An unexpected deluge of criticisms against an attempt by privileged
members of the Nigerian upper legislative chamber, the Senate, to enact an
anti New Media law on Monday forced President Muhammadu Buhari to openly
distance himself from the legislative misadventure.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who had come under serious criticisms of being
the “hand of Esau” on the proposed law sponsored by lawmakers from his
ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) said he would deny the bill
which passed a second reading in record eight days, his assent if the law
comes on his desk.
The influential Online Publishers Association (OPA) had suspected the
administration of trying to re-harsh an infamous Decree 4 of 1984 through
which Buhari as a military dictator muzzled and hampered the media.
But Buhari came out on Monday proclaiming himself a champion of
constitutionality.
The controversial bill, although garnished as an endeavour to deal
decisively with speculative and fraudulent publications on internet social
platforms, is a misadventure to target and destroy Nigerian Online news
organizations, particularly Sahara Reporters and others which operate from
the diaspora.
Apart from the APC sponsored bill, the new Minister of Information and
Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, has allegedly endorsed secret memos to
ministries and agencies of the Nigerian government to deny accreditation
and advertisement patronage to some marked down online news websites.
Correspondents of on-line news outlets were left out of the fact finding
trip led by Mr. Lai Mohammed to the theatre of war in the North –East last
week.
Apart from the deliberate moves to cripple the online news organizations,
beat organizations are being proliferated in ministries like Education to
deny journalists operating with internet platforms access. Journalists who
work with so-called mainstream newspapers, radio and television stations
are encouraged and funded to denigrate their new media colleagues.
Apart from the anti-New Media antics of Minister Mohammed, inspite of
Buhari’s avowal of commitment to the freedom of expression and free press,
presidential minders like Messrs Femi Adesina, Shehu Garba and pastor
Laolu Akande are said to have advised and agreed with decisions taken
allegedly in “national security interest” to deny accreditation to fellow
Nigerians to freely practice and report from Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday distanced himself from the proposed
Social Media Bill currently being debated in the senate seeking to
restrict Nigerians from “criticizing”, political and public office
holders.
The president stated that the principle of the bill was inconsistent with
democratic ideals of free speech enshrined in the constitution of the
land.
He added that he had sworn to protect and uphold the dictates of the
constitution and would not in anyway go against it.
Speaking through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity,
Malam Garba Shehu, president Buhari however stated that “he is not averse
to lawful regulation, so long as that is done within the ambit of the
constitution which he swore to uphold.
According him, free speech was central to democratic societies anywhere in
the world.
“The President won’t assent to any legislation that may be inconsistent
with the constitution of Nigeria”, he said.
He further explained that without free speech, elected representatives
won’t be able to gauge public feelings and moods about governance issues.
“As a key component of democratic principles are so emotionally attached
to free speech that they would defend it with all their might”, he said.
Malam Garba Shehu explained that President Buhari was fully aware of the
public reservations about the proposed legislation but assured that there
was no cause for alarm “because the Senate is a democratic senate.
The highly influential On-line Publishers Association, an umbrella
organization for some pioneer new-media platforms based outside Nigeria
and Nigeria-based news publishing websites described the initiative of the
Bukola Saraki led senate to take its eye off the watch on critical
legislations such as issues of pedophilia, copyright and intellectual
infringement as a dubious misadventure.
The President of the on-line publishers association, Mr. Olufemi Awoyemi,
drew a parallel line between the proposed law and the infamous Decree 4 of
1984, through which Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, as the head of a dictatorial
junta, held the media and the Nigerian nation, by the jugular during his
ill-fated military regime.
Below is the detailed statement by the association:
“We, the entire board and members of Online Publishers Association condemn
in the strongest terms the motivation, process and purpose of the “Bill
for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connected
Therewith” which passed its 2nd reading at the Senate in a record eight
(8) days; and is now set for a public hearing subsequent to its being
referred by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; to the committees on ICT,
Judiciary led by the Ethics and Privileges Committee.
“We align with the Nigerian public in describing this action by the
Nigerian Senate as pure idleness, and an abandonment of the electoral
mandate to focus on laws for good governance to deliver increased welfare
for the people. The Senate is seeking instead to restrict the scope of
human freedoms, growth of new platforms of social interaction and public
accountability.
