Understanding the Role of Public Officers and CSOs in the Successful Implementation of the FOIA in Nigeria

United Nations Human Rights Council logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

INTRODUCTION

The Freedom of Information Act, 2011 in its explanatory memorandum, makes public records and information more freely available, provide for public access to public records and information, protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy, protect serving public officers from adverse consequences for disclosing certain kinds of official information without authorization and establish procedure for the achievement of those purposes. What this means, is that the act creates the right to access to information in the custody of or under the control of public institutions or authorities and establishes a legal regime for the exercise and/or enforcement of this right.

A Freedom of Information Act cannot just work on the basis of requests by individual members of the public. This is an important part of public access to information but it is not the only part. The authorities need to take active steps to disseminate certain key types of information to the public. This way, the public as a whole will be well informed without having to make requests for information. But, in addition, members of the public who wish to request specific information cannot know with any certainty what information public institutions hold, so they do not know what to ask for. Public institutions are all authorities whether executive, legislative or judicial agencies, ministries, and extra-ministerial departments of the government, together with all corporations established by law and all companies in which government has a controlling interest, and private companies utilizing public funds, providing public services or performing public function. It is therefore essential that all public bodies should be required to publish certain key information about what they do. This includes: how the body functions, its objectives, budget, audited accounts, internal structures and staff complement.

REASONS FOR FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Less corruption:Corruption thrives on secrecy. Individuals and institutions become corrupt when there is no public scrutiny of what they do. The more that they operate in the public gaze the less corrupt (and more efficient) they are likely to become.

Freedom from hunger: This may seem like a strange thing to put on this list. Yet, the Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has argued that famines do not happen in countries with a free press. His argument is that famines are caused by the inaction of governments. Governments do not dare to be inactive on such an important issue when they are subject to constant media scrutiny.

A healthier society: This may also seem a strange benefit from freedom of information. Yet, consider, for example, the greatest public health crisis of our time – the HIV-AIDS pandemic. In its early years, HIV infection was able to spread so rapidly because of the lack of publicly available information about the virus and how to avoid it. Countries that had effective public information programmes – such as Uganda, which was once the worst affected in the world – have been able to turn the tide of HIV infection. More recently, the Chinese government’s failure to be open about the gravity of the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) contributed to the spread of the condition not only within the country but in the outside world. Its belated admission of the seriousness of the SARS outbreak immediately made it easier for the public health authorities to bring it under control.

A cleaner environment: Many of the decisions taken that cause damage to the environment are made behind closed doors. Most of these decisions could be avoided if all planning decisions had to be accompanied by an environmental impact study – which in turn should be made available to the public.

Respect for human rights: Human rights violations, like corruption, flourish in a climate of secrecy. Some of the worst human rights violations, such as torture, are almost by definition something that takes place behind closed doors. An open government – including, for example, publication of investigations into allegations of human rights violations – is far more likely to result in respect for human rights.

Respect for privacy: Without freedom of information there is nothing to guarantee that governments (and other powerful bodies) will not amass vast quantities of information about individuals. If the individual always has the right to see what information is held about them, their right to privacy is more likely to be respected. In addition, people have a right to make sure that the information held about them is accurate. If this is not the case, wrong and potentially damaging decisions could be made.

A more secure society: This is possibly the most controversial item on this list. The argument in favour of official secrecy is that this is necessary in order to safeguard “national security”. Yet there is a much better argument for saying that public scrutiny of decisions related to defence and intelligence is likely to make for a more secure society. For example, many countries have a long experience of unaccountable intelligence services that direct their activities against domestic political opponents rather than genuine threats to national security. Freedom of information can help to curb such behaviour. Secrecy can lead to corruption and inefficiency in the security services, which in turn undermines security.

More effective democracy: Freedom of information is crucial for effective democracy. How can the electorate make an informed choice if they are denied information about what the government – their government – has been doing? Political leaders are more likely to act in accordance with the wishes of the electorate if they know that their actions can be constantly scrutinised by the public.

WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS?

