Hard knocks for NASS, FG over proposed NPC, NBC bills

STAKEHOLDERS have chided the National Assembly and the Federal Government over what they described as anti-media bills before the legislature, describing the move as primitive, unpopular and devious means of taking away Nigerians’ basic freedom. 

They cautioned that rather than thinking of gagging the media, the lawmakers should be more occupied with passing bills that will improve lives and living in the country. 

A leading teacher of Mass Communication in Africa and a current member of Council of World Journalism Education Congress, Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, described the proposed amendment by the National Assembly to the National Press Council (NPC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Acts as barbaric. 

He said the proposal could only be moved in this dispensation by politicians who are intellectually bankrupt and politically uncivilised. According to him, another name for democracy is a free press and there cannot be any sustainable democracy anywhere globally without a free press. 

Professor Akinfeleye, former chair and head of department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos (UNILAG), said by the move, it appeared the lawmakers do not really understand the role of press in the society. 

He told the Nigerian Tribune that what the lawmakers are supposed to be interested in, is how to reciprocate the gesture of the press by making laws that will enhance the industry for the common good of the practitioners and the society at large and also to face the issues of Boko Haram, kidnapping, banditry, insecurity and poverty ravaging the land. 

Elder statesman, Chief Frank Kokori; the Ovie of Idjerhe kingdom, Monday Whiskey and an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Niger Delta University, Philips Okolo, also knocked the National Assembly over plans to gag the media with the controversial bills. Kokori, a former general secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers (NUPENG), said, “Free press is the bulwark of democracy. Without press freedom, there’s no democracy. The media stoutly stood and helped in the June 12, 1993 struggle. The media that resisted the military, why won’t they check democratic despots? I’m encouraged by the media’s solidarity wrap publications all over the major national newspapers on Monday, I’m very impressed.” 

Whiskey, a veteran journalist, expressed displeasure at the development and described the move as a planned coup against media freedom. “I advise the National Assembly to be looking for laws that are people-oriented, that are progressive in nature; not laws that are anti-people and anti-press freedom. Truth is the media must also wake up. They want to bring back the dark military days, we must say ‘no’ to it. The Nigerian press is strong enough to defend its own,” he said. 

Dr Okolo, a media analyst, said “unarguably, the press remains the fourth estate of the realm,” adding that “in an uninformed society like ours, democracy is highly susceptible to dictatorship; the press remains the conscience of the common man and plays a pivotal role in checking the seeming excesses of those in power. 

“Therefore, any effort, wittingly or unwittingly, targeted at gagging the press is an open invitation to dictatorship and resultant anarchy.” 

Also condemning the bills, Dr Dele Ashiru, chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNILAG chapter, commended the media for vehemently opposing the bills, saying it would help to save the country from impending embarrassment and tyrannical rule of the current government. 

Speaking to Nigerian Tribune, a senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Dr Gbenga Abimbola, noted that rather than saving the media industry from collapse, the lawmakers are compounding the woes with the proposed laws. 

Abimbola, who urged the Federal Government to suspend plans to gag the media, described the bills as oppressive and punitive, designed to take away free speech and press freedom. Also speaking, former Regional Managing Editor of National Mirror, Mr Sola Akinuli, described the bills as draconian and anti-free press, saying it’s an attempt to suffocate the media which is the oxygen of democracy.

Akinuli said, “It is highly uncalled for, timid and depressive against a free press, especially from unexpected quarters. It is very bellicose and anti-progressive. I call on the National Assembly, especially the sponsor, to reverse the unpopular and anti-media law.” 

An Ondo State-based legal practitioner, Wale Obanigba, stressed that the constitution of the country provides freedom of speech and without government interference in media business. “I will admonish the National Assembly to make laws to promote press freedom, to be able to hold government and its agencies accountable to the people,” he said. 

Renowned journalist and Director, International Press Centre (IPC), Mr Lanre Arogundade, described the proposed amendments as ‘unacceptable;, arguing that it would have the ultimate effect of turning the nation’s media into a sub-unit of the office of the minister of information. Arogundade, in a chat with Nigerian Tribune, called on stakeholders in the nation’s media industry to come together and oppose the proposed amendments, since they would hinder the growth of the practice in the country. 

Former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Garu/Babura federal constituency, Honourable Nasiru Dantiye, said if the bills scale through and are passed into law, they will drag the country back and take the citizens back to the Stone Age. 

Speaking by phone, the former lawmaker noted that even if there is the need to regulate the media, such power does not belong to the president, not to talk of minister of information. The former zonal secretary of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), North-West, Mr Kefas H. Dogonyaro, vehemently kicked against information blackout as represented by NPC and NBC media Act amendment bills, describing it as a coup to consume voiceless Nigerians. 

Dogonyaro also described the move to deny the media freedom to access information as an act of cowardice. 

“Let them know we are no longer in the military era. We are in civilian democracy,” he said. Chairman, Bauchi State council of NUJ, Umar Sa’id, asked media practitioners in the country, particularly those who have served meritoriously and are retired from active service, to lead the struggle against the socalled reform to ensure that the bills die before their birth. 

Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, on Tuesday stressed the need for press freedom in Nigeria. In a statement issued to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, Diri made the comment in Abuja on Monday during the House of Representatives Press Corps’ annual dinner and award ceremonies. 

The governor said the importance of a free press in a democracy could not be overemphasised, as it plays a key role in the development process. He expressed with delight the development of the Nigerian press over the decades noting, however, that there is still room for improvement. 

We are suspending the process for more consultation —Sponsor 

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Information, National Orientation, Ethics and Values, Segun Odebunmi, who is also the sponsor of the NPC and NBC amendment bills, has said the House has agreed to suspend the bills. 

Odebunmi, speaking on Channels TV’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Tuesday, said the suspension was to allow for proper consultations over the bills. “We have been on this process for a while and right now, we have suspended it for more consultation to happen on it,” he said. The lawmaker had earlier faulted claims that the bills were targeted at gagging the media but maintained that they are aimed at removing identified hindrances to optimum performance.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Lagos Is Second Least Liveable City In The World For 2021

Lagos is the second least liveable city in the world for the year 2021. This is according to the most recent annual ranking put together by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)…

FACT CHECK: Did UNICEF Say Blocking Children’s Access To Pornography Constitutes Human Rights’ Infringement?

CLAIM 1: A Twitter user claims UNICEF said any efforts to block children from accessing pornography might infringe their human rights.

VERDICT: MISLEADING!