By Edetaen Ojo

Introduction

I believe our preoccupation here today is to reflect on the role of journalism in the face of the current environmental crisis confronting Nigeria and the rest of the world. As we discuss the role of journalism and the media, we must also focus some attention on the challenges that journalists face in trying to play this role or that are impeding their performance of their functions.

We should also collectively develop strategies for overcoming or mitigating these challenges, especially in light of the fact that this event is organized to commemorate this year’s World Press Freedom Day, a day set aside to raise awareness of the importance of press freedom and to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.

The Role of the Media

The media have certain social responsibilities to society.  For this reason, the media enjoy special protection under the Constitution, as well as under various regional and international human rights instruments.  These instruments provide guarantees of media freedom and freedom of expression to media practitioners and media organizations.

Both the 1998 Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists and the Revised 2022 Code have sought to codify the concept of the media’s social responsibility by committing  media professionals to demonstrate “social responsibility” in their work.

Article 15.1 of the 2022 Code specifically requires that: “A journalist should promote the universal principles of human rights, democracy, justice, equity, peace, and international understanding and be committed to monitoring government’s compliance with the provisions of our federal constitution as they relate to the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy.”

The 1999 Constitution itself gives the Media the primary, perhaps, exclusive responsibility to focus on and monitor the implementation of the “Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy” contained in Chapter II of the Constitution.

Section 22 of the Constitution, which is contained in Chapter 2, provides as follows:

“The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.”

We may ask: what does section 22 mean in reality?  Chapter II of the Constitution captures the basic principles and philosophy of governance in Nigeria. It also guarantees the social, economic and cultural rights in the Nigeria, somewhat similar to the manner in which Chapter IV of the Constitution guarantees the civil and political rights of Nigerians.

All arms of government and all government officials are supposed to apply the principles contained in Chapter II of the Constitution by virtue of Section 13, contained in the same Chapter, which provides that “It shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government, and of all authorities and persons, exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers, to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of this Chapter of this Constitution”.

However, for the purpose of monitoring and ensuring compliance with the principles contained in Chapter II, the Constitution is very clear in insisting that the courts should have no role in this.

Section 6(6)(c) of the Constitution states that the judicial powers vested in the courts “shall not except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, extend to any issue or question as to whether any act or omission by any authority or person or as to whether any law or any judicial decision is in conformity with the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy set out in Chapter II of this Constitution”

In common parlance, the provision ousts the jurisdiction of the courts to inquire into any act of commission or omission regarding the provisions of the Chapter.

The institution given the responsibility under the Constitution to monitor and ensure compliance with these principles is the Media as per Section 22 of the Constitution.

One of the fundamental objectives that the Media are required by this provision to uphold is contained in Section 13 which, once again, states that “It shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government and of all authorities and persons, exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers, to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of this Chapter of this Constitution”.

In effect, the media is given the duty of ensuring that all organs of government and all authorities and persons exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers, conform to, observe and apply the provisions of Chapter 2 of the Constitution, which cannot be enforced by the courts.

In the context of our current conversation, the most relevant provision of Chapter 2 of the Constitution is Section 20, which provides that “The State shall protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wild life of Nigeria”!

So my question to you is, can we in all sincerity say that as a sector, we are sufficiently or adequately highlighting the responsibility of the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard the water, air and land, forest and wild life of Nigeria.

Do we see in the media any significant level of reporting or commentary focused on this responsibility that the State has such that we can say that we are enlightening the society about the fact that the Government has a constitutional duty to protect and improve the environment and safeguard our water, air, land, forest and wild life?

Furthermore, are we really holding the Government accountable for not performing its constitutional responsibility?  Do we ever require the government to justify its actions or inaction with respect to the environment, safeguarding the water, air, land, forest or wild life in Nigeria

At the international level, nearly 65 years ago, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, at its 29th Session, adopted a declaration wherein it outlined the role of the media of information in society.

In its Resolution 756 of 21 April 1960, the UN Economic and Social Council declared that the “Media of information should be employed in the service of the people…”

Subsequent international instruments have built on this important role of the media in the service of humanity in many spheres of life, including in the areas of good governance, development, human rights, among others.

