Navigating press freedom, human rights in uncertain political climate, by Anote Ajeluorou

THANK you, Dr. Patrick Jude-Otteh of Jos Repertory Theatre (JRP), and thank you everyone. Good morning to the house. This is quite a privilege which I do not take lightly. I will be sharing my thoughts on Press Freedom and Human Rights in our country, Nigeria. Ordinarily, press freedom should be a given in a democracy. That is, the abilities of journalists of all shades to be able to share their ideas, to report stories as they happen, and to investigate, where applicable. Luckily, we have one crack investigative journalist in our midst, Lady Ejiro Umukoro of LightRay Media. So, how much of press freedom do Nigerian journalists enjoy? And then, how does such freedom also connect with human rights?

Of course, roughly about two weeks ago, a friend who is an investigative journalist, Mr. Fisayo Soyinbo of Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) was invited by the Police Force in Abuja. Why? Because his platform reported on a former Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari who made a complaint. She was also a former commissioner in Lagos state, Mrs. Adejoke Adefope. What does that tell us? We also have another incident with the renowned investigative journalist, Mr. David Hundeyin. I just read the two books he released recently – The Jungle and Breaking Point: A Journalist’s Quest for Salvation in Nigeria’s Chaos. These two books detail his works in the area of investigative journalism, both in the political environment and the business climate in Nigeria, and when you read these books you will see the underbelly of our country and the things that need to be put right.

And, of course, he had to flee the country in 2020 in the heat of #EndSARS to Ghana, from there he went on exile to the West. He was part of the first wave of #EndSARS protesters in Abuja, and when he saw they were coming after him, he went away. That also gave him the leverage to be able to do a lot more things. We all were witnesses to the court drama from Nigeria to the United States involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whether he had certificate or no certificate, drug deal or no drug deal, and all that saga. These are things he has detailed in his book, Breaking Point.

The question then is, why is it important to have a free press in any country at all? Of course, the press is regarded as the fourth estate of the realm; that is to say that you have the judiciary, you have the legislature, and you have the presidency. And the fourth arm of government becomes the media. So what is their job? These other three are the levers of government, one way or another, but the media doesn’t quite have that lever, and their job is to hold these three arms of government to account for what they do or don’t do for the citizen of any country.

So how free or otherwise the media is determines how much of reportage on these three arms of government that the citizens get to know, because without the journalist, or journalism mediating between government and the governed, it becomes difficult for the citizens to know what is happening inside government. But what we have found is that- and of course, a writer once said that governments and big corporations love to cover or hide information, making it difficult for the man on the street to understand what is going on. It is therefore the duty of the journalist to find out what government is doing, what big corporations are doing, and then tell the public, and that also forms what decisions the public could take, if it’s a democratic government, whether to give them power again in the next election cycle or not. And if it’s the military, then of course, there is no such chance, but then the press would still be able to hold the government to account.

Journalist and Writer, Anote Ajeluorou

We were all here during the military dictatorship that we endured for so many years, what the press did in being instrumental to the ousting of the military that led to civilians holding political power today. So, it’s the duty of the journalists to hold these arms of government to account for what they do, and in an era or when the press is not free, not able to perform it’s functions properly and diligently the way it ought to, it means that the citizens will suffer. We were all witnesses here about a week or two ago of the #EndBadGovernance protests across the country, or in some parts of the country and how government tried to stop it and threatened the media not to report it. A very undemocratic move indeed by a government elected through the ballot.

The second part I would like to talk about is human rights, and how press freedom amplifies it in such a way that everybody has a fair share of what they should have, and even if they don’t have a fair share, there’s that consistent campaign for that first share to be had. Of course, human rights are rights to human dignity every citizen of a country should have — liberty to move and associate, right to food and security, right to shelter, right to education, and even right to jobs. And in our Nigerian environment, how much of these rights do we have and enjoy? That becomes the question. The #EndBadGovernance protest was about food shortages, food insecurity and security issues. So, any wonder that Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. Of course, not.

Of course, right to education is also there. I was speaking with a lady friend the other day and she was talking with a professor who just retired, and she was lamenting how she was going to get money to travel abroad to celebrate the graduation of one of the kids, and that’s quite ironic; for a professor in a Nigerian university not to have faith in Nigerian universities where she teaches, or where she taught for so many years, to the point of retirement, but sent her child outside the country for the same education that she gives to other Nigerian children. What does that say about our education? Do we really have the right to education, proper education?

And #EndSARS was about the liberty that most Nigerian youths didn’t enjoy in the hands of the SARS component of the Nigeria Police that led to that massive and disastrous protest which led to the disbandment of that infamous unit. The absence of these rights would indicate that a country in which these rights are not easily available to everybody has a problem. So, the media should be able to consistently campaign for these rights.

