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Nothing threatens our struggling, nascent democracy more than the recurring anti-people legislations being churned out at an alarming rate by the current National Assembly. From the contentious Cybercrimes Act, with sections which are being used to clampdown on bloggers and journalists to the bills to amend the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Acts, which the promoters have hurriedly suspended following intense public outcry, especially by media practitioners and other stakeholders against the toxic bills.
Since 1999 till date, there have been attempts by our federal lawmakers to unduly gag the press either through ubiquitous social media law to hate speech law, all of which did not see the light of the day because of avalanche of criticisms by many Nigerians. Granted that the beauty of any democracy is the observance of it tenets which include the freedom of speech and freedom of association. Another visible aspect of democracy is the principle of separation of powers which grant independence to the three arms of government-the executive, legislature and judiciary- and yet allow them to work together for the smooth running of society.
The three arms of government exist to ensure checks and balances in a democratic system and avoid authoritarism or dictatorship of the executive which oftentimes takes the legislature and the judiciary for granted and coerce them to do its bidding. Apart from its oversight functions, the duty of the legislature is first and foremost to make good laws for the orderly running of society so that democracy can flourish and endure. But the current attempt to muzzle the media through the anti-people bills to amend the NPC and NBC Acts by the National Assembly will vitiate the ideals of democracy if such bills are no dropped immediately.
It is commendable that Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian guild of Editors (NGE), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and concerned Nigerians have resisted the unpopular move by the lawmakers. Although the promoters of the suspended bills have argued that their move is so to regulate media practice. They believe that certain things are wrong with media practice at present. And to cure such ills, they think that the best way to do so is by making laws that prevent the media and even other Nigerians from expressing themselves freely. But already, there are enough laws in the country regulating media practice.
Instead of suspending the questionable bills, the best thing is for the National Assembly to throw away the bills and concentrate on amending the flawed 1999 Constitution to make the country governable. The calls for restructuring, creation of state police and devolution of powers should engage the attention of the lawmakers more than any other thing else. The creation of state police will largely address the present insecurity bedeviling the country. The fear of abuse by some state actors must not impede the move to create state police as obtains in any other federal system the world over.
For instance, in the United States (US) from where we borrowed our presidential system, there are several layers of policing including federal, state, city and county police among others. Some institutions in the US have their own policing system. Having centralized policing, the type we have in the country at present is no longer in practice and cannot solve our mounting security challenges. We also need laws to regulate our democracy and make it inclusive and gender friendly. The current emphasis on money politics cannot take the country very far.
The lawmakers should also make laws to guide power rotation arrangement between the North and South to avoid the unnecessary acrimony that attends every of our election cycle on which zone will produce the country’s president. Since we have six geo-political zones in the country, if possible the power rotation law must specify which of the zones will produce the president at each point in time. Another issue the federal lawmakers must pay serious attention to is giving the country a good law that must ensure credible and transparent election before the 2023 poll.
The electoral law should give Nigerians an independent electoral umpire and make electronic transmission of election results mandatory. One way to ensure that our votes count at each election season is to transmit the results electronically. Our practice with manual transmission of election result has been disastrous and led to unpleasant electoral outcomes and consequences. We need laws to make our elections less acrimonious. Without credible electoral laws, our elections will continue to be violent and bloody considering the winner-takes-all mentality of our presidential system of government.
Voting in elections must be the hallmark of our democracy but oftentimes, voting during polls becomes a war in our own brand of ‘do or die’ politics where all manner of lethal weapons are deployed during polls by practically all the stakeholders to coast home to victory irrespective of the method used to achieve the aim. The success of otherwise of any democracy depends so much on the quality of its lawmakers. We recall the US under Donald Trump and what transpired before he left office. All democratic institutions including the legislature remained loyal to the constitution of the US and never to Trump.
Unfortunately, our democracy is not where it should be simply because some of our lawmakers are willing tools in the hands of the executive. Their blind loyalty to the executive is not the way to go in a democracy. A rubber-stamp legislature is not good for any democracy and must be jettisoned. For the narrative to change, the lawmakers, especially at the federal level must stand up to be counted. They must rise up to the occasion and salvage the country at each point it is drifting to the valley of death.
If they by omission or commission enact anti-people laws today, maybe tomorrow, they may reap the fruits of such laws. Any law that tramples on freedom of speech and the right of the press to function without being gagged is a bad law. Such a law is not only against media practice, it is against democracy and the people. For instance, Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states unambiguously that “The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.”
The suspended bills to amend the NPC and NBC Acts impinge on this freedom given to the media by the constitution. That is why the toxic bills should not only be suspended but thrown away indefinitely. They also will undermine Section 39 (1) of the Constitution, which states eloquently that “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.” As representatives of the people, they must wash their hands off anti-people laws.
