Lagos — Information is recognized as an indispensable tool for the emancipation of any society, moreso at this era of 21st century, where the application of technologies have become a stimulus for accessing and disseminating same.

INFORMATION Society (IS) is one in which all citizens of the world can access and use Information resources for sustainable economic and social development.

In this kind of society, Cyberspace becomes the centre of attraction, and is seen as a resource to be shared by all for the global public good. Therefore, enthronement or advancement in the process of making information available to all the citizens, not only in their immediate countries but globally has become a vital one, especially in this era of globalization.

Hence, information and its availability is used to quantify the extent of global liberalization or otherwise of a given state, be it under-developed, developing and developed.

Nowadays, it is easier to get information about a country, subjects and persons with a click of the mouse through the new media embodied in the Internet, thus eschewing the much feared long bridge between the 'haves' and 'have nots' and between the rich and the poor in the society.

The need to further close this gap motivated the Nigerian stakeholders to map out strategies to ensure that the nation's Freedom of Information (FOI) campaign gets accelerated hearing this fiscal year and maybe, eventually get the support and consent of relevant authorities to become an Act.

Some of these strategies were for advocacy and public enlightenment campaign focusing on Legislature, Executive, individuals, interest groups and mass action as the last resort.

This is coming after over four years of the bill at the National Assembly; the main grouse had been that the nation's leadership, namely the Executive and Legislature saw it as granting 'unfettered' access to all governemnt records regardless of the national security implications.

Proponents of FOI bill insisted that it is not per se a media bill structured specifically to further empower journalists but seeks to grant everyone resident in the country, including journalists, access to official information without differentiating between Nigerians and non-Nigerians.

On the other hand, Press freedom, is based universally on the leveraging of information processes, especially at the government's domain via the media, either the print or electronic. Hence, media is often misunderstood in its capacity as the voice of the people, mostly where it had been enshrined in the constitution of a given state like Nigeria.

This is seen in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, section 22, which challenges the media to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.

To live up to its responsibilities to both the government and the governed, the media as a middle man under the tag of a 'watchdog' is usually seen in the forefront of any publicly acclaimed concept devoid of any bias.

And also as this year's World Press Freedom Day, draws nearer and precisely on May 3, the worrisome state of Freedom of Information (FOI) bill in the country, since the coming of this dispensation in 1999, has attracted global attention.

In order to spur the campaign, stakeholders under the aegis of FOI Coalition, met in the nation's capital early this year, assembling representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to streamline strategies to support FOI bill. This would include the plan to collect, at least, one million signatures among others, which they believe begets a free society and encompasses free speech, free press, property rights, the rule of law, free markets and so on.

The fact is that there would be no serious step to stamp-out corruption in any society if substantial publicly-held information is not available to the citizens, of which they could use to hold public officers accountable for any misconduct.

Therefore, endorsing FOI bill means promoting transparency and accountability in governance, as well as reducing corruption and facilitating efficient distribution and usage of public resources to engender socio-economic growth being preached by crusaders of IS.

The secrecy clauses which forbids disclosure of information under the guise of 'public interest' is being misused as even routine files nowadays are labeled 'Top Secret' or 'Confidential'.

This does not give the public room to participate in governance as expected in a democratic setting likes ours, while affording public officers the chance of hiding under this pretense to commit blunders unchecked.

It is also contrary to the Section 36 (1) of the Nigeria's 1999 Constitution, which tends toward giving everyone the right to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.

The bill which is being scheduled for third reading according to Media Rights Monitor published recently had suffered due to fears that it would grant undue access to official records to foreigners, more powers to media and assuming wholesale importation of foreign law without cognizance to Nigeria's peculiarity.

Stressing it will give any Nigerian, for instance, the right to know how much was awarded on a road which often never get executed by contractors, among others.

Both economic and political developments in countries such as Ghana and Mauritania were attributed to openness of information, thus leveraging accountability.

It would be recalled that the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) ended in Geneva, last December with the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) declaring that efforts to close the digital divide between rich and poor societies and create "knowledge societies" will be a futile one unless developing countries like Nigeria embrace freedom of expression holistically. Even as the struggle for freedom of information, freedom of expression, freedom of the media, has shifted to the Internet from the traditional print.

The fact remains that freedom of the press pays, whichever way one may look at it, and the Nigerian nation can not afford to be left behind at this Information Age, haven lost out in the agrarian and industrial revolutions.

Therefore, the earlier we realize this fact and begin to work towards emancipation of the people through unhindered information, mostly in the public sector where there are a lot of bureaucracy, by endorsing the underlying needs to have a Freedom of Information Act in place, the better for the populace.