By Judex Okoro

In any democratic dispensation, the media plays a significant role of traditionally informing, educating, and entertaining the society. Besides, in every sane clime, the media holds those in position of authorities accountable to the people; the media protects citizens’ rights and privileges to ensure that leaders don’t transform into dictators overnight by trampling on those inalienable rights as maybe enshrined in the supreme laws of the land.

Many analysts argue that the average government functionary in public domain, especially in Nigeria, has something to hide no matter his protestation to the contrary. What he wants is positive publicity that can make him or his agency look good in the eyes of the public or the boss. It is, therefore, the duty of journalists to defend public rights against encroachment by state and corporate powers by performing the role of watchdog.

It is in recognition of these inalienable rights of journalists and the citizens that the framers of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended in 2011, in Sections 22 and 39 outlined the obligation of the mass media and the right to freedom of expression and the press.  While Section 22 states that ‘the Press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives …and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people,’ Section 39 (1) adds that ‘every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.’

Therefore, any attempt to infringe or deny anybody of such right is akin to sniffing oxygen from a living being. The consequence of such action is death. Critical observers argue that that is what the Minister of information, Lai Mohammed and the Federal Government wish for Nigerians and the electorate that cast their votes for the APC administration in 2015 and 2019 after they had promised us bread and butter. Now, the perception is that the APC government is giving the people stones in place of bread and draconian laws in place of butter by introducing the sixth broadcast code.

Indeed, it is paradoxical and antithetical of sort that the APC-led government that promised freedom, security and economic emancipation turned around to gag the press and even the citizens. In the calculation of many, after successful transition of power from a ruling party to opposition party, the APC is making a Volta face on pursuing and consolidating democratic tenets and practices. The perception of critical observers is that five years down the line, the change government has emasculated Nigerians and the law, with a new broadcast code.

The new broadcast code is seen in many quarters as a surreptitious return to Decree 4 (Public Officers Protection Against False Publications) promulgated in 1984 by the then Military head of state, Gen Muhammadu Buhari. Shortly after its promulgation, two former journalists of The Guardian Newspaper, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson, were on their way to prison for refusing to divulge the source of a story, which allegedly embarrassed the military regime.

Enter the draconian amendment

No doubt, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has been at the forefront of the fight against what he termed ‘hate speech.’ Mohammed has been piqued at the audacity of the Nigerian media since the Buhari-led administration took over the mantle of leadership. To him, the new government should be seen as having done no wrong, nor perceived to have done wrong. The integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari, in his estimation, must not be dented. Rather, it must be protected at all times. He has relentlessly made Nigerians believe that the greatest challenge facing the administration is hate speech. To him, if we don’t kill hate speech, it would in turn kill Nigeria. No wonder that he declared war against hate speech and the so-called harbingers of it. And to ensure total compliance from Nigerians, the minister unveiled the reviewed sixth Broadcast Code on August 4, 2020 in Lagos.

Presenting the new code, Mohammed said the amendments were necessitated by a Presidential directive, in the wake of the 2019 general elections. According to him, it is aimed at repositioning the National Broadcasting Code, NBC, for optimum performance. In the amended code, the ministry increased the fine for “hate speech” from N500, 000 to N5 million. It also announced tougher regulation of web broadcast among others.

It needs be pointed out here that shortly after the 2019 general elections, some members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) raised an eye brow over what they described as campaign of calumny and hate that dominated the airwaves during electioneering. They had drawn the attention of the Minister of Information and had suggested the need to strengthen the operations of Nigeria Broadcasting Commission, NBC, to nib such occurrence in the bud.

Behold the casualties of new code

With the inauguration of the new code, some media organisations and Nigerians are in a quandary on how to cope in terms of free speech. For Nigerians, all are casualties of the new code.

