06 Apr 2009 |
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THE FOI BILL: Because everything government owns is yours! MAUDLYN PARK The Freedom of Information {FOI} Bill has won many journalist/advocates, who incessantly put the need for it’s passage to the front and center of political discourse even though journalists constitute a small percentage of the whole sum of the beneficiary-community in the event that the Bill is signed into an Act, an enforceable law. And I can not fail to commend a kettle of lawyers and civil rights campaigners who are on the trail of the Bill day and night because they realize that it is necessary and healthy for democracy. Good job! The Freedom of Information Bill is the oldest and longest un-passed Bill in the Assembly as constituted today in Nigeria. It began its tortuous journey way back in 1999, been warehoused at the Three Arms Zone to Aso Rock, and back again with the intention to break it’s confidence. On a courtesy visit to the Tribune Newspapers at Ibadan recently, the Senate President, David Mark, trolled his concern about the Bill in his own words: “Nigerian Media already enjoy a measure of freedom but they are now trying to create the impression that if we throw everything open, then there will be development.” More Mark, “I have no problem with the FOI Bill. But libel for instance has to be a criminal offence. If you do not do that, it is like saying give us freedom to do what we want to do. The nation needed to approach any law on freedom of information with great caution. Over and above there is no nation that has not got a level of restriction because there are issues that are of national importance and you can not just go ahead and be disclosing them.”(Tribune Newspapers 15/9/08) Was Senator David Mark for the FOI Bill before he was against it? The notion of national security breach as an excuse to delay, to frustrate and to refuse to pass FOI laws had been so basted in politicians’ barbecue sauce that I can only describe this fairy-tale by borrowing Thomas Hardy’s phrase; ‘Tis blowed from pillar to post, quite common’ (Far From the Maddening Crowd). And I dare add, Obsolete! Over 70 countries have now put FOI laws in place, covering over half of the world’s population and it is a growing popular global trend. Chile caved in only on August 11, 2008 and the oldest in the game, Sweden, has had a long standing tradition since 1766 as part of her Constitution. For over 200 years, the rule in Sweden says that you can go to any government office and ask for any document and the rule says that you should be given the document that you requested for. Everything government owns is yours and you can ask for it at any point in time. Except those that are listed in the Secrecy Act for National Security reasons. Today, the national security wedge rather tops the list of a whole raft of government arsenal in its attempt to limit the damage which could happen especially in a situation where FOI laws affect government to release information that may prove embarrassing or painful. Governments were FOI laws have been introduced realize that it cannot be repealed, so they resort to deaths by a thousand cuts. These include the introduction of fees or the increase of fees that are in place, for example in Ireland and Australia. Another means in which governments reduce the effectiveness and enforceability of the law is simply by reducing the number of staff, ie the civil servants and other public officials who are tasked to deal with FOI requests. The idea being that when the number of officials who handle the requests is reduced, it will have a significant impact in terms of delays. The United States of America which has suffered the worst terrorist attacks in modern history, included in its FOI Act (1966) requiring government agencies release their records to the public on request, unless the information falls into the category specifically exempted, such as national security, an individual’s right to privacy, or internal management agency. Some states also operate under Sunshine laws in their sphere of jurisdictions. In the UK, the late Labour Minister, Richard Crossman once said that obsession with Official Secrecy Act is a British disease arguing that even the lumps of sugar civil servants put in their tea at the office was a State secret. It took 30 years after a Labour government first promised to introduce FOI laws, before British citizens can find out how much their farmers get paid in EU subsidies or whether expenses paid to MPs are legitimate. Still, there are exemptions and checks put in place to forestall abuses within a requesters’ Charter and also to avoid a floodgate of unreasonable requests that could place a burden on the FOI Commission. The attention of the courts are called for a review where an agency refuses to furnish identifiable records and not the other way round. And to my understanding, a judicial review is not the same as obtaining leave (permission) of court ab initio in making an application for a yet to be identified document..