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00:00still on guardian talks with a look at press freedom and also importantly where nigeria
00:15stands in protecting journalists with us in the studio is dr. kabiru alabigawa is editor
00:23weekend titles of the guardian and also vice president west nigeria guild of editors welcome
00:30to guardian thank you thank you all right so let's cut to the chase nigerians 112 out of 180 on the
00:372024 press freedom index what does this say about the state of press freedom in nigeria first and
00:45foremost what is the concept of a press freedom index because you have to start from here what
00:53are they trying to achieve by that kind of design and then before we talk about the 2024 ranking what
01:04was the picture in 2023 what was the picture in 2022 what was the picture in 2021 2020 so we were able
01:13to give accurate assessment and then the implication of that particular ranking for instance year 2020
01:22nigeria rank 125 in year 2020 the following year 2021 nigeria rank 120 it moved up by five points but in
01:372023 in 2022 it went to 129
01:41now the movement has been up and down and then in 2023 it moved to 123 now if in 2024 is now ranking
01:58111 12 that's a very big improvement meaning that they have been and then what is the importance of
02:10this ranking what are they looking at they are looking at the the key the the key principle of a freedom of
02:17world press freedom day which is essentially to highlight the vital role of press freedom in
02:24democracy and also to equally to honor those journalists who have performed excellently well
02:34through their bravery and then the ability to ensure that the the the information flow
02:43continue to be impactful in nigeria as well as a accessing the access of a people to information
02:53these are the core principle of a press freedom so you would say that we have improved in accessing information
03:01information in all the in all the in all the simply in all the key points of what press freedom day with
03:07this index it means that at least so far so good the nigeria press have been able to highlight the
03:15vital role of president in the in the in the democratic society we have that's our duty because according to
03:22section 22 of the constitution we have to hold government accountable and yeah and then holding
03:29governance as well in a democratic setting it means that you are your citizen they have unfettered access
03:36to information there there's no interest in the ability or the capacity of the press of the media to
03:45access the information and then to disseminate this information it is okay what is the nigeria press
03:52organization comprising of nigerian union of journalists nigeria guild of editors newspaper
03:59proprietors association of nigeria that's mpan doing to protect journalists and make
04:04press freedom a reality not just a written right first and foremost we thank god that this year nuj which
04:15is the umbrella body of all the journalists in nigeria we mark our 78th anniversary this year
04:28because it started in 1945 i think as 55 1955 to this moment we are 70 years and then equally because
04:41the idea of a press organization there's this concept that if you want to walk fast you work alone but
04:50if you want to walk far you work together that's what brought the idea of having press organization so
04:57that you will be able to pursue your campaign your agenda vigorously with other groups other group of
05:05uh similar interests
05:10nigerian union of journalists and nigerian guild of editors and newspaper proprietors are from nigeria
05:21because you know the the idea is that newspaper proprietors they are the owner
05:25journalists are the operators but both of us we need to work together to ensure that the public role of media
05:39is achieved excellently and then so far so good because i remember that when we the campaign that led to the
05:49the promulgation of uh freedom of information act in 2011 that campaign was on for 20 12 years from 1999
06:00till 2011 and all these three groups they work together to ensure that nigeria join the group of
06:08environment where we have freedom of uh freedom of information uh legislation that give access that
06:17promote access because as journalists our article of trade is information that's right if we don't have
06:24it just like uh without information it's just like a fish without water certainly you it will die
06:34therefore at all time that information is very important for us and not only for journalists even
06:41for the public can you imagine you wake up in the day and then there was total blackout no radio no
06:49newspaper no tv how would like how would life how will it be so boring so boring that is why
06:56consistently all this a group under the umbrella of nigeria press organization they have been fighting for
07:04press freedom uh journalism access to information journalism journalism access to improve infrastructure
07:14improve resources including welfare security as well as a welfare of journalists that has been their
07:23major campaign since their existence and obviously and then we are getting resort though there's no actually
07:30so we ask that are we actually seeing improvement after improvement like you know because you know
07:35these these uh press freedom index yeah it's not it's not designed by nigeria it's a global it's a global uh
07:45global design statistics it's a global disaster by uh journalists without a border reporters without borders
07:53and then the rank countries altogether altogether of the world like uh last year
07:592024 they rank about 180 countries and then nigeria came 112 yes we have challenges
08:08and then we should not forget that there is no perfection there's no perfect system anywhere
08:14even with the so-called developed country they have their own challenges and then we should not
08:19forget that democracy yes a good government is a good system of uh government at now governance
08:26to deliver good governance and essentially to force the the people in power to see the the essence of being
08:39there because governance is about welfare and security of your citizen if you are in power today and then you are not delivering on those
08:50you are there for nothing and then the essence of uh press is that to keep uh government people in government accountable to make them accountable to uh to fulfill their promises
09:07thank you thank you so much uh dr kavira lavigarva editor weekend titles of the guardian and also vice president west nigeria guild of editors thank you for your time and thank you for your submission thank you
09:18thank you for your submission thank you more to come on guardian talk stay tuned