All of these provide a strong social and legal basis in support of the proposition that the media have a duty to promote human rights, including human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

The media can perform this duty in many different ways, including by creating awareness about the importance of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment so that people know and take steps of protect the environment.

Through reporting and commentary, the media can ensure that appropriate Laws and policies are put in place to protect the environment and that they are enforced.

Media Coverage of the Environment

It is clear that the media can play a crucial role in reporting on environmental issues and raising awareness about environmental challenges and solutions. There are different ways and approaches that journalists can take to ensure effective coverage of environmental issues and topics.

Journalists can conduct in-depth investigations into environmental issues such as pollution, deforestation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity and such investigative reporting can reveal wrongdoing, uncover hidden issues, and hold individuals, companies, governments or government officials accountable.  In this way, the media can also expose actions and activities which undermine our human rights to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment or actions and activities that endanger the environment.

They can also carry out science-based reporting by providing accurate, clear, and accessible information about scientific research and discoveries related to the environment.  Such reporting can help the public to understand otherwise complex issues. Journalists can also translate scientific findings into layman’s terms to make them more accessible to a wider audience.

Journalists can do human-interest stories which highlight the human impact of environmental issues, such as how communities are affected by natural disasters or pollution, which can in turn make the issues more relatable and tangible to their audiences.

They can analyze and report on environmental policies at local, national, and international levels and assess the effectiveness of policies and initiatives, as well as the positions and actions of policymakers.

Even while they maintain journalistic integrity, media organizations and outlets can support environmental causes by providing a platform for environmental advocacy groups to share their perspectives and information or even amplify their voices.

Journalism that is focused on potential solutions to environmental problems can also inspire action and provide examples of how communities and organizations are working to address environmental challenges.

Journalists can utilize multimedia formats to communicate complex environmental information, using various formats such as videos, infographics, podcasts, and interactive data visualizations to help convey environmental issues more effectively and engage their audiences.

Reporting on local, regional and global environmental issues can help media audiences to understand how different parts of the country or different regions of the world are affected and to better appreciate how interconnected environmental challenges can be.

Journalists can also interview experts such as scientists, environmental activists, policymakers, and community leaders to provide insights and opinions on specific issues. They can partner with non-governmental organizations or research institutions to obtain data and resources to support their reporting.

By employing these different approaches, journalists and the media can provide comprehensive, balanced, and impactful reporting on environmental issues, which can help inform the public and drive positive change.

Conditions for Effective Promotion of Human Rights Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment

It is important to state that the duty of the media to effectively promote our human right to a clean, healthy and Sustainable Environment comes with certain pre-conditions.

There is no doubt that journalists will best be able to engage these issues and in particular promote the right to a sustainable environment within the context of a strong, independent and professional  media environment.

Indeed, the topic of this keynote address implicitly recognizes this as it is not merely concerned with the media promoting human rights to clean, healthy and sustainable environment, but focus on the role of “a free press” in this regard.

Where the media are weak and do not know what to do, they will be of little value in the task of ensuring the promotion of human rights.

Media is weak where:

·     The media is not free and independent

·     Media personnel are poorly trained or not trained at all

·     Media personnel are unprofessional or unethical

·     Media establishments lack basic infrastructure and facilities to operate

·     Media establishments are not economically viable or sustainable

·     Media establishments lack capital or access to capital

·     Circulation figures (for newspapers) or audiences (for radio and television) are low

Media with such characteristics have diminished capacity to foster development and the notion of “media development” refers to an idea of seeking assistance to media to overcome such incapacities.  The idea favours and seeks to build free, independent, professional, viable and sustainable media.

Principle 10 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, 2019, sets out the parameters and importance of the right to freedom of expression, which underpins media freedom.

Principle 10 states that “Freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or through any other form of communication or medium, including across frontiers, is a fundamental and inalienable human right and an indispensable component of democracy”.

For the media to be able to effectively promote human rights in any context, including in the Nigerian context, the media must be free, professional and independent. Countries like Nigeria therefore have a duty to create the enabling environment for such media to emerge and thrive.

The obligation to create such enabling environment is created by a number of legal frameworks at the national, regional and international levels and the applicable standards are clearly articulated in some of these framework or in judicial interpretation of their provisions by national, regional and international mechanisms established to oversee or enforce compliance.

