Bayagbon; The Guardian Acting
Editor, Mr. Martins Oloja; Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council,
IPAC, Dr Mohammed Shittu; IPAC Secretary, Mr. Emmanuel Mok; Mr. Lanre
Arogundade, Mr. Festus Okoye, Daily and Weekend editors of major
newspapers in the country as well as representatives of civil society
organizations.Speaking at the event, Adefaye urged editors to buy into
the constitution amendment process because a good constitution would
yield a good press, which in turn would lead to a better society.
Thanking the National Assembly and the President for the Freedom of
Information Law, he said the next task now was making the FOI law work.
And the surest way of doing this is to put press freedom expressly in
the constitution, he said.Adefaye deplored the worsening state of
affairs in the country and sought urgent action. He lamented that 52
years after independence, many Nigerians are still squatters in their
country.
In like manner, Mrs. Letkoetje assured that the UNDP was committed to
assisting in making the constitution amendment process a success by
partnering with all stakeholders. She urged the media to keep the issue
on the front burner, help the citizenry to make robust participation so
that in the end the people would take ownership of their constitution.
Also speaking, Mrs. Aborime, who said the Justice Minister was
working on a template that would make the FOI law effective, decried the
frequent need to amend the constitution and hoped that the outcome of
the current exercise would enrich Nigeria’s governance project.
She urged the media to help the government to be accountable to the
people in line with provisions of Chapter two of the Constitution.
Aborime said the Federal Government was ready to help the media achieve
its constitutional responsibilities by making the FOI law effective and
ensuring that there was no abuse of power.
On his part, Abati urged the media and the citizenry to take active
part in the constitution amendment efforts. “Government is out to ensure
that Nigerian citizens determine the amendment. Let’s draw attention to
what the constitution amendment is all about.”
Recalling the controversies that greeted President Goodluck
Jonathan’s recent suggestion of a single tenure for president and
governors and allegations that the ongoing amendment was part of the
president’s plan to get re-nomination, Abati said the President
harboured no such plans.
He urged the media to boost the constitution amendment process and
partner with the government to provide leadership and show direction for
the citizenry.
Noting that the media was in the forefront of independence struggle
and making the Nigerian nation, he said the crucial tasks before the
media now include setting positive development agenda that would promote
the cause of enlightenment and growth instead of instability.
Relatedly, Iredia, who said he did not really believe in constitution
amendment because the country had been amending constitutions since
1922 with little or no results, stressed the need for effective
implementation of the Constitution.
Not necessarily dismissing the need to amend the constitution, he
said Nigerians need not only constitution amendment but also following
the spirit of the amendment by amending their orientation.
Media can’t function effectively with shackled hands
Although, the country now has the FOI law, the editors said some
specific and crucial amendments in the grand norm were needed to enable
the media carry out its watchdog role robustly to the betterment of the
country.
Some of the amendments include: constitutional recognition for
media/press freedom, relocation of the media’s governance monitoring
function to make it enforceable, constitutional guarantee of the right
of access to information, exclusion of presidential participation in the
broadcast media licencing, constitutional recognition for broadcast
regulatory body and repositioning the responsibility for licence fee
collection and management among others.
On right of access to information, the media urged “that a
constitutional backing for the right of access to information should be
included in the proposed new Constitution as a sub-section of the
current Section 39. The section should be a comprehensive section
containing guarantees for a range of free expression, media freedom and
access to information rights.”
The media lords lamented that the rights conferred on the media by section 22 of the Constitution were not enforceable.
Section 22 of chapter II (Fundamental Objectives and Directive
Principles of State Policy) obligates the media as follows: “The press,
radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at times be
free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and
uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the
people.”
However, the editors said this right could not be enforced because
the whole chapter II of the 1999 Constitution where section 22 is
located is non-justiciable.
In a memo prepared by Media Network on the review of the 1999
constitution, which has been sent to the National Assembly, they
lamented that given the culture of secrecy and impunity that prevails in
the country, journalists have been attacked and press freedom violated
in the course of making government accountable to the people. “Recently,
six journalists attempting to cover a police visit by a former state
governor were barred from their legitimate duty by being locked up in an
office in the station.
From Dele Giwa in 1986 to many others in recent times, many
journalists have been killed with no clue yet on the assassins. Yet
investigative journalism remains a major tool through which journalists
could monitor governance and make government accountable to the people
as envisaged by the constitution. Indeed, it allows them to work in
accordance with the definition of their profession as a public trust
with citizens to expose wrongs and promote human rights.
“State media on the other hand are often incapacitated from
professionally performing their oversight functions through the mode of
appointment of the managers and editors, which leaves little to desire
about editorial independence, critical journalism, tenure security and
compliance with code of ethics. To the extent that their deserved
security is not in place, an attitude of self censorship prevails.
“Against this background, it is worrisome that the obligation by the
media to freely monitor governance and make government accountable to
the people as provided for in section 22 cannot be legally enforced; a
journalist whose right has been violated in the course of ensuring
governance accounta-bility cannot seek the protection of the court.
“Also, Section 22 does not impose an obligation on the state or
public institutions not to initiate policies and actions that can
jeopardize the ability of the media to carry out the responsibility of
monitoring governance; it does not declare illegal any state action that
prevents the media from acting in accordance with the provision of
Section 22 and it does not provide strong protection for state media.”
Noting that the foregoing makes a constitutional mechanism to
strengthen the watchdog role of the media a key imperative, they
canvassed that section 22 be removed from chapter II and be made a
section or subsection of Section 39 under chapter IV (Fundamental human
rights) to make it possible for the right conferred on the media therein
to be legally enforceable.
· Identification of issues for the presentation round of amendment – Apr 2012
· Request for submission of memoranda – May/June 2012
· Retreat to consider memoranda – July 2012
· Public hearing on issues highlighted in memoranda – Oct 2012
· Retreat to aggregate pubic views and inputs – Jan 2013
· Drafting of Amendment bill – February 2013
· Introduction of the bill to the Senate – Mar 2013
Passage of the bill – June 2013
· Passage of the Bill in the state Houses of Assembly – July 2013
Issues to be reviewed
· Devolution of powers
· Creation of more states
·Recognition of the six geo-political zones in the constitution
· Role of traditional rulers
· Local Government
· Removing Land Use Act, NYSC Act and code of conduct from the constitution
· Fiscal federalism
· Immunity clause
· Nigerian Police
· Judiciary
· Executive
· Rotation of executive offices
· Gender and special groups
· Mayoral status for the FCT
· Residency and indigene provisions
· Electoral reform