NIGERIANS on Tuesday reacted angrily to speculations that
the President Goodluck Jonathan administration was
planning a major clampdown on media houses considered
to be “unfriendly”.
Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN, a constitutional lawyer; Mr. Yusuf
Ali, another SAN; Mr. Debo Adeniran, an activist leader of
the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, and others who
spoke to our correspondents said the alleged plan to clamp
down on the media was symbolic of a government
desperate to hold on to power by all means.
Sagay said, “I won’t be too surprised if the government
clamps down on the media because as you can see, there
is lot of desperation coming from the government’s side;
desperation and fear of losing the election that led to
postponement and a lot of very undemocratic practices that
have been going on.
“But the press should just do its work as they should under
the law. At the end of the day, there is no army in this world
that can conquer the press. The press is the most powerful
organisation and its pen is a great weapon. Ultimately,
nobody, no institution can conquer the press. The press
should just do its work and be courageous.”
Sagay and the others spoke as the speculation about
government’s plot against the media reached a climax on
Tuesday, with the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo
Dasuki, said to be the anchor for the government’s plan.
A ‘news alert’ on Tuesday that purportedly reported a
discussion at a military meeting in Kaduna, leaked an anti-
media action being championed by the National Security
Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).
The nucleus of the plot, according to the alert, is the arrest
of top management personnel of the mentioned media
houses: The PUNCH, The Nation and Channels, a privately-
owned television station.
Worse than the clampdown on the named media houses,
the ‘alert’ revealed other dangerous anti-democratic steps
the government is alleged to be taking even as the nation
gets set for the general elections.
The alert, unedited, read, “News Alert: Once again am back
here with some of the highlights of the Military meeting in
Kaduna. Like I told you yesterday, the Military is doing
everything possible to derail this democratic process. The
representative of the Federal Government to the meeting
today made it very clear that President Jonathan would
never allow GMB to take over from him. Rather, the military
body should be ready to take over govt on May 29.
“As preparation for this, the meeting came up with the plans
to clampdown on some notable media organisations found
to be crusading for the opposition. They specifically
mentioned the Channels TV, The Nation and The Punch
Newspapers as some of the media houses to be dealt with.
He suggested ways to go about the clampdown including
the arrest of notable management of these media
organisations.
“The issue of Nigerian Sovereignty also came up in the light
of an expected attacks and condemnation from
international communities and organisation. To our
surprise, IBB sent one Bob Caleb to the meeting to add
some impetus. He came in around 12pm and left about 20
minutes later after holding some private brief with the NSA.
The meeting continues tomorrow, but I can say that the
country will witness some strange development in some
weeks to come. Stay tuned.”
The Presidency on Tuesday debunked some of the contents
of the ‘alert’. For one, it denied a report that the President
would rather hand over to the military on May 29 than
handing over to Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the
presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr.
Reuben Abati, in an interview with The PUNCH said the
report was a sign of desperation by some people with
partisan interest.
Abati said Jonathan remained committed to democracy and
the rule of law.
He said, “That (the alert) is absolute nonsense. It is
nothing but a sign of desperation on the side of certain
elements with partisan interest.
“President Jonathan remains fully committed to democracy
and the rule of law. He is a man who believes in one man
one vote; one woman, one vote; one youth, one vote and the
right of every Nigerian of voting age to exercise their
franchise.
“One of the major achievements of this administration had
been the conduct of free, fair and credible elections at all
levels since 2011 and it is a legacy of which he is proud
and he has made it clear that his ambition does not worth
the blood of any Nigerian.
“It won’t happen under his watch that the gains of
democracy will be reversed. He remains committed to
transforming Nigeria so that democracy can be further
consolidated and the rule of one man one vote will continue
to be strengthened.
“I am saying categorically that the story is not true and
cannot be true. It should not be taken seriously by
anybody.
“What is clear is that there are a lot of unpatriotic, partisan
and deliberate elements who are determined to heat up the
polity for their own narrow and selfish purposes.
“But we say to such people that they should realise that
this country is bigger than all of us. President Jonathan
continues to call on all stakeholders to come together and
work together to put Nigeria first always.”
Given that most actions of the Jonathan government,
especially in recent times, often started off as a
speculation, reactions on Tuesday indicated that the
speculations could be true and those who spoke warned the
government against its alleged plan.
Ali, who spoke to The PUNCH on the phone from Ilorin,
Kwara State, described as dangerous any step to gag the
media.