We were witnesses a few days ago to the brutal murder of a traditional ruler in Sokoto State. Of course, that is one percent of what happens across the country as Nigerians are being held hostage by non-state, terror actors. So in terms of insecurity, we are not there. We were here also during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, when the media was asked not to report the criminalities that were happening across the country in terms of banditry, terrorism, and the media was expressly told not to report them. Twitter (now X) was banned. That was from a government that promised that it would end insecurity in three months. It tells you that the government is not capable of providing what the constitution mandates it to provide, but it is asking the media not to report them. Tinubu’s government warned the media not to report hunger protesters and bad governance, don’t report protest for insecurity in the country. It can’t be sadder, as a matter of fact.

So, a free press will also fight for human rights, obviously, and even as limited, as hampered as the Nigerian media is, it still does its job to a degree. Of course, we may not all agree the level or degree to which it is doing its job, but we get to know these things that happen. In a country where citizens are protesting for the government to alleviate the hunger in the land, the president is buying a brand new plane, a brand new car. Put together, they’re worth over N160 billion. The other day SERAP took the Senate President and the House Speaker to court for them to disclose how much they truly earn. That is civic engagement by the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Programme (SERAP) group. The media also has a part to play.

How do we then move forward with these circumscribing circumstances that the media finds itself? How do we encourage them to do their job the more? How do we assist them? How do we, in totality and as a people, campaign for our rights to liberty, to food, security, to education and to jobs, in an environment that is so hostile to economic activities, so much so that the oil majors are pulling out? Oando just concluded a deal to buy out Agip. Shell has since pulled out. These are the things, and that is why we need to strengthen the enforcement of Freedom of Information Act (FoIA). Journalists need to leverage on the Act to get the information they need to make their reports or investigations into government activities deeper. Civil society organisation need to help the media when they are being stopped from doing their work. This is key, because a free press means citizens will enjoy more rights as enshrined in the constitution.

So education is key, and that is why we need quality education, and we can learn from the example of the professor who took her children abroad to be educated because she doesn’t have confidence in the education she is giving to other Nigerian children. We all need to fight to get our education managed properly the way it should. And right now, when we look at the budget for education from federal to state governments, it doesn’t give much room for cheer. So, our civic engagement should also be in that direction, because that is also part of good leadership, or good governance that we all need. Our education needs more funding, so that our children can receive the kind of quality education that would make them understand that they belong to this space.

On freedom of expression, there is an organization in Lagos called Unchained Vibes Africa (UVA) that regularly organizes seminars on these issues, the right of artist/es to express themselves freely without hindrance. Artists that are hurting, that are being prevented, more or less, from doing the kind of work they’re doing; artistes who criticize ills in society, things that are happening in the society that they don’t like; the way they are engaging with these issues through their music, their arts, whether it’s theatre, whether it’s literature, whether it’s film, they need to have a voice. And there has been a lot of push back from the establishment, from government. ‘Oh, you cannot do this’; ‘you cannot use police uniform to shoot your videos’; ‘you cannot do this, you cannot do that’. But what I think is that our artists need to be educated enough to know how to deploy their art in a way that even when they are criticising government or individuals, you need some level of coded language to do that, because the truth is that if you insult anyone, you’d be held liable. There are some expressions you use that are so obvious, and they’re going to hold you to account. So, there should be some, well, let me call it self-censorship perhaps, in such a way that the deployment of euphemisms can enable you to say a lot of things without getting into trouble, particularly when you know the kind of environment you are operating in, that likely they could come for you.

And there’s always this saying that your right stops where mine begins. So how does your freedom of expression not injure me while saying what you want to say? These are some of the intricacies around freedom of expression. It also shows on our level of education and civic responsibility, because those who sit in positions of power believe they are the Kabiyesis, the Obas, Alaafins, and the Emirs of our time, and so they cannot be questioned, held to account, beyond reproach. In a democracy, that is nonsense, but that’s what we find. It’s also because they are not doing what they should do, because if you’re doing what you’re supposed to do as a leader in whatever position, whether governor, president, local government chairman, or the boss of a government agency, you shouldn’t be afraid of criticism. It’s for you to come out and explain what you are doing, and if there are misconceptions from the public, it’s your duty to explain things to them, and for you to be transparent. It’s only those who are not transparent who frown at criticism or expressions that tend to call them out to account.

In terms of freedom of expression, that’s what I will like to say. As artists, make your compositions, make your art in such a way that you deploy euphemism, coded language, because of our peculiar environment; because they will come for you if you are so open, so direct. Deploy euphemism and other forms of subversive imageries to convey your message, because you could be taken to court. Whichever medium you choose to convey your art, whether it’s music or literature or whatever, don’t leave evidence that gives them the satisfaction t osay, ‘Oh, but you said this!’ So, to avoid that, circumnavigate, use coded imageries and get your art out. Thank you.

Ajeluorou, a media and culture professional, gave the virtual talk on ‘Press Freedom & Human Rights’ on August 23, 2024 via GoogleMeet, organised by Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Czech Aid under The Transparency Project in support of Beautiful Camp in collaboration with Jos Repertory Theatre