Chuks Oyema-Aziken
The Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Federal Capital Territory, FCT Correspondents Chapel, Jide Oyekunle has identified provisions of Section 45 of the Nigerian constitution as limitations to press freedom.
Speaking at the end of year symposium tagged: ‘Understanding The Cybercrime Act 2015, The Media Ethics Perspective’ held in Abuja on Saturday, Oyekunle said that Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which gives the press the statutory role of watchdog, is curtailed by Section 45 of the Constitution.
He said “It is no longer news that Nigeria has continued to perform badly in the Press Freedom Index over the years with the recent report on Freedom of Expression (FOE) by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) which puts Nigeria in second place behind Ghana as the worst and repressive country in West Africa.
According to the report, Nigeria recorded 5 cases of freedom of expression violations i.e three physical attacks on journalists and two attacks on media houses just between January-March 2022,
0n the Cybercrime Act, Oyekunle said” it prohibits cyberstalking in order to effectively regulate the spread of false stories and sometimes also indecent or unethical images online.
”Section 24 (1a) of the act states that any person who knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of a computer system or network that “is grossly offensive,
“The Act was signed into law by the former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 to tackle cyber fraud and boost the country’s digital economy but has been manipulated by the political class to suppress and undermine press freedom and freedom of expression.
“We have continued to emphasise that journalism is not a crime, journalism is not an opposition , journalism is the oxygen of democracy and positive change and development of any democratic society.
” I want to assure you once again from this side that we will do everything within our power to ensure that our members adhere strictly to ethics of the profession and also observe the extant laws regulating and guiding the operation of media in Nigeria.
“At this point it is expedient to state here that the Nigeria Union of Journalists will be firm and resist any measure or action capable of threatening press freedom or infringing on the rights of any journalist in Nigeria particularly Federal Capital Territory.
“We will continue to uphold and protect the fundamental objectives of the directive principles of the state policy as set out in Chapter 2 of the Constitution irrespective of the intimidation, harassment, persecution and arrest.
“If democracy is about good governance, transparency and accountability then press freedom should not be curtailed, denied, restricted or taken away.
