July 12, 2010
Thus says the Nigeria House of Representatives; don’t ask for you won’t be told. For you have no right to know; you already know enough. For your knowing more constitutes a threat to national security; you want to know just to cause trouble. For you are safer when you just don’t know; you don’t even have the right to ask. Secrecy like silence is golden.
And so in a terse statement they read us the obituary of the Freedom Of Information Bill. They keep speaking from both sides of their mouths. They tell us they are not against the Bill. They tell us they appreciate the importance of transparency; that the National assembly is up for anything that fulfils the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians; that they are working at it; that just a few sections of the law need to be looked into. But they never mention what sections these are and we never see the Bill turn to an Act.
They keep entertaining us with their double speak. They have got so good at it. They claim to fight corruption yet they store away the tool. Every new Information Committee chairman has a new thing to say, new bad news to deliver, a new promise to make. The goal post keeps shifting. The terms are never the same. There is always a justification for the delay. Of course they are working so hard on it. Since 1999 they have been working on it. What else do they pay themselves hardship allowance for? They’ve been working so hard.
But are we surprised? They must consider it a favour to us that newspapers are still being printed and that TV and radio stations are still on air. What else do you think they mean when they say we already have enough freedom? They must be wishing they could even cut down some of the freedoms we already have. They must think it a luxury allowed us that some frustrated people can write and circulate complains about poor governance in print every day. They must curse under their breath when vendors hold out newspapers splashed with one of their many embarrassing acts to the windows of their tinted glass jeeps. And they will while mocking us, say to themselves who will dash them Freedom of information?
May be they are not just mocking us. May be they are just damn scared; filthy things abhor light remember? Ever seen a cockroach disappear into a crack on the wall when you put on the light in a dark room? That’s what they are doing. Escaping from light, hiding deeper into the crevices they dig daily for themselves. Escaping from the smell of their own poop, from the many baskets they weave: baskets of greed, baskets of irrational thoughts, baskets filled with harvests of their consistent inconsistencies.
And what other evidence do we need? Haven’t we lost count of the number of journalists that have been hounded and killed? If you ask too many times and refuse to take NO for an answer they will show you the way out of the system; the way out of the world.
In a way, that’s the law. Is the official secrets Act not still in operation? Yes, its 2010, don’t be surprised. This is Nigeria. Fifty years after, the relics of British colonialism still pin us to a spot. No, don’t blame the British; it’s by our own accord, by their Excellencies decree, for their Excellencies continued reign.
The staff of our Presidential villa only recently had to swear in a ceremony, to seal their lips. The president was away for months and no body knew a thing. And indeed those around him said it was not our right to know. Alas they couldn’t keep his passing from us but even at that we still don’t know what happened. It’s a closed case. We have no right to know.
But we do and we insist we do. That section of the Constitution has not been expunged. Even if it has, as they are wont to do, we have it as a natural right, something the American Declaration of Independence describes as inalienable. So we will continue to ask them.
We shall continue to haunt them by our increased participation, by our insisting that our votes count, by insisting that they give account of their stewardship, by making our voices heard.
We shall not quit. We shall expose their many goofs and make them even more scared of their own shadows. We don’t need them to pass the law. We shall assume the law.
For the people really are the law. For the law is for us and ours to live with. So we shall unseal our lips and undo the gag. We shall refill our quills and adjust our keyboards. We shall also shop for new cameras, for any thing it will take. We shall haunt them and their kind until they, like the cockroach disappear from our faces and out of our hallowed chambers.
And so in a terse statement they read us the obituary of the Freedom Of Information Bill. They keep speaking from both sides of their mouths. They tell us they are not against the Bill. They tell us they appreciate the importance of transparency; that the National assembly is up for anything that fulfils the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians; that they are working at it; that just a few sections of the law need to be looked into. But they never mention what sections these are and we never see the Bill turn to an Act.
They keep entertaining us with their double speak. They have got so good at it. They claim to fight corruption yet they store away the tool. Every new Information Committee chairman has a new thing to say, new bad news to deliver, a new promise to make. The goal post keeps shifting. The terms are never the same. There is always a justification for the delay. Of course they are working so hard on it. Since 1999 they have been working on it. What else do they pay themselves hardship allowance for? They’ve been working so hard.
But are we surprised? They must consider it a favour to us that newspapers are still being printed and that TV and radio stations are still on air. What else do you think they mean when they say we already have enough freedom? They must be wishing they could even cut down some of the freedoms we already have. They must think it a luxury allowed us that some frustrated people can write and circulate complains about poor governance in print every day. They must curse under their breath when vendors hold out newspapers splashed with one of their many embarrassing acts to the windows of their tinted glass jeeps. And they will while mocking us, say to themselves who will dash them Freedom of information?
May be they are not just mocking us. May be they are just damn scared; filthy things abhor light remember? Ever seen a cockroach disappear into a crack on the wall when you put on the light in a dark room? That’s what they are doing. Escaping from light, hiding deeper into the crevices they dig daily for themselves. Escaping from the smell of their own poop, from the many baskets they weave: baskets of greed, baskets of irrational thoughts, baskets filled with harvests of their consistent inconsistencies.
And what other evidence do we need? Haven’t we lost count of the number of journalists that have been hounded and killed? If you ask too many times and refuse to take NO for an answer they will show you the way out of the system; the way out of the world.
In a way, that’s the law. Is the official secrets Act not still in operation? Yes, its 2010, don’t be surprised. This is Nigeria. Fifty years after, the relics of British colonialism still pin us to a spot. No, don’t blame the British; it’s by our own accord, by their Excellencies decree, for their Excellencies continued reign.
The staff of our Presidential villa only recently had to swear in a ceremony, to seal their lips. The president was away for months and no body knew a thing. And indeed those around him said it was not our right to know. Alas they couldn’t keep his passing from us but even at that we still don’t know what happened. It’s a closed case. We have no right to know.
But we do and we insist we do. That section of the Constitution has not been expunged. Even if it has, as they are wont to do, we have it as a natural right, something the American Declaration of Independence describes as inalienable. So we will continue to ask them.
We shall continue to haunt them by our increased participation, by our insisting that our votes count, by insisting that they give account of their stewardship, by making our voices heard.
We shall not quit. We shall expose their many goofs and make them even more scared of their own shadows. We don’t need them to pass the law. We shall assume the law.
For the people really are the law. For the law is for us and ours to live with. So we shall unseal our lips and undo the gag. We shall refill our quills and adjust our keyboards. We shall also shop for new cameras, for any thing it will take. We shall haunt them and their kind until they, like the cockroach disappear from our faces and out of our hallowed chambers.
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