And like the late John Pepper Clark in his poem, The Casualties’ said, ‘the casualties are not only those who are dead or well out of it,’ it includes those ‘that await burial by instalment.’ Of course, and as expected, the first casualty was Nigeria Info 99.3 FM. On Thursday, last week, the NBC fined Info 99.3 FM N5m for “providing its platform to be used to promote unverifiable and inciting views that can incite crime and public disorder.”

The decision to fine the radio station was as a result of the interview the station granted the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia, who claimed that one of the governors in the North was the leader of the extremist group, Boko Haram.

Mailafia was on Wednesday, last week invited by DSS at their Plateau State office and released after being grilled for about six hours. According to his lawyer, Bawa Ba, his client was again invited on Monday, August 1, 2020 for further questioning.

Furthermore, the Department of State Service (DSS) has invited the Co-Chair of National Consultative Front (NCFront) and former House of Representatives Speaker, Ghali Umar Na’aba for questioning. The former Speaker had granted an interview to Channels Television recently, where he was quoted to have said that the NCFront is working to bring about a new Nigeria that works for all.

Confirming the invitation, the Head, Public Affairs Bureau, NCFront National Headquarters, Dr Tanko Yunusa, said: “Our Leader, Ghali Umar Na’aba has decided to honour the DSS invitation and therefore shall be visiting the DSS Headquarters in Abuja on Monday at 12noon. All NCFront organs, structures and allies nationwide are by this notice, put on the alert, as “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

Reactions trail the amendment

No doubt, the code, since its amendment, has stirred up controversy in the industry with many Nigerians kicking against its provisions. Many Nigerians view the move as a backdoor attempt to clamp down on the media and control free speech.

Firing the first salvo, the chairman of the National Broadcasting Commission board, Ikra Bilbis,  said the NBC was set up by law and there is an Act that guides its operations and added that the Minister  cannot usurp the powers of the board as clearly stated in the act as any such action by the Minister is illegal.

Biblis said: “The board of the NBC wishes to make it quite clear that as long as it is in place, the only NB Code that we recognize and which we shall work within the setting of operating policies and standards for the NBC is the 6th edition of the NB Code which was launched in 2019 in Kano. The board was informed the launch of the new codes.

He said the minister has failed to show the approval of “his own version” by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Taking a swipe at the new code, the President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo, in a release dated Agust 17, 2020, condemned the N5 million fine imposed by the National Broadcasting Organisation (NBC) on Nigeria Info Radio for an alleged hate speech and called on the Federal Government to end the impunity for all crimes against journalists and the Media.

Maintaining that the fine is outrageous and an act of impunity against the media, Isiguzo said it is disheartening that for several years now, Nigeria has continued to record some of the highest levels of violence targeting journalists in the media.

The President described such act as unacceptable to the Union, adding that “we would continue to advocate for measures on safety and security of journalists and press freedom.

He appealed to all stakeholders to join in the war against impunity on the press just as he called on NBC to withdraw the offensive fine forthwith, urging the Commission  to seek better ways and means of dealing with hate speech and fake news.

Questioning the sincerity of this government with regard to the new code, the National Publicity Secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigerian, PFN, Bishop Emmah Isong, said the new code is contradictory to the freedom of speech.

Isong, who doubles as the Chairman of Cross River State Anti Tax Agency, said: “ it is very surprising that a government that could not fulfil its 2015 and 2019 campaign promises rather turned around to think of how to gag all of us from talking about what they could not give Nigerians. We had expected them to face squarely the burning issues of insecurity and incessant killings across the country. Inviting or intimidating politicians and some personalities who are said to have criticised the administration is going off the mark.”

Faulting the Federal Government on the new code, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ntufam Mba Ukweni, said the government should rather focus attention on how to improve the welfare and safety of Nigerians amidst the pandemic and not to dissipate energy on who to clamp down on.

Pointing out that the only constraints were defamation and sedition, Ukweni stated, “I am completely against the issue of hate speech because there is already an existing law that takes care of that.”

Source: Daily Sun