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The Senate has
joined the House of Representatives in passing the Freedom of
Information Bill, which makes access to information the right of all
Nigerians. And though the Senate President, David Mark, warned that his
chamber would be passing a watered down version, the bill is in many
essentials like the one passed by the lower House. In the end, none of
the versions is exactly what we wished for, and this is not just
because they changed the name to Right of Information Bill.

The bill excludes
economic and defence matters from the areas to which the public might
have full access. The government shall refuse access to “(a) trade
secret, financial, commercial or technical information that belongs to
the government that has substantial economic value or is likely to have
substantial value; and (c) proposal and bids for any contract, grants
or agreement, including information which if it were disclosed would
frustrate procurement or give an advantage to any person.”

It is difficult to
understand how the lawmakers arrived at the conclusion that Nigerians
have no right to know exactly how the money budgeted annually is spent,
who and who are getting the contracts, what the parameters for
allocating resources are. It is equally sad that the legislators have
thrown a blanket over military spending, at the very least suggesting
that the army is above scrutiny.

Yes, we wish the
bill has not placed those inexplicable caveats but there is little we
can do now. Yet what we have is not so bad. It is a bill that
substantially gives citizens the right to investigate public officials,
to hold government to account. As stated in the preamble, “Every
citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has a legally enforceable
right to, and shall, on application, be given access to any record
under the control of a government or public institution.” In effect,
the so-called civil service rule that practically makes it a crime to
give out any information, and covers up great crimes in the name of
procedure, has now become moribund.

It would be naive
for anyone to assume that with the passage of the bill, things will
automatically change and government would become more transparent.
Decades of hiding secrets, and a mindset that considers anyone who
seeks information about government activity a troublemaker, cannot be
easily changed. It will take time for public officials to finally
realise that they are there at our behest, that it is their obligation
to explain every action they take in the course of their official
duties. But like everything, the grounds will begin to shift gradually,
and more information will get into public domain.

The recent
publication of the WikiLeaks cables on Nigeria by this paper shows more
clearly how our public officials operate in secret, the base instincts
that motivate them. It also shows how the same people, who consider it
beneath contempt to tell Nigerians how their country is run, grovel
before foreign ambassadors, eager to divulge the most sordid details.
In the end, they all come out looking tainted, and their profiles by
the American ambassadors are universally derogatory. It’s a humbling
picture.

We can only hope
that with the passage of the FOI bill, the citizens of this country
will get to know what their elected leaders and other public officers
are doing – before the Americans do. The law also places a burden on
the media to use any information they get responsibly. It behoves
journalists, who are probably the major beneficiaries of this bill, to
use the opportunity wisely so that the next time our laws are reviewed,
those restrictive clauses will be expunged.

As the chambers
conclude plans to harmonise the versions of the bill, it will soon be
left for Goodluck Jonathan to give his assent so that the law can
become operative. One of his predecessors, Olusegun Obasanjo, failed to
do that in 2007 when the bill was first passed by the Assembly.

But there is every indication that President Jonathan will sign it.
He has done very few things to commend him to the critical mind that
one cannot see him throwing away this historic opportunity. It is not
only good politics for him to sign as we go into elections; it is also
good policy.