Journalists Told To Enforce FOI Act

Nigerian journalists have

            been urged to enforce the Freedom of  Information  Law (FOI) which entitles anyone to have access to information being kept away by some public officials.

   Making the assertion recently  at a one-day training for some selected journalists on Impact of  Freedom of Information Law organised by the US Embassy in Lagos, Ms Elizabeth Bryant, said there was an urgent need for the media and civil society organisations in Nigeria to take advantage of the act and hold the government accountable.

Describing information as light and very vital to human existence, she enjoined journalists to go to court to compel any government agency that refuses to give information when demanded but   charged journalists to ensure that correct information is published in order not to mislead the public or infringe on the right of the people.

The Paris – based American print/radio journalist urged the media in the country to rely more on documented information to avoid label.

In her words, “the importance attached to FOI Act remains the fact that it makes government accountable to the public and thereby giving openness on the part of government and its agencies.

The FOI which is made available to the journalists and not the public reduces the citizen’s right to access to information”, she added.

In a separate interview a Lagos based lawyer, Mr Emeka Akabogu, stated that the official secret Act of 1962 is still in force which is an albatross to the implementation of FOI Act.

He also chided government agencies for not having necessary information and for refusing to give simple pieces of information to outsiders.

According to him, the Act is the foundation of dismantling secrecy in governance in Nigeria and crucial to the healthy functioning of our society and would directly affect the quality of life of all of us.