THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR MEDIA INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA: FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

By Richard Akinnola

At the World Bank Institute and Media Rights Agenda Workshop on MEDIA INSTITUTIONS AND CAPACITY IN NIGERIA- (Oct.18-20)

The Nigerian Press has a cherished tradition of vibrancy. The advent of military dictatorship in Nigeria in 1966 threw a new vista of media activism whose main thrust was to offer alternative view-points to the staid and often government-laced propaganda being unleashed by the government media.

This led to the expansion of choices in terms of access to information. But the government went ahead to set up regulatory bodies to curtailthe perceived excesses of these alternative view points.

This necessitated the setting up of the Nigeria Press Council (NPC) to regulate the print media and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to regulate the broadcast media. These would be discussed in details presently.

Be that as it may, the setting up of these bodies was vehementlyresisted by the Independent Media, which objected to what itperceived .as "gagging" bodies. While the~ media practitioners believe that media pluralism was going to bring up a number of professional irritants within its fold, the media also strongly believe that it should have an in-built checks and balance mechanism to regulate the activities of its members.

Similarly, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), in Articles 7 and 8 of its constitution expressly created an Ethics Committee to deal with issues of ~ethical and professional misconduct of its members.

Although there are two broad areas of regulations which can be segmented to legal and Institutional, for the purposes of this discourse, I will limit myself to the~ institutional-the Nigerian Press Council (NPC), the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).

THE NIGERIAN PRESS COUNCIL

The Nigerian Press Council was established through the Nigerian Press Council Decree No. 85 of 1992. At the time the Council came on stream; even some members of the public were of the opinion that there~ was a need for a regulatory body forjournalists so that they would not have an uninhibited reign in their profession. They are wont to point out the relevant statutory regulatorybodies in other professions like Law and Medicine.

The NPC had the following 'functions by virtue~ of the enabling Decree:

(a) to inquire into' complaints about the Press and the conduct of anyperson or organization towards the Press;

(b) to research into contemporary press developments and engage in updating press documentation;

(c)to review developments likely to, restrict the flow of Information and advise on measures aimed at remedying such developments;

(d) to ensure the protection of the rights and privileges of journalists in the lawful performance of their duties and

(e) to foster the achievement and maintenance of high professionalstandards by the Nigerian press

However, in spite of these laudable objectives, the press council, within the period it was active, wasnot more than a toothless bulldog. It managed to barkbut couldnot bite at all. Unlike other regulatory bodies governing other professions like the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee' for lawyers and the Medical Doctors and Dental Council for Doctors, the NPC was lack luster, no thanks to its enabling law. There was no' penal teeth in the law for the Council to deal with erring practitioners.

Due to these inadequacies and the need to "sanitise" the press, stakeholders sought for 'an amendment. Rather than bow to the wishes' of the stakeholder~, the General. Abdulsalami regime made some amendments which was to guillotine the press. The obnoxious provisions was akin to the ignoble Decree 43 of 1993. Predictably, the Nigerian Press Organisation (NPO), not only rejected the new amendment but also filed a case in court to challenge the validity of the Nigerian Press Council (Amendment) Decree No. 60 of 1.999. Among the several objects to the law are the powers given to the Head of State to appoint theExecutive Secretary based upon the recommendation of the Minister of Information; payment ofN250,000 license fee for each newspaper title.

With this development, :the NPC has more or less remained moribund, only left to organize occasional seminars for the mediain order to keep itself busy,

NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMMISSION

The NBC was established by virtue of'Decree 38 of 1992 and later amended by Decree 55 of 1999. Basically; the NBC is meant to regulate the. Broadcast industry. However, from experience of the years, its obvious that there is no level playing ground inthe discharge ofthis responsibility. This regulatory over-sight is seriously skewed against the private broadcast media in relation to government media.

This has in fact let to some (ace-off between the NBC and the Independent BroadcastingAssociation of Nigeria (IBAN)particularly when Danladi Bako was at the helm of affairs.

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A study of the NBC Decree shows that the power to grant license rests with the President. This is unacceptable. Similarly, the power to appoint the Director-General which rests with the President is inimical .to the Independence of the Commission. As a matter of fact, there have been instances in the past where, possibly for other reasons than professional, the NBC had threatened to withdraw the licenses of some of the Independent Broadcasting outfits. This no doubt pose great danger to freedom of expression. This is even more obvious with the inclusion of a member of the State Security Service (SSS) in the Commission.

NIGERIA UNION OF JOURNALISTS

Articles 7 and 8 of the NUJ Constitution brings out its regulatory duties. However, this provisions have not been used as often as it ought to because“am of the firm believe that such self regulation is much more acceptable to deal with professional issues.Perhaps with the exception ofthe Akapa issue in 1990, there has not been any serious attempt by the NUJ to invoke this provision. And this has led the field open to a number of charlatans masquerading as journalists and denigrating the profession.

I am of the view that if the Nigerian Press Council and the Nigerian Union of Journalists at various levels have been alive to their responsibilities~ the issue of government strong-arm tactics in dealing with such issues would have been limited and the recourse to the legal framework by way of litigations would have been avoided, particularly in a country where the legal process is not only cumbersome but also quite expensive.