Enduring democracy: The need for a bold Media
Shocked by the recent suspension of the operations of the microblogging platform, Twitter in the country, my first son, a graduate of History and International Relations who belongs to the generation of largely apolitical youths of this country made a shocking statement that makes the this topic very apt.
“I didn’t know that the government can be this powerful. I never imagined that the government can suspend Twitter just like that and we will be struggling to have access to what we all took for granted before” he said.
My response was that he should have known that the government is indeed powerful with constitutional provisions to decide on various aspects of our lives, but the suspension of Twitter, which I described as unfathomable, is an abuse of power.
I told him that under a military regime as he knows, based on the final year project he wrote on the media under the military regime: A case study of The Punch, such a decision would not have been as shocking as it is in a democratic administration.
Unfortunately, here we are, under a government that rode to power with the massive use of the traditional and new media to discredit the previous administration, battling to insist on having respect for the freedom of expression of the citizens and the press.
As the US Government aptly stated in its official response to the continued suspension on Thursday, the threat to prosecute users of the platform and warning by the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to broadcast stations to stop using Twitter is undemocratic.
“Unduly restricting the ability of Nigerians to report, gather, and disseminate opinions and information has no place in a democracy. Freedom of expression and access to information both online and offline are foundational to prosperous and secure democratic societies.”
I acknowledge the concern of the government about the misuse of social media by some individuals and organization and the need to tighten the moderation of such abuses by social media companies, but we must not allow our government to give a dog a bad name just to hang it.
Having failed to get through its desired social media bills to stifle civil discourse which are most times damming verdict on the performance of the government, the administration will stop at nothing to get its pound of flesh from the window of opportunity to regulate not only the social media, but even the traditional platforms considering the contentions penalties the NBC been regularly imposing on broadcast stations.
How can NBC be asking broadcast stations to deactivate their Twitter handles when the regulatory organization, the Presidency and other officials have not done the same.
With a government like this that seems determined to tamper with the freedom of the media and the rights of the citizens in various ways and endanger our cherished return to democratic dispensation, we need a very bold and not just a bold media.
If our democracy is to endure without fear of desecration of its basic and fundamental tenets which could return us to the pre-1999 era as we are witnessing in some neighbouring countries, the media must effectively play its watchdog roles without fear or favour.
We must not be a lap dog as the distinguished Professor of Mass Communication of the University of Lagos, Ralph Akinfeleye once noted. We must monitor, watch, bark and if need be bite. We cannot afford to be regarded as a toothless dog by the public who depend on us to speak up on their behalf.
We must not take it for granted that we are far gone into having a democratic government that cannot be truncated based on the worrisome state of the nation and gradual slide to anarchy.
The media must be alive to its responsibilities and not be cowed by threats by self-professed democrats and defenders of the rule of the law whose actions and inactions are denying Nigerians the full dividends of democracy.
The government will definitely not be comfortable with our coverage most of the time, but our focus should be that of strengthening our democracy than doing the bidding of the government.
Thankfully, unlike other professionals, the role of the media to hold the government accountable to the people is clearly stated in the constitution and we must boldly assert our independence as the fourth estate of the realm.
We must not condone the ongoing abuse of powers as it is the case of a pronouncement not backed by law to deny Nigerians their freedom of expression and other instances before now and check the excesses of government officials who seemed to have forgotten their oath of office to uphold the fundamental principles of the constitution.
Since democracy is supposed to be the government of the people, for the people and by the people, the media must insist on good governance which will ensure that elected officials at all levels fulfil their electoral promises.
For our democracy to endure, the need for effective separation of powers as contained in the constitution must be respected by all arms of government.
Every arm of the presidential system of government we are practising must be made to be alive to their responsibilities.
To be bold and speak truth to power the media must not be contented with routine reporting and analysis of government policies and actions. We must more than ever before insist on optimum performance and compliance with democratic norms.
We must be bold and free enough to provide incisive and investigative reports even if the government will not like it. Our interviews must cover necessary issues that require answers, our editorial and commentaries must be pungent and unsparing.
With fact-checking and data journalism, we must not spare the government or any of its officials who make false claims or twist facts to deceive the public.
We should invoke the freedom of Information Act when necessary and ensure that the people are not denied the information they should have.
That will be backlashes and attempts to cow us in form of all kinds of harassments, attacks, arrests, detention and others but we must remain bold and regard whatever happens as part of the hazards of the job.
The Nigeria Union of Journalists and other media groups must be ready to stand by us when we are not allowed to do our work the way we should in defence of democracy.
Being bold does not mean we should not acknowledge achievements or progress recorded in any sector. We should, so we don’t give the wrong impression that “government is not doing anything “as some analysts say.
If what is being done is not good enough let’s say so, but not that nothing is being done.
Being bold is not a license to be reckless. Our freedom should be exercised with a high sense of responsibility. We must abide by the ethics of the profession and not allow content that will make it easy for our detractors to label us as purveyors of fake news and junk analysts.
I must not fail to note that it will be easy to be bold and damn any consequence for doing our expected job when our media organizations have the required wherewithal for their operations and journalists are adequately remunerated.
Necessary attention should be paid to the corporate viability of media organizations and commensurate salaries and allowances for journalists.
A bold and professional media is indeed a major pillar to having enduring democracy anywhere in the world. To a large extent, the Nigerian media has been doing its best despite limitations to be as bold as possible.
We can only hope that it will remain steadfast as we march forward to have democracy firmly rooted in our country.
