May 29, 2015 seems like a faraway date. Nigerians are anxious to see what will become of the country after the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari Rtd. takes over the affairs of the country. The expectations are close to what we all had in the months preceding May 29, 1999 when Nigeria may a full return to democracy. ‘Change’, the mantra of the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress is the most desired wish in the country today. Given the huge challenge of this day and time there are already naysayers who say the new government will be business as usual. The challenges we need to surmount as a nation is huge and the world is keenly watching what we will make out of the new journey we are yet to embark on.
In the coming days, Nigerians will be interested in seeing a government that works and one that has input from its citizenry and is keen on policies that affect everyone, particularly the poor demography. One quick recommendation on the table will be for the incoming government to run an open government where citizens can have access to government information easily and in good time. The Freedom of Information Act which was signed into law in May, 2011 is one of the noble legacies that President Goodluck Jonathan will be leaving behind and sustaining it will be an assurance that the new government means well for the country. The culture of needless secrecy in government business and every type of public institution must be brought to a quick end. The Freedom of Information Act (2011) is a document that can help Nigeria run an open government and end its inglorious run of poor accountability and corruption. Already it tickles our fancy that the new president will be declaring his asset and has also promised that anyone willing to become a minister in his cabinet will also do so.
When the 2015 presidential elections campaign reached its peak, not a few analysts noted that if the election was conducted online, the APC was going to emerge the winner. It was in effect a form of commendation on the online mobilisation that the party had done. The party saw social media technology as an essential it needed to embrace to reach the youth population in the country. When the work of daily running of government starts, this also has to remain. When eventually the Ministries, Agencies and Departments are reformed and several mergers have taken place, government needs to think through a digital media plan that will make government responsive and people-oriented. The websites of several government institutions are a sorry sight! From broken links to absence of updated materials on the website, the challenges are numerous. It will also be saying the obvious that these activities will also be a means to create jobs for a teeming number of technology savvy young people when they are made functional.
With regards to accessing information from government institution, it will be sheer ecstasy when that day comes when one can e-mail a simple FOI request to a government agency and get a response within the 7-day period allowed by the law. This Act makes public records and information freely available and provides public access to public records and information while also protecting public records and information to the extent regular with the public interest while and provides protection for the public officer in charge of such information. It will be fantastic to e-mail the Nigerian University Commission for instance and ask them to provide one with the current number of Ph.D holders in the country and then one can calculate the ratio of Ph.D holders to students in the country. The Freedom of Information is about getting access to information held by public authorities and it helps to boast the freedom of expression in any democracy. The Act in its functional state will reduce a lot of rumours in the polity as people will be privy to knowing what the true situation of things are.
The new government should push a value that gives the citizen the ability to support the legislative in providing its oversight function. This is the premise of open government and that way more citizens can get involved in the legislative process. The Freedom of Information is the perfect tool for this and an adoption of this tool across all states, especially where the ruling party leads will be a decent starting point. The Freedom of Information Act allows anyone irrespective of age to request for information from any public institution without even stating the reason why the information is being sought.
In countries like the United States of America where requests are already being made by email, it comes with a caveat that ‘before submitting FOIA requests, individuals should ensure that the information they seek is not already in the public domain or located on the Department’s website’. This is where proactive disclosure also needs to be encouraged by the new government. The information that the public may require for investigative works or even academic research purpose should be regularly updated on the institution’s website. It is also a way to increase productivity as visitors who would have visited these agencies for this purpose can do so remotely.
Is it also possible that we have a country where government telephone lines work? A good number of them are dead or simply non-existent and even when they are picked, there is always someone rude at the other end who acts as though he or she is being disturbed and yet collects remuneration from our commonwealth. Only Ekiti and Lagos State have adopted the FOI Act; can the new federal government push to have more states do same in the coming days?
Ultimately, what is possible is a Nigeria where more citizens come alive and support government by making suggestions or even taking up private corporate responsibilities simply because they have accurate information on the depth of a problem. With emails now available on the go even through mobile phones, it will be interesting to see government institutions brag as to the number of emails they reply daily and the number of FOI requests they have responded to both online and offline. These are little indicators that can tell us in good time that indeed the change that was voted for has come to stay.
@SolaFagro on twitter.
—————————————————————————————————————————————-
‘Sola Fagorusi is a social entrepreneur and a prized freelance writer with a bias for youth and rural development. He started off as a youth staff with Action Health Incorporated in 2001. The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife alumnus currently manages the programmes ofOneLife Initiative, Nigeria. ‘Sola is a DESPLAY Africa (Africa’s foremost and most consistent annual youth democracy academy) fellow and has been on its faculty since 2011. Keenly interested in governance and pan-Africanism, he volunteers as online editor of YouthHub Africa; a cyber-community for young Africans involved in social change. He believes in the efficacy of oratory and writing as tools to drive developmental engagements. As a freelance writer, he spares time to pen thoughts on contemporary societal issues and is a weekly columnist with Nigeria’s most read daily ? Punch Newspaper. His training and capacity cuts across democracy and governance, leadership, micro-enterprise, ICT4D, SRH, value chains, development communication and policy issues. He tweets @SolaFagro and blogs at www.kadunaboy.com
