NHRC Faults NBC Fines On Media Houses

*Tells Journalists Be Courageous, Patriotic, Uphold the Truth Always

The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Mr Tony Ojukwu has urged journalists in the country to remain courageous as well as upholding the truth always in the course of their duties to human kind and country.

Ojukwu gave the charge just as he extolled the conduct of the Nigerian press for exhibiting a high level of professionalism despite alleged intimidation and harassment by some members of the society.

The charge was part of his message to journalists on the commemoration of the 2021 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD).

The NHRC’s boss in a statement noted that majority of journalists in Nigeria had severally lived up to their professional duties to unearth wrongdoings in the society, no matter whose ox is gored, even at the risk of their lives and that of their family members.

According to Ojukwu, the theme of this year’s commemoration, “Information for Public Good”, is apt because it reminds both the government and the citizens of the importance of information as a tool for national development, particularly in the current world order where the new/social media is making a tremendous impact on people’s attitudes and perceptions.

“It is therefore instructive that the media which has remained an agent of socialisation could rightly be deployed to drive government policies and programmes to the grassroots level”, Ojukwu stated.

The Executive Secretary in the statement signed by the NHRC’s Deputy Director Public Affairs, Mrs Fatima Mohammed, reiterated the need to widen the civic space rather than shrinking, adding that the media exists for the public good and by extension a catalyst for openness and good governance.

He said that recent legislations and policies of the National Broadcasting Corporation which has been challenged by well-meaning Nigerians should be revisited to avoid human rights infringements while administering such legislations and policies.

“Similarly, we stand with Civil Society to condemn the attempts of some parliamentarians to pass bills restricting social media and civic space. We also stand with civil society to condemn attempts by NBC to impose excessive fines on media houses for activities based on information to the citizens”, the Executive Secretary said.

He however called on the authorities of the Nigerian Union of Journalist (NUJ) to put effective modalities in place to get rid of quacks in the system, adding that such quacks practice the profession in a wrong way thereby perpetrating fake news, hate speech, and other unethical conduct which are capable of causing national disunity.

Referring to journalists as human rights defenders, the Chief Human Rights Officer used this opportunity to urge the UN system, African Union (AU), and other international bodies to persuade their member nations to put stringent legislation in place to curb violence against journalists as well as promote life insurance policies for them in countries where they are not already in place. “This would ensure that families of any deceased or maimed journalists are given the social security protection that they deserve”, Ojukwu added.