Democracy hollow without free press

TODAY’S World Press Freedom Day is a timely reminder of the critical role of the media in promoting the ideals of a democracy in society. It is a day to celebrate the place of a free press in a democracy and to honour the journalists who risk their lives to bring the news to the people.

The WPFD was first declared by the UN General Assembly in 1993. It is celebrated annually on May 3, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of press freedom principles issued by African journalists in 1991. This was in response to the repressive media policies of the then Apartheid regime in South Africa.

The theme of the 2024 celebration, “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis,” is apt because of the ravages of climate change.

UNEP says environmental journalists chronicle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.

In recent years, a growing number of environmental journalists have faced harassment, assault and even murder. It is reported that dozens of environmental journalists were killed in the past two decades, making it the most dangerous journalism field after war reporting.

In Nigeria, most attacks on journalists can be traced largely to politics. In the 2023 World Press Freedom Index of the global watchdog, Reporters without Borders, Nigeria ranked 123 out of 180 territories, indicating that in Africa’s most populous country, “any journalist with a choice would be wise to consider practising their vocation in that country, and only after 122 other countries become unavailable.”

The RSF added, “Nigeria is one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who are often monitored, attacked and arbitrarily arrested.”

In 2023, the Press Attack Tracker, in collaboration with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, documented 74 attacks against journalists in Nigeria between January and August 2023.

It recorded 45 instances of harassment and other violations of journalists’ rights in the first quarter of 2023, a period that coincided with the country’s 2023 general elections.

Undoubtedly, press freedom has improved under civil rule from the arbitrary days of military dictatorship when juntas arbitrarily detained journalists, shut down media houses, and proscribed publications.

But abuses persist. In March, the Editor, FirstNews newspaper, Segun Olatunji, was abducted by military troops in his Lagos home in a Gestapo-like raid over some news items that detailed corruption in government. Treated like a condemned criminal, he spent 14 days in detention without trial.

Incidents abound: online publishers, Precious Eze, and Omoyele Sowore; journalists-activists, Chido Onumah, and Jeremiah Omoniyi of the Centre of Journalism Innovation and Development, are among professionals harassed by the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services, and other state agents. Under Muhammadu Buhari, brutalised journalists included Jones Abiri, and Agba Jalingo.

In a damning report, Global Rights, an NGO, stated that 189 journalists were arrested, harassed or detained in Buhari’s eight-year rule (2015-2023).

A report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, which was published in December 2023, indicated that over 39 Nigerian journalists were attacked in that year.

The media is the Fourth Estate of the Realm with the duty to entertain, inform and educate citizens. It holds the government to account. In Nigeria, where corruption is embedded in society’s fabric, this is an onerous task. But no society can make progress without a free press.

Therefore, the Bola Tinubu government should instil respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law as it pertains to the media. The DSS, police and the military should operate strictly within the law.