World Press Freedom Day and other matters

 

In the last few days, two international events were held in Nigeria. The first was the International Workers’ Day and the second, World Press Freedom Day. Last Saturday, May 1, 2021 was the International Labour Day, also known as Workers Day or May Day. In Nigeria, in order to enable workers to mark the day, the Federal Government declared Monday, May 3, 2021 as public holiday. In celebration of the day, workers filed out in their numbers at stadia across the country to celebrate with march past and speeches from the governors and the labour union leaders. In Abuja, the President was represented at the ceremony at the Eagle Square by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr.  Chris Ngige, who assured workers of better packages to cushion the economic effects of COVID-19 on their resources, stressing that his regime had put in place some socio-economic policies to alleviate poverty. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, in his own message, expressed the commitment of his administration to create at least 395,000 jobs in the next few months, with an average monthly wage of N55,000 above the N30,000 national minimum wage. This is laudable!

In their May Day address titled: ‘COVID-19, Social and Economic Crises: Challenges for Decent Work, Social Protection and Peoples Welfare’, jointly read by the President of Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Quadiri Olaleye, they demanded an upward review in the salaries of civil servants despite the fact that many state and local governments have been unable to pay the approved N30,000 minimum wage signed into law since 2019.  On the national minimum wage, the labour leaders added, “For Nigerian workers, it has been a catalogue of workplace and trade union rights violations. First is the criminal refusal by some state governors to pay the new national minimum wage and consequential increase in salaries thus violating workers’ rights. We have already directed all our state councils to declare strike actions if any governor remains adamant about paying the new national minimum wage.”

Indeed, Nigerian workers have little or nothing to celebrate given their plight. Many companies have had to downsize and right size (euphemism for staff retrenchment) due to insecurity, high cost of doing business as well as COVID-19 pandemic. A 2016 Human Rights Watch report titled, “They set classroom on fire”, reported that, “At least 611 teachers have been deliberately killed and a further 19,000 have been forced to flee since 2009” in the North-East Nigeria due to attacks from Boko Haram insurgents. Some teachers were also among the 42 people abducted in Kagara, Niger State in February 2021.

Aside from these, many companies like banks and factories have resorted to casualisation in order to reduce their operating cost, especially to avoid providing health insurance, pension and gratuities for their workers. Even for those workers who have full entitlements, many of them are not promoted as and when due, their leave bonus is also not paid on time while despite the contributory pension scheme initiated by the Federal Government since 2004, many are still having issues collecting their pensions and gratuities after retirement. In fact, many states have not adopted the contributory pension scheme.

Labour creates wealth and it is high time government at all levels prioritised workers’ welfare. If only the President, governors and chairmen of councils can cut down on frivolous expenses and overheads, there is nothing that makes it impossible for them to pay the N30,000 minimum wage. This is because the unemployment rate put at 33.3 per cent by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2021 has compounded labour’s woes due to high dependency ratio as one worker is now catering to the needs of over 10 dependents. Besides, given the rising cost of foodstuffs, rent and utilities, Nigerian workers are at present experiencing a high cost of living rather than high standard of living. This needs to be promptly addressed.

On the World Press Freedom Day which was observed on May 3, 2021, I was on “People’s Assembly” on Hot 98.3 FM Abuja and “Nigeria Today” on NTA New 24 to discuss the significance of the day. I was on the NTA with the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Chris Isiguzor to discuss “Press Freedom with Responsibility”. This year’s theme was, “Information for Public Good”. According to UNESCO, “May 3 acts as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom and is also a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Just as importantly, the World Press Freedom Day is a day of support for the media which is the target for the restraint, or abolition, of press freedom. It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the pursuit of a story.”

The 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders better known as RSF shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or partly blocked in 73 per cent of the 180 countries ranked by the organisation. From its initial 115 position in 2020, according to the RSF, Nigeria now ranks 120 out of 180 countries. Reporters without Borders says, “Nigeria is now one of West Africa’s most dangerous and difficult countries for journalists, who are often spied on, attacked, arbitrarily arrested or even killed.”

As I noted elsewhere on Monday, Nigerian journalists face a lot of physical, psychological and sociological violence. Given credence to the opinion of RSF, a statement jointly signed by the Nigeria Guild of Editors President, Mr. Mustapha Isah, and General Secretary, Mrs. Mary Atolagbe, to mark the World Press Freedom Day, noted that journalists across the world face grave challenges while some have paid the supreme price because most governments still perceive journalists as intruders into the public space. Quoting data from the International Federation of Journalists, the largest global body of journalists from over 140 countries, the NGE stated that 66 journalists were murdered in 2020 alone while more than 1,000 journalists have died from COVID-19 in 73 countries since the start of the pandemic. Also referencing the Committee to Protect Journalists, the organisation disclosed that 274 journalists were jailed in 2020 for doing their job of treating information as a public good. “In Nigeria, several journalists have suffered harassment, some detained arbitrarily while some were murdered in cold blood by unknown assailants.”

The NGE said, “In 2020, alone, no fewer than 60 journalists in Nigeria faced life and career-threatening challenges in the form of intimidation, arrest and detention. Three journalists were killed within the same period, one by security forces during a protest in Abuja and two by unknown gunmen in Adamawa and Nasarawa states. Attacks on journalists, their offices were not spared. Several media outlets were attacked and torched by irate mob during the #EndSARS protests, with four media outlets fined for their coverage of the protests while others were fined for airing dissenting opinions. The Guild condemns very strongly these attempts at muzzling the media,”

In December 2020, I presented a paper at the capacity building workshop organised by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung for some journalists across the print and electronic media, titled, “Press Freedom Before, During and After Elections in Nigeria”. I used the opportunity to call for the implementation of some of the recommendations of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria during the lead up to the 2019 General Election. As we prepare for the 2023 General Election, it is imperative to call on the relevant authorities to do the needful. The recommendations that need to be implemented are: Recommendation 18: “Establish a legal and regulatory system that transforms the Federal Government-owned media, the NTA and FRCN, into genuine public service broadcasters. This includes provisions for editorial independence, financial autonomy, clear separation from any government institution, and an open and competitive selection process of the management.” Recommendation 19: “Transform the National Broadcasting Commission into a genuinely independent media regulatory body. Establish institutional transparency and accountability requirements, and the selection of the board and director through an open, inclusive and competitive system, with a cross-party approval mechanism and/or participation of industry professionals.”

Recommendation 20: (Priority recommendation): “Reform the licensing system for broadcast media to provide for pluralism and diversity in all states. Ownership structures be publicised, powers to grant licences be vested in the National Broadcasting Commission without presidential approval, and licence fees be tailored to the economic circumstances in each state.” Recommendation 21: “Remove or revise vague legislative provisions that have been used to overly restrict freedom of expression in the media and online. In particular, the vague definitions of “cyberstalking” in the 2015 Cybercrimes Act and “classified matters” included in Article 9 of the Official Secrets Act.” Lastly, Recommendation 22: “Adopt a data protection law as well as other mechanisms to protect citizens’ right to privacy of their personal data, both online and offline.”

Both the International Workers Day and World Press Freedom Day are mutually reinforcing. Workers of any ilk, whether journalists or any other profession, deserve a living wage and decent working conditions including health insurance, rent allowance, transport allowance, leave bonus, good working tools and on retirement, prompt payment of their pension and gratuity.