The Nigerian press has an impressive record of which it can be justifiably proud. In the colonial era it was in the vanguard of the long and difficult struggle to rid our country of the degradation of colonialism. This era produced such fine writers and editors as Ernest Ikoli of the then Daily Times,owned then by the Alakija family, Anthony Enahoro of the West African Pilot, owned by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and S.L. Akintola of the Daily Service, of which the Doherty family were the proprietors. The latter eventually became a politician and controversial premier of the old Western Region. A succession of bright, fiercely independent and determined journalists has since maintained this fine tradition of the Nigerian press.
In those early days, the Nigerian press and journalists were united in their opposition to colonial rule and to any form of social injustice in our country. Later, after independence, they helped define the political and economic challenges facing the country, and fought hard in defence of the liberal values they believed in, such as democracy and respect for the rule of law in our country. Much more importantly, they mobilised the people and the country against any form of authoritarian rule and political excesses by those in authority. Some Nigerian journalists have paid a heavy price for their determined opposition to the excesses of our rulers, particularly during the long period of military rule in our country.
Under military rule many of them were detained, and some actually jailed. One can easily recall how Messrs Tunde Thompson and Tony Irabor of The Guardian were tried by military tribunals and sent to prison by the military government. As may well be expected, independent journalism, the freedom of speech and the rule of law suffered terribly during the long period of military rule in Nigeria. Our nation owes them a debt of gratitude for their dogged fight against any form of arbitrary rule. We owe the limited freedoms we enjoy today to their eternal vigilance.
Today, the political situation in Nigeria has changed largely because of their tenacity in defending personal freedoms. The press is certainly freer. It is more robust in its defence of the democratic process and the rule of law in our country. The political space is freer and journalists are now less likely to be hauled off to jail for expressing views and opinions that the authorities may not like. There is also a far greater variety of news media and views than ever before. Most of the newspapers are now privately owned and there is a healthy rivalry and competition among them for circulation. All this augurs well for the future of the Nigerian press and the rule of law in Nigeria. Altogether the press in Nigeria represents a countervailing force that cannot be ignored for too long by those in authority. It is playing a leading role in exposing and fighting public corruption in Nigeria. To a large extent, it was responsible for the defeat of the Jonathan PDP federal government by exposing the corruption of leading members of that government. President Jonathan lost the presidential election because of his failure, or inability, to take urgent action against some of his ministers known to be corrupt. For this, the nation remains grateful to the Nigerian news media.
But the enormous power and influence currently being enjoyed by the press impose on it some obligations and responsibilities as well. It must continue to uphold and defend the basic freedoms of our people from any unwarranted assaults by those in authority. It should remain committed to the defence of the rule of law in our country. Whatever else may divide us as a people and a country; we must collectively uphold the rule of law. This is what binds us and our country together. Without it our country and people will not have any future of which we can be proud. So, the defence of the rule of law and basic freedoms in Nigeria is paramount. It is a value that the press should continue to uphold for the good of our country. Without it our country can easily fall apart.
However, we do not do the rule of law any good when we use it to try and restrain, or impede, the government from discharging its responsibilities to the nation, particularly on such an aggravating issue as the fight against the widespread public corruption in our country. The entire nation is behind President Buhari and his APC federal government in its efforts to stamp out public corruption in our country. The social and economic consequences of corruption for our country are so grave that we should all, including the press, continue to support the government fully in its efforts to stamp it out and restore financial accountability to our country. There will always be some irritations about this but we must keep the goal clearly in our sights. President Buhari should not be blamed for fighting corruption in our country. He has the mandate to do so and he knows that if he fails to tackle this evil, the defeated and corrupt PDP may regain power in the next election.
President Buhari was elected primarily because of his pledge to rid the country of public corruption. He has the support of the entire people of our country to take urgent and practical measures against public corruption in our country. In fact, most of our people feel he has been too slow in tackling public corruption. They want those suspected of corruption to be tried swiftly. But this is not a military regime and President Buhari is obliged to follow due legal process in his fight against public corruption. If this were a military regime, many of these people suspected of corruption will be in detention already. In Ghana, four former military rulers were once executed by Jerry Rawlins, then Ghana’s military ruler, on charges of public corruption. We must condemn such a crude and extra judicial method in our country, but it rid Ghana of corruption.
Now, President Buhari is being unfairly criticised by some sections of the press and newspaper columnists for complaining that undue delay in the legal process is a major hurdle in the fight against corruption. In fact, his resolve to fight public corruption in our country is admirable and should earn him our full support. He has not in any way interfered directly with the independence of the judiciary, which has often been accused of corruption… As I write this, the media has reported that an Abuja High Court has ruled that the re-arrest after bail of Dasuki, the embattled former NSA, does not in any way amount to a breach of the rule of law. The country has persistently asked for a massive reform of the criminal justice system in our country. Every Chief Justice of Nigeria has had to complain publicly about corruption in the Judiciary and the delay in the delivery of justice in Nigeria. This is the point that President Buhari tried to make.
The press has often taken the lead in attacking the Judiciary for its massive corruption. It has exposed many corrupt judges and some of these have been retired. Corruption in the Judiciary is so bad that many suspects, except the poor, escape trial and convictions in the courts by resorting to all kinds of legal subterfuges, including, contrived delays and frivolous injunctions in the courts. In most cases, the trial of suspects takes years and is often inconclusive. Both Ibori and Alamieyeseigha, two former governors, escaped conviction here in Nigeria for massive corruption, but were subsequently convicted in Britain for money laundering. Is that not a clear indication that the Nigerian Judiciary cannot be trusted to dispense justice swiftly where the suspects are leading public figures? Is this not a clear case of double standards in the Nigerian criminal justice system in which the rich are treated differently from the poor, a negation of the basic principle of the equality of justice for all people in the courts? Is this not a breach of the rule of law by the few bad eggs in the Judiciary?
There is a pervasive and justifiable feeling in our country that the political elite enjoy some kind of immunity from prosecution for public theft and corruption. Our prisons are full of convicts, usually poor people, rightly jailed, for minor criminal offences. Some are detained in the prisons for years while still awaiting trial, often deliberately delayed. They are hardly ever granted bail by the courts. In the case of the rich and powerful, the courts tend to treat them with kid gloves by granting them bail capriciously. This is morally unacceptable and reprehensible, as many of them who were granted bail by the courts fled the country and have refused to return home to face trial for public theft and corruption. There must be scores of these public officials abroad who fled the country after securing legal bails.
The Nigerian press must remain committed to its defence of the rule of law. This is in the interest of the country. But it must be careful enough to avoid, or create a situation, in which the fight against public corruption is unwittingly turned into a fight against the government. This can only give comfort to those being tried for looting the national treasury. Is corruption not itself a breach of the rule of law? Is that not why it is a criminal offence against the state? Does it not undermine the basic freedoms of the people and their inherent economic rights to decent living standards? If there is any breach of the rule of law, those standing trial for public theft and corruption are rich and powerful enough to contest such alleged breaches of the rule of law in court.
These people are enemies of the state and, if found guilty after a fair trial, they must pay the full legal penalties for their crimes against the nation. They should not be allowed to use the press to bail themselves out of the financial mess created by them. There is no need to call into question the motives of a few columnists and journalists who, in this grave matter, have written very passionately about possible breaches of the rule of law. They fight for a lofty and noble ideal. But the evidence that President Buhari has interfered or plans to interfere with the Judiciary, as claimed by some journalists, is weak and untenable in present circumstances.
NATION
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