Issues on the Gagging of Nigerian Press with Obnoxious Laws

Abstract

This study examined the issues on the gagging of Nigerian press with obnoxious laws and it investigated the rate at which the Nigerian media had been prevented from expressing opinion freely by dictatorial leaders who enacted draconian laws to suppress facts and figures. Also, the study identified the major activities of Nigerian press in fighting authoritarianism and in upholding the philosophy of rationalism and natural rights and in checking the excesses of government in power by separating judgements of truth from falsity. Data were sourced through the secondary means and information was obtained from the contents of books, journals, magazines, newspapers and the Internet. It was established that the Nigerian press has been so uncompromising and very zealous in exposing the evils perpetrated by people in power and that the military leadership in Nigeria had engaged several state apparatus in suppressing the truth. The conclusion is that the past governments in Nigeria had used their privileged position to forbid criticism and they had invoked absolutism under extreme conditions. The recommendation is that the incumbent government should eschew autocracy and avoid exploiting the obnoxious laws enacted by the military ‘boys’ in the guise of providing security for the state.

Key words: Nigerian press, Obnoxious decrees, Dictatorial leaders, Draconian laws, Incumbent government