He said, “That is a very dangerous step to take. It is
inimical to the nation; it is inimical to democracy and
inimical to the rule of law. There is freedom of expression in
our Constitution and any media house or other
organisations whose rights are being infringed upon should
approach our courts; the courts are open.”
Adeniran said, “It means the system has bared its fangs
and they have decided to go all out to become tyrannical,
but that would be resisted by the Nigerian populace
because we rely on what the media, especially the
conventional media, can dish out to us.
“So, apparently, the present system or government has a lot
of things to cover up; it means they have things they don’t
want the public to know, that would be the reason they
want to do that. But I am not sure that they would go far
because the international community is watching and the
international community is ready to defend the ordinary
citizen of this country. Even if they do it, they would only
embarrass themselves but we pray that it is not true.”
The Executive Director, Civil Liberties Organisation,
Ibuchukwu Ezike, said, “That would be undemocratic and
the Civil Liberties Organisation will not support such an
attempt.
“Already the President has signed the Freedom of
Information Bill and it has become a law and this bill
empowers the media to enquire into the activities of the
government.
“Any attempt by the government to clamp down on the
media is condemned and will be condemned and the Civil
Liberties Organisation will resist it and lead the Nigeria
people to fight against such impunity or lawlessness. We
pray it doesn’t happen but it would be an opportunity for
another Occupy Nigeria.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission on Friday
announced a shift in the elections originally scheduled for
February 14 and 28 with new dates now set at March 28
and April 11 for Presidential and Governorship polls
respectively.
The shift had drawn the anger of many, especially the
opposition, but the crux of the matter was that the
postponement of election started as a mere speculation,
just like the current speculation of a plot to deal with
unfriendly media houses.
Perhaps in recognition of how mere a speculation under the
present administration could take on a life of reality, the
INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Tuesday reacted to
speculations that he would soon embark on a terminal
leave, preparatory to the expiry of his tenure of office in
June.
Jega said the condition of his engagement was different
from the normal civil service practice and said he would
serve till the end of his tenure on June 30.
The speculation that Jega would proceed on terminal leave
before the commencement of the rescheduled polls came
amid further speculations that the Jonathan administration
had lost faith in the INEC boss and would want the election
to be handled allegedly by a pliant INEC chairman.
Before the former Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Sanusi
Lamido, was removed, there had been rumours that
President Goodluck Jonathan was going to sack him for his
whistle-blowing activities against the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation. The Presidency had kept mum until
it finally announced the suspension of Lamido in February
2014.
Meanwhile, anti-media actions are not new under the
Jonathan administration.
In June 2014, armed soldiers seized and destroyed copies
of newspapers, mainly The PUNCH, The Guardian, The
Nation, Leadership, ThisDay, Daily Trust, Sun, Pilot,
Newswatch and The Mirror.
The military authorities claimed then that the seizures were
based on intelligence report that newspapers were being
used to ferry arms into the country.
The action then drew the ire of Nigerians with the Socio-
Economic Rights and Accountability Project asking Frank
LA RUE, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
to “urgently issue urgent appeal and measures to stop the
government of President Goodluck Jonathan from
continuing harassment and intimidation of several media
houses and newspapers.”
Last year, according to the World Freedom Index, Nigeria
was ranked 112 among 180 countries. The 2014 WPF index
cited the negative impact of conflicts on “freedom of
information and its protagonists.”
Nigeria was ranked 115 and 126 in 2013 and 2012
respectively.
The report linked the ranking of some countries like Nigeria
to its government’s “tendency to interpret national security
needs in an overly broad and abusive manner to the
detriment of the right to inform and be informed.”
This trend, the Index noted, constituted a growing threat
worldwide and “is even endangering freedom of information
in countries regarded as democracies.”
The 2014 index underscored the negative correlation
“between freedom of information and conflicts, both open
conflicts and undeclared ones.”
It said further that, “In an unstable environment, the media
become strategic goals and targets for groups or
individuals whose attempts to control news and
information violate the guarantees enshrined in
international law, in particular, article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols
Additional 1 and 2 to the Geneva Conventions.”
WFI, however, noted that the upsurge in violence against
journalists elicited a response from the international
community.

http://www.punchng.com/news/nigerians-warn-jonathan-military-against-media-clampdown/

the question is who are those Nigerians?





some groups cannot come any where and say Nigerians.......




political propaganda every where.....

propaganda will not take us anywhere. Let's us stop it or it will hunt us one day.

GEJ til 2019