“Having engaged and consulted widely with stakeholders in the country,
including members of the National Assembly and the ruling government; we
offer our support to the “Public March” being organized by ‘The Freedom of
Information Coalition in Nigeria; on the National Assembly and across the
nation on Tuesday, December 08, 2015; amongst the many other lawful steps
to be taken individually and severally to not only stop this unjust law
but to hold the lawmakers more accountable.
“The proposed bill immediately reminds the general public of the infamous
Decree 4 of 1984 passed under military rule; one that took away our
freedoms. The continuous attempt at gagging members of the public was
again re-enacted in 2011, when the Senate attempted to pass a bill by
another APC Senator; for which ironically, the current members of the
Senate stepped down after extensive public outcry. This appears therefore
to be an on-going project in the Nigerian Senate.
“The planned action by the Senator Bukola Saraki led Senate seeks to
negate Chapter IV section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution which provides
that “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including
freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information
without interference”. Equally, it seeks to set aside the UN Charter:
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948
which states that – “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through
any media and regardless of frontiers.”
“We believe that online publication and social media use is a welcome
disruptor consistent with the aspirations of Nigerians and we offer
credible, integrity laden and purposeful lawmakers a different approach
that adopts a strategy of assisting the Senate to re-orient any bill that
would improve, sanitize and expand the frontiers and penetration of
responsible online publishing and social media use.
“There are laws in other jurisdictions guiding internet use from which we
can learn useful lessons from. Examples include the Computer Misuse Act
(1990) –UK; Electronic Communications Act (2000) – UK; Electronic Commerce
Regulations (2000) – UK; Electronic Communications Act, 1999 – Australia;
Electronic Transactions Act, 1999 – Australia; Measures on the
Administration of Internet Information Services, 2001 – China; Electronic
Transactions and Commerce Law No 2 of 2002 – Dubai; Act on the
Dissemination of Publications and Media Contents Harmful to Youth –
Germany; Digital Signature Act, 1997 – Germany; Child Online Protection
Act, 1998 – United States; and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act,
1986 – United States; to mention a few.
“The summary of our position is thus: If the Senate is really interested
in providing national interest governance over the use of the internet or
electronic communication, as indicated in Sections 3 and 4 of the proposed
Bill (bearing in mind the cybercrimes bill of 2014), there are other areas
of intervention that can be in public interest such as
copyright/intellectual property, anonymity/pseudonymity regulation,
editorial rules compliance, obscenity, privacy, child molestation,
pedophilia, harassment, competition rules etc.
“The attempt to jump from petitions/affidavit to electronic communication
is dubious at best with no clear guidance on interpretations for intent,
petition, and other issues covered under the Freedom of Information Act
and protection of whistleblowers.
“They are two different issues. While the emphasis on affidavits seeks to
tie the hands of the petitioner with a threat of perjury, the extension
violates basic human rights, and runs counter to the letter and spirit of
certain extant laws: the mischief that the law maker seeks to address in
this regard is however already taken care of by other extant laws, to wit:
the laws on libel and defamation.
“The relationship between government and new media may be complex, but it
may well be the case that majority of the people expect government to
control offensive or dangerous media and communications, whether old or
new; but not to shield dubious, corrupt and fraudulent conduct by public
officials.
“Therefore, instead of seeing censorship as an untoward governmental
intrusion into a domain of legitimate private choice, we believe a more
constructive engagement with key stakeholders can elevate the subject to
the domain of public interest and help guide an ill-informed Senate
towards more enlightened direction.
“Finally, in pushing ahead with this bill, the Nigerian Senate has only
succeeded in representing itself as a “Threat” to Democracy.”
Nigerian On-line journalists do not view the current exercise by the
Senate as an isolated affair. It took the intervention of former President
Goodluck Jonathan and his then media adviser, Dr. Reuben Abati, to get
individuals like Jackson Ude, Omoyele Sowore, Oladimeji Abitogun and
Churchill Umoren off the official harassment list of the State Security
Service (SSS).
The Nigerian on-line news community broke every barrier and irresponsible
inhibitions to expand the frontiers of truth and objectivity in
journalism.
At a time when traditional media organizations went into complacency and
complicity on high level deceit, corruption and mendacity in governance,
the online community, especially in the diaspora, shattered the ceilings
and democratized Africa’s media space.
Many of the hitherto army of unemployed youths in the country are
re-trained and hired by some on-line news outlets.
The attempt to destroy on-line journalism is seen as serious economic
sabotage as well.