NIGERIA THE AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER – NIGERIA 2008 Sector 1: Freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, are effectively protected and promoted. 1.1 Freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, is guaranteed in the constitution and protected by other pieces of legislation. ANYLYSIS: The 1999 constitution which is the one currently in force has been widely criticized as a product of its military antecedents. Its ambivalent attitude to media freedom, giving it with one hand, but taking away from it with the other hand illustrates the point. For example, while the constitution in broad terms guarantees media freedom and freedom of expression in Chapter IV, Section 39. Section 45 of the same chapter introduces limiting conditions to the exercise of these rights. The most explicit section on media freedom and implicitly freedom of expression is in Chapter II, Section 22, where the media are obliged to monitor governance and to hold the government accountable to the people. This suggests that the constitution recognizes and crafts out a role for the media in the sustenance and enablement of democracy. The failure of the legislature to pass a Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) which was initially proposed by a coalition of civil society activists in 1999 is indicative of the tentative status of press freedom. Another indicator is the fate of yet another bill related to the media: the Journalism Enhancement Bill, not passed by Parliament. Furthermore, the latest FOI draft was very bad. According to its Section II the media would have had to give reasons for why they require certain information that would satisfy the courts. This was felt to be unacceptable. Perhaps a good illustration of the status of freedom in the constitution is the failure of Media Rights Agenda (MRA) to get the court to uphold its request to have access to the African Media Barometer - Nigeria 2008 3