FOI Bill

FOI Bill, the Hangman’s Syndrome and the Paradox of Democracy

Fela Hani

The recent decision by those who supposedly represent the people to shot down the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill as an Act of Parliament unarguably represents a very sad and contradictory commentary on Nigeria’s democratic experiment. To many of us who are students of the media especially the Nigerian media, this is a painful, even unpardonable paradox of meaning exchange.

It is indeed a pity that the Representatives of the people refused to deconstruct what their constituents want and what they yearn for – the expansion of the geography of the democratic space to ensure that all derivable benefits of a new social order trickles down to even the most disadvantaged social group. This is because once the Bill is passed the strangulating and scurrilous colonial relic called the Official Secrets Act would have been neutralized, or at least diminished in its abuse.

Besides, we will also be rid of the nauseating fixation of those who supposedly serve the people and yet think the government is different from the people. Interestingly, this is a central democratic issue the passage of the FOI Bill would have helped to put in proper perspective. An FOI Law would make governance and development become very participatory and accentuate the realization of that crucial ingredient of democracy - holding the ruler accountable to the ruled. This defining matrix of rational government and sustainable development becomes a concrete signpost rather than sophistry embedded in the Constitution. This is absolutely what the passage of the FOI Bill into law might trigger in Nigeria because the spirit behind the Bill is to institute the culture of accountability and ultimately eradicate the festering sore of impunity debasing the Nigerian social landscape.

Without being groundlessly exponential, it will be to the eternal glory of our democracy to have the FOI Bill passed quickly by the National Assembly as was done in other climes. And here I talk not about North America, Europe and Asia but right here in Africa where civilization and rational governance originated centuries ago. Today we have examples in South Africa, Angola and Uganda - all modern African States that have adopted the FOI Laws. There is also no gainsaying that the adoption of the FOI Laws in these and other countries remained a central factor in the development process in those countries.

So, let the Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members save Nigerians these wanton dilatory tactics, outright lies, nauseating rationalism, and filibustering rooted in the hangman’s syndrome. After eight years, this tactics have become futile because all right-thinking stakeholders in the FOI debacle now know that members of the National Assembly are paranoid in the manner the hangman is afraid of the sword. This is understandably so because many of the Honourables and Senators with the proverbial cupboard full of skeletons feel once the bill is passed they have the Damoclean sword hanging on their heads.

But no one who claims any commitment to democracy and social development should hesitate in offering support for the passage of FOI bill whether in Nigeria or in other climes. This is because real democracy has come to assume a way of life preferable to other forms of state organisation, essentially because of its promise of guarantee of freedom and all its derivatives.

However, there can be no real freedom in a democratic order without accountability, and by accountability I mean willingness on the part of those who people the public service to be accountable to the rest of us they claim to serve. This explains why I consider it a paradox of democracy for anyone to support this scandalous attempt to deny the people of Nigeria the right to seek information from any agency of government. But as many Nigerians believe, the National Assembly is a cesspool of corruptive vices, particularly financial corruption and blatant embezzlement of public funds, the latter being the single most portent factor debasing the Nigerian nation.

This is why I inferred that the distinguished and honourable members are scared of passing the Bill because it will be akin to giving a rope to the hangman and this National Assembly is certainly not ready to die through its own instrument. Yet this National Assembly will die either by its own instrument or any other means necessary, except it does what is just. The realistic state of the nation today is that the people of Nigeria have sent a clear, unambiguous, more distinguished and unquestionably honourable message – Pass the FOI Bill into Law.

Come to think of it, will Nigeria’s democracy not be more vibrant if those in the bastions of establishment know that all their perfidy and financial misdemeanor can now be scrutinized by anyone who has a good reason to do so? This is one of the elementary and fundamental benefits of this Bill which essence is to guarantee citizens’ right to access information. You do not need to be a legislator to know this but it places a special burden on those who contest election to represent the people and that is – they ought to know a lot about social issues especially issues of interest to their constituents.

It is therefore laughable to learn that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives feels Members of the House need more education on the FOI Bill to enable them to support its passage. Just the same way it is ridiculous for the Senate President to say that the Newspapers Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) should get rid of quacks in the media first before National Assembly would give consideration to the FOI Bill. Indeed, these deceitful slips of two principal officers of the National Assembly revealed the depth of our national malaise. It is such a contradiction that these people and their cohorts refused to come to terms with the fact that they were ‘elected’ to carry out the wishes of the people. Yeah! The people, not just the media, for the Bill was not conceived for the benefit of practitioners of mass communication alone. It is for the benefit of all of us as citizens of a supposedly democratized nation.

The question then arises – How much education does a man require on an issue? Here is a Bill initiated since 1999 and those of us who are not even intimately involved in legislative advocacy process are aware of the Bill’s tortuous journey. Hence, I suppose anyone seeking election into the National Assembly ought to be familiar with the trend in the hallowed chambers. Accordingly, even new members of the National Assembly should be able to talk on this matter. It is therefore grotesque to find that many members of the National Assembly still do not understand the connection between the FOI Bill and the deepening of our democratic process. I am ashamed that the Senate President, who is the Chairman of National Assembly, did not have a good grasp of the issues, which is why he reduced everything to freedom of information for journalists. It is an irony that while every civil society organisation that matters has given support to the passage of the Bill because of the appropriateness of what it seeks to entrench in our body politic, we are being told cock and bull stories by legislators who should actually should know better or go back to school.

For the avoidance of doubt, the National Assembly needs to be told (as part of the education which it seeks) that its members’ mortal fear of the media which seemed to be the basis of this onslaught against the people is uncalled-for. Hence, the chorus of ‘NAY’ to shoot down the Bill is very dishonourable, criminal and bizarre. As Steve Ayorinde puts it, “there is nothing honourable about naysayers”.

As I reflect on this issue I feel obliged to also ask - what kind of country do we have? A country where every Tom, Dick and Harry can become a legislator; where people want to hold public office but do not want to be accountable and yet we lay claim to practising democracy. A country where the words ‘distinguished’ and ‘honourable’ as legislative prefixes have been redefined to mean their exact opposites?

God helped the giant who is perpetually crippled.