By Bisi Lawrence
Communication is the most distinctive difference between the nature of man and that of animals. It truly separates human beings from other creatures. It is ideally based on a two-way system in which more than one party express their opinion or authority.

That is when one party initiates it and the others comply, or agree, or dissent by expressing a contrary standpoint. In that case, it is usually attended , or develops, thought processes that may sometimes provoke action, of a violent nature. But, don’t be deceived; even there, communication lasts the whole conflict through.

But, at another level, communication may stop at just one bus station. That is when it is merely seeking for understanding, not in terms of empathy, but for the purpose of comprehension. But even then, it still arouses reaction and extracts response because it is linked with thought processes.

And so, it is patent that communication can foster unity or disunity, promote warfare or foster peace, and hasten progress or delay advancement. This is one God-given facility that is established at the foundation of the entire earthly endeavours of humanity, to make it stand and spread, “to give it breath and breadth”.

The medium that has the capability of communicating with thousands, nay millions, of people over a wide area and in a short time presents itself as a phenomenon to be courted, employed, manipulated, and feared. And that is what the press is.

The press has the responsibility of discharging information, which is the kernel of communication. The classic definition of the duty of the press, as we have all grown up to believe, is “to educate, to entertain and to inform.” The pristine purpose, as matter of fact, is to disseminate information – that is, to inform. Period. It employs various methods to achieve that purpose.

Even when we talk about education, we cannot deny that its sole purpose is the business of information. Teaching reveals fresh knowledge, just like news which is a product of communication. And entertainment is often used to relax the natural resistance to a dry learning process, especially among very young people. It is all zeroed on information.

Any law that would promote access to this all-important facility should be heartily received in any community, even as it has been demonstrated all over this nation at this time. We have waited for the Freedom of Information law, FoI, hoping with the desire of the righteous for the promise of the last judgment on “The Day of Wrath”.

“Dies Irae! ….
“Iudex ergo sum sedebit,
Quidquit latet apparebit,
Nil inultum remanebit.”

“When this judge shall come to sit, everything shall become exposed, and no inequity shall go unpunished.” That is what the requiem declares.

That is the ultimate wish of most Nigerians with regard to the Freedom of Information law .. But the delay in its birth affirms that not very many of the people in government, from the former heads of government downwards, were too enthusiastic about it, especially in the form in which it was cast earlier.

The Senate had its amendments just as the House of Representatives had its own reservations about some of the provisions. A harmonized version was eventually whittled down to what was acceptable to all. And, on the face of it, the provisions appear admirable. The euphoria it has provided is a testimony of that.

Premised on the “Right To Know” dictum, the law is seen as a buttress to the cause of democracy. That right can now be enforced in a court of law in an appropriate measure as the provisions in the law permit. In the main, the institutions affected are those that are purely a part of government or private bodies that are connected with the spending of public funds, or whose activities heavily impinge on pubic welfare and interests.

The chest-beating and self-congratulatory display by several civil society organisations, and even individual legislators who were involved in promoting the cause of the law are well deserved.

There is every hope that information will now be permitted to stream down from the heights to the plains for the benefit of the populace. But it could be pointed out that we might be laying too much emphasis on the positive areas while almost totally neglecting the other side.

As I read the provisions of the law and felt a little elevated about its possible benign effects on the conduct of our affairs from now on, I could not but feel a bit dispirited about its exemptions and limitations when it comes to its actual operation.

Some law provisions have been widely abused in our courts, as we all know. An instance that comes readily to mind is that of the “ex parte” provision about whose injudicious employment, even members of the bench expressed some discomfort.

The FoI appears to have placed a high premium on the security aspects of matters abutting on security concerns. That is not in any way objectionable since every nation has secrets that are not for general consumption. However, it seems that on too many grounds, the decision about what constitutes on infringement of security and as such too sensitive to reveal, is placed entirely in the hands of those whose personal interests may be involved. Who, for instance, should determine the security implications of making public the salary of a Major-General?

The military establishment? If it is construed to be of a national security consideration, the FoI law now provides what was not there before – litigation as a last resort. That, to say the least, is not very re-assuring against the backdrop of our experience.