{ FOI BILL,s2 } It gets worse! Just when I was rounding up this piece last week I gathered that the Senate had thrown in a gambit of an amendment, the mother of all wedges, that leave be sought and granted from a Federal /State court by the requester before actual access to government records/documents to which Nigerians are entitled to can be obtained. I envisage this zinger in Sec 2 of the Bill to throw up issues of locus standi in order to create not only delays and frustrations but also veiled and varied interpretations of national security which could fetter the judge’s discretion. The requirement in this section is further proof that the Yar’adua administration would continue the secrecy, hypocrisy, and failed policies Nigeria has suffered over 100 years. Now, mix this section of the Bill with the contents of the Oath of Secrecy which was recently administered to some 70 or so Aso Rock officials, and you would know from the taste of it that democrats can not exhale yet. Why do we pretend to operate an open society when we are not? Our society needs to understand that access to information is a right and that we have to turn this right into a culture by using it everyday, by developing the habit of finding out about the country if you are part of it, the economy, the infrastructure, where public money goes and generally how public authorities work. This culture will set a new standard for transparency and accountability, a plus, a boost for government, to restoring trust in NIgerians and promoting a healthy democracy. I monitored a World Service broadcast on BBC Radio4 on FOI laws around the world, which revealed that countries adopt FOI laws to suit their own different political cultures and secondly that what is really pushing the widespread culture of FOI laws around the globe is anti-corruption crusade. Is this not one of the major reasons why our politicians are anxious, and resistant to the idea to introduce FOI laws in Nigeria? The former US President, Jimmy Carter is one of the leading international figures, pushing for FOI laws and transparency in governance. He was a participant on the Radio4 programme. Hear him; “Take Nigeria. They have vast natural resources to be sold on the public market of oil. But what happens to those incoming funds which are voluminous is not revealed to the public. If there was an FOI law in Nigeria in force, it will require all sales of oil to be revealed to the public about how the funds were used. That will materially change the inter-structure of government and between the rich and the poor in Nigeria and reduce corruption dramatically. This is one example.” If the Senate President, David Mark and others in his league are paying close attention, we do not need to be stuck with national security as a reason for delaying the passage of the bill, because state secrets have always remained secret anyway. Concern at this point in our development should be focused on the function of the welfare aspect of the State, including education, health, roads, electricity, food security, the provision of good drinking water juxtaposed with the huge resources vetoed each year to match and implement these projects for the governed and the represented---the Nigerian people. To the Senate President’s rhetoric ” to create the impression that if we throw everything open, there will be development” Here is how. “When an FOI law is established in any kind of government, a signal is sent to bureaucrats, administrators, politicians saying I expose you to public control. I entitle the citizens to come at your desk and drawers and by allowing the citizens to look into your drawers, I now set up another control force to help me as a Central government to avoid corruption and abuse of office and power” {A Chinese official on BBC Radio4,WorldService}. The passing of the FOI law is a clear signpost for the future particularly in Nigeria where corruption by public office holders is of epic proportions even if we say so ourselves. This law when implemented as it ought to be, will clean up waste, greed and self - service to public funds meant for developmental purposes. Public money which hitherto found its way into private pockets would be arrested and diverted to where it should be headed in the first place: into the realization of the provision of social infrastructures. Leaders, politicians and political parties in power should be able to answer with a straight face the three basic questions to measure development thus: What is happening to poverty? What is happening to unemployment? And, What is happening to inequality? I am no tealeaf reader but going by the experiences of other developed or developing- countries, the introduction of FOI laws would amount to a momentous cultural change, to be used by members of the public and not only the media and pressure groups. It will provide access to important information to which the Nigerian people are entitled to gauge whether expenses made by politicians to neighbouring Ghana for oversight meetings and other far flung lands were made for the public interest and therefore legitimate or plain junket for a start. Or for use to make the decision over which school to send wards to. I mean no disrespect. But when will our politicians put country first? No politician, if you ask my opinion should be allowed to get away by telling the voters that they should lose their right to know. Voters could jolly well wait by the river long enough------------------------
Maudlyn Park wrote in from Cambridge, UK.
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