Media, law and good governance

Text of a paper presented by Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN) at a Lawyers in the Media (LIM) of the
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) forum.

One other significant element of the press at that time is the establishment of printing as an industry, profession and trade. Naturally, this new techno-economic and professional activity became rooted in the South West of the country before other areas such as Onitsha. It should also be acknowledged that the target audience and market forces for the press together with journalism as a new profession propelled and fostered by western education became dominant in the South West7.

During the colonial era, certain laws were incorporated and one of such was the Official Secrets Ordinance8which was adopted from the Official Secrets Act of the United Kingdom. Also, the Seditious Offences Ordinance 1909 was a clear transplantation of an Indian legislation. However, in the post-independence era, media or press laws were enacted or promulgated by indigenous political authorities. While some were enacted by democratically elected officials representing the various constituencies of the electorates, some others were brought to life by successive military governments.

One of the first press laws was the Newspapers Ordinance No.10 of 1903 which required prospective newspaper proprietors to make, sign and swear affidavits containing their addresses and that of printers and publishers before embarking on newspaper production. They were also required to execute a bond of 250 pounds with two sureties. This was as a result of the heightened tone of press criticisms which characterized political opposition of the last years of the nineteenth century, particularly the eve of the First World War.

Broadcasting media started proper in Nigeria in 1936 when the first Radio Distribution Service (Re-diffusion) was established in Lagos and distributed the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC London) programmes. Then in May, 1960, the former Western region established its own radio station and on August 28, 1961 witnessed the passage of a bill which gave the Federal Government complete control of theNigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).The Federal Government Many decrees were promulgated by the Federal government including the one which forbade the Federal Government from establishing radio stations outside the four national stations and that the State owned radio stations’ transmitters should not exceed 10 kilowatts in capacity. This however was not the case as the rule was violated with many State radio stations acquiring powerful transmitters which could be picked beyond their territories; they also established more radio stations especially the FM stations.

As the awareness for press freedom and mass communication began to gain momentum in the early 1990s, many private radio stations were established, including RayPower 100.5 FM which happened to be the first private radio station to go on air in 1993 and which blazed a trail that has since led to the establishment not less than 30 private radio stations across the country.

Television broadcasting was also not left out. OnSaturday, October 31, 1951, the Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) was commissioned and began transmitting from the grounds of the parliamentary building with its slogan as first in Africa.

In May 1977, when the Nigeria Television Authority was inaugurated and saddled with the sole responsibility of undertaking Television Broadcasting in Nigeria, individuals were not allowed to operate television stations as the government believed that it could be dangerous for individuals to run them.This was understandable given the far reaching capacity of television and the rather parochial, regional outlook of the average Nigerian at that time.

In 1992 however, the government of General Ibrahim BadamosiBabangida bowed to the cries of proponents of private broadcasting in Nigeria, who had repeatedly clamoured for the chance for private broadcasting stations. They had argued that more jobs would be created, and that an additional source for the public to express themselves would have been created. More importantly, since the broadcasting stations were all government owned hence, the criticism of government was not allowed on the government owned stations. After all the agitations, General Babangida bowed to the public yearnings and when Decree 32 of 1992 was promulgated, it brought an end to about sixty years of government monopoly of broadcasting in Nigeriaand in 1994, Daar Communications and Silverbird Communications were issued licences.Notably, the Decree made it the prerogative of the President of the Federal Republic to sign such licenses.

Today, we have privately owned Television stations, privately owned radio stations and of course, privately owned Newspaper companies. Even more interesting, is the fact that access to the internet has enabled individuals to set up private blogs where their views are expressed to the public. Social media has also played a major role in ‘shrinking’ the world. The phrase ‘the world has become a global village’ more than aptly describes the role played by the media in the course of our development as a country.Despite the success story recorded by the mass media in Nigeria over the years under consideration, the sector has not been so smooth without some hitches and setbacks, especially, the private media. These and others shall be critically looked at as we progress.

2.The Media and the military

One cannot do justice to this paper, without mentioning some of the difficulties that early media practitioners faced at the hands of theMilitary. Some Military Regimes and their treatment of the media shall be analysed

(i)         The General Yakubu Gowon Regime

General Yakubu Gowon promulgated the Emergency Decree of 1966which made arrest and detention of Citizens without warrant lawful. By virtue of this decree, offices or premises of Newspaper companies could be searched without warrant or notice. The administration also promulgatedanother the Newspaper Prohibition of Circulation Decree 1967 which empowered the Head of the Federal Military Government to restrict the circulation of any newspaper in Nigeria. Finally, the Regime promulgated the Trade Disputes (Emergency Provision) Amendment Decree No 53 of 1969 which made it an offence for any person to publish anything inprint or electronic media, which was likely to cause public alarm or industrial unrest.

(ii)        The General Muritala Mohammed/ General Olusegun Regime

This administration further promulgated the Newspaper Public Official Report Decree which prohibited the publishing of any statement or report alluding to the corruption perpetrated by any public officer in Nigeria. Anyone who violated the provisions of this decree was guilty of an offence and be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years without option of fine.

(iii)      The General Muhammadu Buhari  Regime

The General Buhari led Military Government introduced a series of well-known Decrees.  In 1984, Decree No 2 (Detention without trial) and No.4 of 1984 (Public Officers Protection against False Accusation)were introduced.  Decree No. 2 enabled the government to detain without trial, those suspected of having committed offences. Decree No. 4 made it an offence for any form of Print or Electronic to publish or transmit any report or statement which was false. What would determine a ‘false’ report was anybody’s guess. The Decree also prohibited the circulation of any Newspaper that may be detrimental to the interest of the federation and empowered the Federal Military Government to revoke the license granted to such Wireless Telegraphy Stations under the provision of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1961. The Military Government also reserved under the Decree, the power to order the closure or forfeiture of such Newspaper.

Two journalists, Mr. NdukaIrabor and Tunde Thompson of the Guardian Newspaper were jailed based on Decree No. 4and the paper was ordered to pay N50, 000.00 (Fifty Thousand Naira) as fine.

(iv)       The General Ibrahim Babangida  Regime

The administration repealed Decree No 2 of 1984 and re-introduced another Decree titled the State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree 2 of 1984.