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Lagos Sets up Committee to Review
Newspaper Law, Draft FOI Bill
The Lagos State Government has set up a 13-member Committee
to review the Lagos State Newspaper Registration Act and draft a Freedom
of Information law for the State.
Inaugurating the Committee on April 8, Mr. Segun Ayobolu,
the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Strategy, who
stood in for the Commissioner, Mr. Dele Alake, said the State Government
decided to set up the Committee to reform the existing newspaper
registration law and guarantee residents access to information as part of
its efforts to leave a legacy that is in consonance with democratic
practice.
Members of the Committee, which will be chaired by Mr.
Ayobolu are: Mrs. Funke Fadugba, the Chair of the Lagos State Council of
the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ); Mr. Richard Akinnola, Chairman of
the Centre for Free Speech (CFS); Mr. Deju Ewetuga, a Legal Officer in the
Lagos State Ministry of Justice; Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of
Media Rights Agenda (MRA); the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director of
Champion Newspapers, Mr. Emma Agu, who is representing the Newspaper
Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), of which he is the General
Secretary; Mr. Ayo Olukotun, a lecturer at the University of Lagos (UNILAG);
and Mr. Kehinde Bamgbetan, the Chief Press Secretary to Lagos State
Governor Bola Tinubu.
Other members of the Committee are Mr. Azubike Ishiekwene,
Editor of the Punch Newspaper, who is representing the Nigerian Guild of
Editors (NGE); Mr. Segun Adedokun, an Assistant Director in the Lagos
State Ministry of Information and Strategy; Mr. Charles Codjia, also an
Assistant Director in the Ministry; and Mr. Kunle Oshodi-Glover of the
Lagos State Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations. Mr.
Oluwatoyin Adeni-Awosika will serve as Secretary to the Committee.
Mr. Ayobolu said the Committee would take a critical look
at the existing law for the registration of newspapers, magazines,
journals and other periodicals to find out if it contains provisions that
are inimical to the smooth flow of information in a democratic society.
Observing that the law was made during a period when there
was no democratic system of government in the country, he said: “If there
are provisions that hinder the media in the performance of its
constitutional responsibilities, we want to expunge these from the law.”
Mr. Ayobolu also enjoined the Committee to consider the
possibility of bringing into the law items that are necessary but are not
currently provided for.
He asked members of the Committee to also consider the
possibility of fashioning out of a Freedom of Information law, if they
thought that the Freedom of Information Bill presently before the National
Assembly would not satisfy the needs of the State in seeking to provide
its residents access to information.
Mr. Ayobolu said after the Bills have been drafted, the
Committee would organize a public hearing or seminar to get inputs from
other stakeholders in the media sector and members of the public before
they are presented the State House of Assembly.
He noted that although the administration of Governor Bola
Tinubu has only two years left in office, it was determined to leave
behind a legacy of a newspaper law that is in consonance with the practice
of democracy.
According to him, the present administration could not
assume that the State will always have governments that would respect the
rights of journalists to practice their profession freely and as such, it
was necessary to put in place an appropriate law that would take
cognizance of the rule of law and deny any dictatorial government any
legal basis to oppress and harass the media.
Lagos NUJ Chair, Mrs. Fadugba, who responded on behalf of
the Committee, commended the Lagos State Government for bringing in media
practitioners and human rights activists into the process of reviewing the
law and thereby ensuring that the process will be enriched. She observed
that that Government could have decided to go ahead on its own to review
the law.
She pledged the readiness of its members to do their
best to fashion a new law that would be largely acceptable to all
professionals and that will improve journalism practice in the State.
Mrs. Fadugba observed that the journalism profession was
going through a trying period in the country with journalists suffering
from non-payment of salaries for several months and suggested that the
Committee should also be allowed to look at this issue, no matter how
peripherally.
She argued that without addressing the issue, it might be
difficult to comprehensively and conclusively tackle the problem of poor
ethical conduct among journalists in the country. |