SECTION 3 –Head of institutions shall publish in the Federal gazette a description of the organisation and responsibilities of the institution including details of programme and functions of each division, branch and department etc
SECTION 31-Attorney-General & MIN. OF JUSTICE – shall encourage govts and institutions to comply. 3&7
Court should be alive to its responsibily.
Heads of institutions should constitute FOIA committees, appoint desk officers and train them.
Institutions must be proactive by displaying information to the public on the internet, newspapers etc.

ROLES

Make the Act work by adding value. Meet requesters with politeness

The role of public officials in a democracy is to serve the public. This is why they are called public or civil servants. You should meet every person who requests information with this principle of serving the public in mind. You should treat all requesters as equal, and meet them with politeness.

Advise and assist them when making their request

You should advise and assist them in making their request, taking into consideration that the requester may not know what information exactly to look for, where to look for it, or how to file a request. Provision should be made to ensure full access to information for certain groups, for example those who cannot read or write, those who do not speak the language of the record, or those who suffer from disabilities such as blindness. In such cases you should help the customer to put their request into writing, include your name and position in the body, and give a copy to the person who made the request. User-friendly systems have been established in Denmark and the Netherlands where applications can be made verbally. The Belgian legislation gives requesters the right to have documents explained to them.

Direct them to where the information can be found

If the information requested is already publicly available, for example on an internet site, in information bulletins or in an annual report, you should indicate to the requester where he or she can find the information. If you do not hold the information the requester is looking for, you should direct him or her to the correct person or body where the information can be found.

Process requests rapidly and fairly

Requests for information should be processed rapidly and fairly within the time limits prescribed by law. The reasons for any refusal of information should be given to the requester with a comprehensive written explanation.

Inform requesters of their rights

The freedom of Information Act made an independent review of any refusals through court of law. In case you decide not to disclose the requested information, you should inform the requester that he or she can appeal this decision by applying to court.

You may refuse vexatious requests

Notwithstanding, it is legitimate for public bodies to refuse frivolous or vexatious requests.

Keep in touch with requesters.

Keep the requester informed of the progress of their request, if the request is such that processing it will take some time. This will be the case for example when it involves a large amount of information or numerous documents.

So, what do you need to do when you receive a request? Here is a Checklist:

Provide the requester with a receipt documenting the request;
Provide the requester with a reference number for the request to make it easier to trace the request later on;
Explain the procedure of how the request will be handled (for this purpose, the public body could have a leaflet explaining the standard procedure for handling information requests);
Keep the person informed of the progress of their request, especially if it involves a large amount of information which will take time to find.

The Role of CSO’s

The Act provides people the right to access government-held information and requires systems to be set up for ensuring transparent and accountable government. The purpose of the Act is to create an informed citizenry capable of participating in the decision-making processes of government at all levels. In this context, the right to information becomes a key tool for ensuring that public authorities more effectively meet their goal of promoting participation and entrenching accountable government at the grassroots level.

Lack of awareness and training and public education are the main reasons why people find it difficult to access information from various government institutions. Civil society organisation (CSOs), especially those working at the grassroots in rural areas need to be aware about this landmark legislation in our country. More importantly they have the specific responsibility to spread awareness about this Act amongst the people and monitor its implementation.

The main roles of the CSOs towards the successful implementation of the FOI Act are;

Advocacy

Advocacy is getting the support of key stakeholders

Generating awareness

Awareness generation and public

Education

Print handbills, posters and pamphlets on FOIA for wide-scale distribution.

Spread awareness about FOIA through wall writing, group discussions, pamphlet distribution, rallies, street plays, awareness camps etc.
Inform people about governments duty to proactively disclose information;
Share successful case studies on use of FOIA by ordinary citizens in order to enable people to appreciate its value and importance;

Building capacity among the community on FOIA.

Capacity Building

Organise FOIA workshops seminars, inter-face at wards, local govt, town halls, CDA, youth org., States and Federal level with the purpose of increasing awareness and knowledge about FOIA.
Organise FOIA workshops for CSOs, media, government officials, women organisations, professional organisations, market men and women, traditional institutions members of Self Help Groups, retired government officials, teachers, media.

