MORE than one decades of aggressive campaign for the enactment of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act may be in vain, if the legal document is not activated to engender openness, accountability and transparency in socio-political and economic engagements among Nigerians.At a one-day workshop held in Lagos recently, the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) tasked Nigerians to use the law because of its transformative powers as an incentive to work for its effective implementation thereby making government accountable to the citizens.Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of MRA who spoke on the topic What is Freedom of Information and Why it is important' explained the vital role of information to human existence as a critical tool for making decisions that are right and helpful for good living. He also provided a linkage between what individuals can achieve with the right information and the level of transformation in a nation where information is freely available to its citizens.According to him the quality of decision people make often depends on the quality of the information that is available to them saying that in the same manner if the quality of information that is available to the citizens of a country are not such that can be used to properly govern the country, the people and the government are bound to be negatively affected.Enumerating the importance of the Act, Ojo said the openness, which the Act will promote, will invest integrity in government records and documents saying it can also facilitate effective business decisions and good practices as commercial users of information will find such documents indispensable as they make business decisions.Ojo explained that one of the attractions of the Act is its effectiveness as a tool in the fight against corruption saying citizens including journalists and ordinary Nigerians can use the law to expose corruption and wrongdoing in public institutions.His words: 'A country cannot rise above the quality of information that it makes available to its citizens. With the right statistical details a government can build trust and confidence in its policies and decisions and enjoy the support of the people on whose behalf these policies were made.'Earlier in his welcome address, Ojo recalled how civil society worked to ensure the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill into law and warned that those years of hard work may be in vain if civil society through its own fault fails to use the Act to keep government accountable to the citizens.Recounting how MRA will work to ensure that more Nigerians become aware of their rights, roles and responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act, Ojo said 'we will continue to explore every opportunity to spread the message of freedom of information to enable us achieve the ultimate objective, which is to ensure that government is accountable to the people and able to deliver services efficiently.'He encouraged participants at the workshop to strive to have a working knowledge of the law saying it is very important for civil society organizations of all description, regardless of the sector to mainstream the Act in the work that they do in order to significantly improve their effectiveness.To ensure that participants have a fair grasp of the issues, Ojo asked that they download the FOI Act into their mobile phones so that they will have it readily available to read and check provisions of the Act, emphasising that it will be easier for people to share the knowledge of the law with family members, friends, colleagues and neighbours and to gets more Nigerians involved in holding government accountable.Mallam Ahmed Mohammed, Chief of Party and Deputy Country Director, PACT Nigeria in his remarks, relived the memory of PACT's relationship with MRA saying it was built on the need to develop capacity of civil society to effectively engage the governance process and promote openness, transparency and accountability.Assessing the relationship, he said he was satisfied that with the work that MRA had done in getting the law passed and the current efforts to ensure that there is effective implementation by Nigerians, Mallam Ahmed said the work of PACT in promoting transparency through engagement with the public sector is yielding expected outcomes.He expressed the hope that participants would leave the workshop with new sets of skills that they can use to effectively engage government and enthrone transparency and public participation in governance.The workshop attracted about 55 participants from diverse sectors of civil society across the State. It was organised by MRA with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through a grant from Pact Nigeria.The workshop, conducted in plenary and break-out sessions, had presentations on the concept of Freedom of Information and why it is important; an overview of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011; and how to make requests for information under the FOI Act. Practical exercises were also undertaken to familiarize participants with the process of drafting requests for information relevant to their sectors.At the end of the workshop, the participants recommended as follows:Public institutions should step up the training of their officials to sensitize them about the public's right to know and equip them with the skills and knowledge to process requests for information so as to improve the overall implementation of the Act and make it more effective.The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and the National Assembly, the key oversight institutions under the FOI Act, should work collaboratively to take strong measures against public institutions that fail to comply with their proactive disclosure obligations under the FOI Act so as to enforce compliance.The Attorney-General of the Federation should develop programmes of enlightenment to familiarize all public institutions with the various reporting and implementation guidelines he has so far issued and ensure that their provisions are adopted and complied with by all public institutions. If need be, he should liaise in this regard with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Head of Service of the Civil Service of the Federation and the National Assembly to enforce compliance.Relevant Government institutions and agencies such as the Federal Ministry of Information and the various State Ministries of Information as well as the the National Orientation Agency (NOA) should play a more active role in promoting the FOI Act and sensitizing members of the public about its provisions and how to use it.Government agencies should comply with their obligations in the law while civil society should live up to its responsibility of monitoring and ensuring the effective implementation of the Act.
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