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Lagos Business Community Joins Freedom of
Information Campaign
Lagos, Wednesday, April 26, 2006: The Lagos business community
today expressed solidarity with civil society organizations campaigning
for a Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria and promised to collaborate
with them to ensure the enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill into
Law.
The President of Business Club, Ikeja (BCI), Mr. Adebowale Thompson, made
the pledge when the umbrella body of 76 firms in the manufacturing,
commercial, financial and professional services sector hosted a delegation
of the Freedom of Information Coalition at its monthly meeting.
As a follow-up from a workshop on the Freedom of Information Bill for
professional groups, associations and organization, the Club invited the
Coalition to make a presentation on issues of Freedom of Information at
its monthly meeting.
In a presentation on “Freedom of Information as a tool for Economic
Development,” Mr. Tive Denedo, the Director of Campaigns at Media Rights
Agenda (MRA), which hosts the Coalition’s secretariat, noted that access
to information is not just a moral imperative on corruption but a tool for
social, political and economic development of any nation that is governed
by its principles.
He argued that a regime of access to information in Nigeria will create a
level playing field for businesses as there will be openness and
transparency in the taxation, tariff and duties regime of the country.
According to Mr. Denedo, since access to information will ensure
transparency and accountability in the business sector, it is crucial to
winning investor’s confidence. He added that once the fears of investors
are settled about the procedures for honest business transactions,
economic development is sure to follow.
Responding to the presentation, Mr. Thompson admitted that prior to the
Coalition’s engagement with the business sector, he had been naïve about
what gains could accrue from a Freedom of Information regime.
He said: “I was naïve about the whole issue of Freedom of Information.
When I first received the invitation to attend the workshop, I told
somebody to attend the meeting on my behalf because I know I have no
business in the media or in information. After I received the report from
the workshop, I knew that it must benefit us in the business community and
I did not hesitate to approve the invitation for you to come and address
our monthly meeting.”
Mr. Thompson said that BCI had already began a process of collaboration
with Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Nigerian Employers
Consultative Association (NECA) to recruit somebody to serve as liaison
officer between the business community and government in order for the
business community to follow Bills that are being passed into law.
He described the campaign for the enactment of the Bill into law as a huge
assignment that must receive the support of manufacturers and all those
engaged in business saying one of the attractions is that the regime of
multiple taxations will be over with the passage of the Bill into law.
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