Using provisions under the act in monitoring public service delivery

It must be borne in mind that awareness creation in citizen and capacity building of government officials ned to be done side by side in other to strenghten the demand side for accessing information as well as the supply side for giving information. Kudos to the organisers and sponsors. Hope sponsors will continue to give support to CSOs to continue the momentum tha will be generated.

Using Provisions Under The Act in Monitoring Public Service Delivery

Participation in governance is at the heart of any successful democracy. As citizens, we need to participate not only at the time of elections but on a day-to-day basis – when decisions on policy, laws and schemes are being made and projects and activities are being implemented. Public involvement not only enhances the quality of governance but also promotes transparency and accountability in government functioning. But in reality how can citizens take part in governance? How can the public understand how decisions are being made? How can ordinary people find out how tax money is being spent or if public schemes are being properly run or whether the government is acting honestly and fairly when it makes decisions? How can government servants be made answerable to the public they are supposed to serve? Social audit?

What is Social Audit?

Social Audit is an independent and participatory evaluation of the performance of a public agency or a programme or scheme. It is an instrument of social accountability whereby an in-depth scrutiny and analysis of working of a public authority vis-à-vis its social responsibility can be undertaken. It also enables the Civil Society to access whether a public authority lives up to the shared values and objectives it is committed to. It provides an assessment of the impact of public institutions non-financial objectives through systematic and regular monitoring based on the views of its stakeholders.

Benefits of Social Audit

The primary benefits of Social Audit are:

Complete transparency: In the process of administration and decision-making, Social Audit ensures an obligation on part the Government to provide full access to all relevant information.
Rights Based Entitlement: Social Audit propagates rights-based entitlements for all the affected persons (and not just their representatives) to participate in the process of decision making and validation.
Informed Consent: Social Audit provides for the right of the affected persons to give informed consent, as a group or as individuals, as appropriate.
Immediate Answerability: Social Audit enables swift and prompt response by the elected representatives and Government functionaries, on their relevant actions or inactions, to the concerned people.
Speedy Redress of Grievances: Social Audit ensures speedy redress of grievances of the affected people by the public agencies.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I want to appreciate the efforts of the organisers for putting up this programme. I urge CSOs, Media and NOA to collaborate and make FOIA work well in Nigeria. I salute the Undp and others for sponsoring the event. Finally, please let us ‘Do the right thing to transform Nigeria’.

REFERENCES

1. Freedom of Information Act 2011

2. Sohini Paul; Roleof civil Society Organisatios in Implementation of RTI in India

3. ATI, Kohima; Right to Information Act, 2005 and the Role of NGOs, CSOs RTI Cell

The Imperative of the Rule of law as a Fulcrum for Promoting, Accessing and Upholding the FOIA within Nigeria

presented by A. A. Adewole Esq.

Going by available statistics published by the United Nations, about 90 countries the world over have this type of law operating in their respective domains. The FOI Act Nigeria was signed into law on 28^th March, 2011 by President Goodluck Jonathan. Lagos and Ekiti States have domesticated the law albeit with slight variations to suit their local situations.

As discernible from the long title of the Act, it is “An Act to make Public records and Information freely available, provide for public access to Public Records and Information, protect public records and information to the extent consistent with the public interest and the protection of personal privacy, protect serving public officers from adverse consequences for disclosing certain official information and establish procedures for the achievement of those purposes and for related purposes…”

From the coinage of the topic of this presentation, it can be deduced that the essence is to properly place the “rule of law” as a sine qua non for a successful operation/ application of the Freedom of Information Act and its local variants (as adopted and enacted by some states in the Federation) in our country. But before delving into the topic proper, it is necessary to deal with the issue as to whether or not the F. O. I Act is of general application in all the component states of Nigeria. I will say that the position on this as at today is still fluid but it suffices at this point to mention that some states including Lagos and Ekiti have enacted their own versions of it.

Before considering how rule of law will perform the three identified functions of Promoting, Accessing and Upholding the Freedom of Information Act, there is the need to put the term “rule of law” in proper perspective. It was coined by A. V. Dicey a renowned British Jurist in 19^th century. Several connotations and denotations have been given to the term.

