RISING from a recent meeting, the Nigerian Press Organisation took a resolute stand against fresh attempts to legitimise the ongoing assault on the press under the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. Hiding hypocritically under the desire to “remove bottlenecks affecting its performance and make it in tune with current realities in regulating the Press,” the NASS is seeing through two devious bills: ‘An Act to amend the Nigerian Press Council Act 1992,’ and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission Amendment Bill. If they subscribed to the first, they would have known that a free, unfettered press is the oxygen of democracy. In his first outing as military head of state (1984/85), Buhari made no pretence of his aversion to free press and public scrutiny. Nigeria has ranked consistently low in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by the non-profit, Reporters Without Borders.

Source: Punch July 12, 2021 23:48 UTC