If FoIA Will Work
AFTER all the efforts to get the Freedom of Information Act , FoIA, it is frustrating to most parties that the media are not using the Act to improve public access to information. It is easy to blame the media journalists for not being enterprising. Many have taken that curious position, without recognising defects in the FoIA. The FoIA is not for journalists alone. The misconception it would grant journalists excessive powers, for the benefit of the media, to the detriment of the larger society, was mostly responsible for the 12 years the bill was tossed round the National Assembly. It is the same misunderstanding that totally excluded the most critical aspects of our national life, the economy and environment, from the purview of the FoIA. They are seen as “national interests” to be protected from the media’s scrutiny. FoIA gives every Nigerian the right to hold our governments accountable. Most of the accountability focus is on the government in Abuja though transparency is on vacat...