Journalists do legwork despite the existence of the Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria. Don’t sir in your house, a beer parlour, gossip centres or any safe space to disseminate false or unsure information on matter simply because you have been fed to your fill and high on emotions.You’ll need to explain because he who alleges must prove.
If you did not try to balance your story or find out more facts about the information before making it public, then you have lost that right to be invited by law enforcement to clarify certain things you may have made public. It is usually a quid-pro-quo.
As journalists, we rely on chapter 4, section 39 of the Nigerian constitution which talks about the freedom of expression and the press, but we are also smart enough to understand the provisions of the country’s Criminal Code Act and the penal code. Arm yourself with such knowledge before going into the business of information gathering and dissemination. This venture is not the same as the usual gossips you while backslapping each other with your kindred.
People’s good names and reputation are legally protected, and should not be tarnished in the name of Freedom of Expression because ‘We are in a democracy.’ In the event that the people’s reputation are tarnished without reason or justification, they are entitled to remedies.
E no hard.
Have your biases, but also support lawfulness. If we think because we carry some titles, we should be allowed to operate independent of legal provisions, then we are not far away anarchy and confusion. Application of the law is the bedrock of every working system and society. Social order must be upheld to further encourage the growth of democracy and birth functionality and egalitarianism.
Let the law guide our everyday undertakings for the good of us all and societal growth.
Let justice prevail. Our laws must work and be seen to being applied to all citizens irrespective of the titles before their names.
Activism is no license to spew lies and create wrong, negative impressions about anybody in the society, no matter how highly or lowly placed. We cannot be talking of real positive impact when some individuals carry the toga of beyond the laws that guide society.
If the information you put out is capable of diminishing an individual’s esteem among rational members of the community, causing the individual to be shunned, avoided, or isolated by others; putting such a person at danger of scorn, hatred, or contempt, or inviting harm to the person’s financial foundation or cast doubt on someone in their position, industry, or profession, don’t do it. It is defamation.
Ignorance, they say, is not an excuse.
– Yabagi Mohammed writes from Lokoja.
