World over, the quest for an open and transparent government is on the increase. In Nigeria, the story is no less as citizens now express more interest in public programmes, projects, policies and purse.
After years of torturous politicking, the Federal Government of Nigeria signed the Freedom of Information Act in 2011, an act aimed at making public records and information more freely available to citizens, consequently promoting accountability and responsibility in public life.
In line with its mandate of making democracy work, The Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) Project, is organizing a Two-Day South-West Zonal Sensitization Workshop for Civil Society Organisations on the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria.
Delivering the keynote address on the first day of the workshop, Justice Dare Aguda (Rtd), noted that “In a democracy every citizen should have access to necessary information although no right can be enjoyed in the society without restriction, not even the fundamental human rights”. Justice Aguda further stated, that since the Nigerian 1999 constitution does not specify how information should flow from public offices to the populace, the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act become helpful and should be leveraged on in order to effectively engage public institutions.
Speaking on the national, continental and global context of the Freedom of Information Act, Maxwell Kadiri, Open Society Justice Initiative, stated that the quest for the free-flow of public information started in Sweden in 1766 but today only ten African countries have an established Freedom Information Act-with Nigeria, Niger and Tunisia been the latest in the 2011. He posited that with the reality of the Nigerian society as a democratic system where sovereignty lies with people, their concern should take the centre-stage in any government while they also should actively participate in the governance process.
Maxwell highlighted that “The Freedom of Information Act is a critical ingredient that distinguishes democracy from dictatorship and defines the authenticity and vibrancy of democracy thus, access to information is at the heart of democracy”. He expressed optimism that in the next two-five years, larger percentage of Nigerians will demand relevant information from public institutions with words such as “I will FoI you”, becoming commonplace.
On his part, Lanre Arogundade, International Press Center, noted that the growing social consciousness amidst Nigerians should be sustained with the usage of the Freedom of Information Act especially in terms of obligations of public institutions whilst eliminating unnecessary speculations thus promoting public and social accountability and responsibility in the country.
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