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Workshop Asks For Signatures in FOI Advocacy
Participants at a grassroots
workshop in Makurdi Benue State, have asked that Nigerians should utilize
a national signature campaign to demand for the passage of the Freedom of
Information Bill saying that this will demonstrate that every section of
Nigeria desires a law that guarantees access to public document.
They observed that a large
number of Nigerians are interested in how certain policies of government
are implemented in different tiers and arms of government and that
Nigerians should show a strong desire for the law by collectively
endorsing the demand with signatures collected from all the local councils
of the federation. The participants believe that the campaign will be
effective saying that if CBO’s and NGO’s give them a target in numbers
over a period, a specified figure large enough to be truly representative
of Nigerians could be sourced and sent to the National Assembly and the
Presidency.
The participants said that all
these people who should be referred to as the Friends of FOI should cut
across all segments of society including those who would use their
thumbprints. According to them this will ensure that the demand is
inclusive and open for public participation and would remove the
impression in government circle that only a few Nigerians and especially
the media are interested in having the Bill passed into law.
The forum, the first in the
series of workshops aimed at bringing the content of the Bill to the
average Nigerian and in the process strengthen the Freedom of Information
Coalition, was organized by Media Rights Agenda (MRA), in collaboration
with Lawyers Alert with support from the Partners Agency Collaborating
Together (PACT Nigeria).
According to participants, a
factor that will be critical to the successful passage and implementation
of the proposed law would be how many Nigerians are involved in the
process of making a demand for the passage of the bill are able to use it.
The participants said that they are encouraged to pursue the signature
campaigns because a recent study in the state has shown that there are
about 2,900 CBO’s and NGO’s in Benue state alone. They believe that taken
across the nation, the campaign would be very successful.
The participants also
recognized traditional rulers and leaders of religious organizations as
key players in the society who should be involved in the advocacy for the
enactment of the Bill into law in view of their influence on their
subjects and citizens generally.
Speaking at the opening
ceremony, the coordinator of the workshop and MRA’s Campaign Director, Mr.
Tive Denedo, said that the bill would assist a state like Benue with its
huge agricultural potentials in making immense contribution to
agricultural development and food security for the country because with
the access to information law Nigerians would be able to ascertain how
much the country’s investment is in agriculture while it provides the
mechanisms for tracking the budget for agriculture.
In his contribution, the
Programme Officer of Lawyers Alert, Mr. Kaseamo Andrew Adejir described
the CBO’s participation in the workshop as part of their readiness to make
meaningfull contributions to the development of law in Nigeria. According
to Adejir, civil society organizations remain a critical segment in the
pursuit of the success of the democratic experience and should therefore
make their voices heard in the advocacy for the law of access to
information.
Participants called for a quick
passage of the bill into law, but said there should be more awareness
campaign through radio jingles, billboards and a massive distribution of
Information, Education and Communication materials across the country so
that as the moment for passage and assent gets closer, more people are
drawn to commit to the principles and practice involved in the sustenance
of the law.
They also asked for the
intensification and expansion of the text message campaigns especially at
such times when pressured is required on specific groups in the National
Assembly and the Presidency as a means of moving the process at any stage
leading to the passage of the bill. |