In the case of Nigeria, the frameworks include the following:

• The 1999 Constitution, as amended, particularly Sections 22 and 39.
• The Freedom of Information Act, 2011, which although is a statute of general application beyond the media, is clearly also an important tool for the media.
• The Revised Treaty of ECOWAS, particularly Article 66(2)(c), under which Member States of ECOWAS, including Nigeria, undertake to “ensure respect for the rights of journalists”
• The African Charter on Human and Peoples’s Rights, particularly Article 9. Nigeria signed the Charter on August 31, 1982 and ratified it on July 22, 1983. The Charter has subsequently been domesticated and now forms part of Nigerian Laws by virtue of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.[1]
• The Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in October 2002 and subsequently endorsed by Heads of State and Governments of the African Union at their summit in Maputo, Mozambique, in July 2003. The essence of the Declaration was to clarify and elaborate on Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Declaration has now been revised and replaced by the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, adopted by the ACHPR in November 2019 at its 65^th Ordinary Session.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, particularly Article 19
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly Article 19

Principle 20 of the Declaration of Principles articulates very clearly the scope of the Government’s obligation to ensure a safe and conducive environment for journalists and other media professionals to carry out their duties.

It provides as follows:

1. States shall guarantee the safety of journalists and other media practitioners.

2. States shall take measures to prevent attacks on journalists and other media practitioners, including murder, extra-judicial killing, torture and other forms of ill-treatment, arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, kidnapping, intimidation, threats and unlawful surveillance undertaken by State and non-State actors.

3. States shall take measures to raise the awareness and build the capacities of journalists and other media practitioners, policy makers and other stakeholders on laws and standards for ensuring the safety of journalists and other media practitioners.

4. States shall take effective legal and other measures to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of attacks against journalists and other media practitioners, and ensure that victims have access to effective remedies.

5. States shall be liable for the conduct of law enforcement, security, intelligence, military and other personnel which threatens, undermines or violates the safety of journalists and other media practitioners.

6. States shall take specific measures to ensure the safety of female journalists and media practitioners by addressing gender specific safety concerns, including sexual and gender-based violence, intimidation and harassment.

7. In times of armed conflict, States shall respect the status of journalists and other media practitioners as non-combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Is Nigeria complying with these requirements and standards? How well are we, as media practitioners, highlighting the Government’s lack of compliance with its obligations under international law?

State of Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression in Nigeria

There are many legal, policy and institutional obstacles to the exercise and enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression in Nigeria that make the guarantee of these rights fall short of international standards and practices.

Journalists and media organizations continue to suffer various forms of attacks and violation of their rights in the hands of government officials, security and law-enforcement agencies as well as other non-state actors. Law enforcement agencies hardly bother to investigate such attacks and are not known to have arrested or prosecuted perpetrators.

Invariably, the perpetrators of attacks on journalists and the media do so with impunity.  In all documented incidents of attacks against journalists and the media, such perpetrators have gone free without being held accountable for their crimes against journalists.

This has consistently put Nigeria among the worst countries in the world where crimes against journalists are not diligently investigated and perpetrators are never punished.

Laws such as the Official Secrets Act of 1962, the Criminal Code, the Penal Code, the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act of 2015, as amended; and the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, among other laws continue to be used to harass and intimidate media practitioners and other citizens for the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression.   

Conclusion and Recommendations

In order to create an environment where the media can perform is functions optimally, it is imperative that Nigeria also takes urgent steps to bring its laws and practices into conformity with internationally accepted norms and standards for the protection of media freedom and freedom of expression.

The media sector also needs to appreciate its role in promoting a safe and sustainable environment and strive to play this role by bringing attention to environmental issues that may otherwise go unnoticed by the general public, reporting on the scale and urgency of environmental problems such as climate change, deforestation, and pollution, providing well-researched, evidence-based reporting on environmental issues to shape policy and inform effective environmental regulations; exposing corruption, negligence, or harmful practices by governments, corporations, or other powerful entities that contribute to environmental degradation; explaining the complexities of environmental issues and their potential impact on society to the public; drawing attention to injustices; and countering misinformation, for instance, by debunking myths and misinformation related to environmental issues, such as climate change denial.

Mr Edetaen Ojo is the Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda. He spoke at the Symposium Commemorating the 2024 World Press Freedom Day