Media Practitioners’ Awareness - Knowledge Differentials: A Factor in the Failed Passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill by Nigerian Legislative Assembly

Abstract

This study investigated media practitioners’ awareness of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill by surveying practitioners based in the South Eastern Nigeria. A sample of 1,000 respondents was selected to participate in the study. Using the questionnaire as the major instrument, with a sampling error of +2.5 % and a computed reliability coefficient of 0.98, results showed that : 1) the Bill sought to give every Nigeria citizen a legally enforceable right to access records, documents and information held by the governments, institutions and agencies as well as private bodies performing public functions.2) that 95% of the subjects were exposed to the Bill 3) that the awarenessdifferentials on the provisions of the Bill produced a lacuna where 62% had knowledge of the provisions of the Bill, and 38% did not know.4) that’ media combination’ and ‘on-the-job’ factors influenced subjects’ levels of awareness, Findings further showed that there was a causal relationship between awareness of the FOI Bill and knowledge of the provisions of the Bill, in much the same context as between  awareness and positive attitude to the FOI Bill. The study concluded that
media practitioners’ are in a position to access records previously classified and consciously unveil the regimes of secrecy and impunity bedevilling the country since independence. It was recommended that an Ombudsman Act be passed to improve access to record and a further study on attitude of government bureaucrats to the Bill.