We are not saying here that the salary of Major-Generals is not known, or should be known. That was only cited here as an example of what may be of public interest but is kept as a secret from the people. In fact, it was only earlier in the week that that Amazon of a crime-buster, Farida Waziri, was appealing to legislators to lift the veil off their earnings for the benefit of the information of the masses, and the elimination of corrosive speculations within the society.

The truth is that there is so much that has been put under wraps in our public life in this nation to the detriment of our progress. And the exposure of several of these items will definitely curtail such practices through the resentment of the populace. The initial euphoria that now pervades every corner of the nation is only natural, but it may be slightly tempered with caution, especially among the civil rights societies, who may later have to face the ordeal of fully operating the law.

****r.i.p, zoning******

The untimely death of President Umar Yar’dua threw the machinery of succession along the format of zoning into a quandary. President Yar’dua was supposed to be serving through a period of two terms allotted to his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which had every confidence of continuing to be in office for “the next sixty years.” But Yar’Adua’s mandate was not yet half served when he died.

The incumbent Vice-President naturally took over according to the Constitution – which was all right, except that the new President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, was far from the North, the area that had been awarded the Presidency by the zoning system. He is from the South-South. That zoning system, however, was purely of the PDP’s making and never enjoyed any endorsement from the Constitution. All the same, what some Northerners considered to be an anomaly in a politician from the South taking over the reins of government at that time, was left to be determined when the first of the two terms, which Jonathan was to complete, came to an end.

I have not told you anything that you do not already know. In other words, I have not yet given you any information.

And so came the time for the second term. Some PDP members strongly felt that Goodluck Jonathan ought to move over for a bona fide Northerner to complete the mandate according to the template of the PDP’s zoning principle. But there was a groundswell of support for the continuance of Jonathan in office – and to hell with zoning. The former academic gentleman thus merged as a smooth politician, adept at shaking hands and twisting arms, and glided back into Aso Rock with an overwhelming majority.

But his party had suffered a severe fracture in the returns of the National Assembly elections, especially in the “lower house” – the House of Representatives. A hefty opposition had become feasible and was poised to do what it does best – that is, oppose. The occasion soon provided itself in the election of the Speaker of the House.

It should have been better described as a selection, really, because the PDP still commanded an overwhelming majority. What is more, the two contestants were members of the party. However, what ensued could be likened to two reindeer locking antlers – a real roforofo fight.

When the dust – or mud – finally settled, the candidate supported by the party had lost to an opposition that would not congeal for a united front, but could combine to defeat a common, arrogant foe. But beyond that, the man who emerged as the Speaker was from the core North, thus inflicting a mortal blow on the zoning formula, by beating a rival from the South West which had been designated as the area from which the Speaker should be appointed. Have you gleaned any information yet from all of that?

Well, it may be added that the core element of the opposition which defeated the candidate from the South West, was actually from the ACN, the Action Congress of Nigeria, which is in government over all that area. So we have a convoluted situation of a political party which lost the bid of its own candidate in a House in which it has the majority; a political party which supports a nominee of the party against which it is in opposition; a political party which withholds its support from a candidate who is of its own area, but from another party.

And so to where have sweet, old sectional differences, party directives and ethnic preferences all disappeared? I can’t offer you any information on that either. Maybe they will never reappear.

Echoes: It weakens one to look at our roads, especially the Benin-Lagos road. Light, water and employment are as dead bodies, and now we can’t even receive clear news broadcast from NTA? Haba! See our schools – no teachers. But we have graduates who can be teachers riding okada everywhere. This is a mess. The President should do something now. The suffering of the common man is too much. We de vex.. (Dr. P. Erunube; 08058407463).

I hear you. I’, sure the “Transformer” hears you too, and will surely do something wonderful.

Echoes: Dear Bisi, with reference to your last column, don’t you think we might be confiding more in the generators than the transformers? (Mike: 08067741973).

Nicely put. Maybe that is from where the transformer should start, actually – with the abrogation of all those noisy generators, with the inception of electricity supply.

Time out.