Two of them are as follows:

“…influence and authority of law within society, especially as a constraint upon behavior of government officials”.
“…implies that every citizen is subject to the law”.

The modern conception of rule of law developed as a concept distinct from “rule of man”. It involves a system of governance based on non-arbitrary rules as opposed to one based on the power and wish of the absolute ruler.

In its simplest form, the rule of law principle posits that everybody is equal before the law, the governed as well as the governor.

At this juncture, it is apposite to pause and ask, what actually is the relationship/nexus between the principles of rule of law and the Freedom of Information Act?

According to Doctor Mack Cooray in his article titled the “rule of law”, following form Professor A. V. Dicey’s writing about rule of law certain essential characteristics have emerged as its components. They are:

Supremacy of law which means that all persons (individuals and government) are subject to law.
Concept of Justice- which emphasizes interpersonal adjudication, law based on standards and the importance of procedures.
Restriction on the exercise of discretionary power.
Doctrine of judicial precedent.
Common law methodology
Legislation should be prospective and not retrospective.
An independent judiciary
Exercise by Parliament of legislative power and restrictions of exercise of legislative power by the executive.
An underlying moral basis for law.

In the same vein, a group known as the World Justice Project has indentified four universal principles that must be upheld under rule of law. These are:

Government and its officials and agents as well as individuals and private entities are accountable under the law.
The laws are clear, publicized, stable and just are applied evenly, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property.
The process by which the laws are erected, administered and enforced is accessible, fair and efficient.
Justice is delivered timely by competent, ethical and independent representatives and neutrals who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources and reflect the makeup of the communities.

Those four cardinal principles of the world justice project appears to me to be a collapse of the nine components distilled form A. V. Dicey’s writing. They can be said to encapsulate all that are required for the rule of law to prevail in a society.

As revealed by the long title to the Freedom of Information Act, the purpose of that law is to give Nigerians access to information on acts and activities of government, also to protect public sector workers who in the course of their employment or tenure of office reveal certain facts which revelation hitherto will amount to an offence from being sanctioned for such revelation once it is shown that it was done in public interest. People who act in such way are now referred to as “whistle blowers”. The F. O. I Act has thirty sections in which it attempts to cover the field on all perceived areas needed to ensure that the intendment of the law is achieved. It covers issues such as right of access to public records (section 2); recording and keeping of information by public institution (section 3); request for access to records and how such request is processed sections (4,5,6,7); what to do where access is refused (section 8); grounds for denying a request (sections 12,13,15,16,17,18,20); right to challenge a denial in court (section 21); procedure to be adopted by the court in treating such matters (sections 22,23,24,25, & 26); materials exempted under the act (section 27); protection of an officers of public institution or any person acting on behalf of such institution from civil or criminal liability from disclosing requested information, also protection of a public officer who discloses information without authorization in given circumstances and also protection of the receiver of such information (section 28); among others. Without gainsay, the F. O. I Act contains quite a number of salutary provisions which if properly and sincerely applied will go a long way in the quest to tame corruption in our society. The Act has also responded albeit in part to the clamour to make the fundamental objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy as contained in Chapter II of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria justiciable. This is because the F. O. I Act affords Nigerians opportunity to participate in governance as provided for under section 14(2) (c) of the 1999 constitution.

All said and done, the F. O. I. Act is in itself a microcosm of what the rule of law concept is all about in that it seeks to ensure that government, its employees, appointees elected officers as well as agents operate within the ambit of our laws and the Act also empowers the citizens as watch dogs for the said purpose. But laudable as the Act may be it is not yet Uhuru until its provisions are tested and bounced against real life situations vis-à-vis the well established tenets of the rule of law that we can then talk about its having achieved its purpose. To facilitate this, I want to make the following suggestions:

Public Officers (career and political) must readily play their roles as enshrined in the Act. There is the need for a thorough re-orientation of the said officers in this regard considering the situation prior to the enactment of the F. O. I Act.
Government at all levels too must remove all impediments that can hinder the smooth operation of the Act and show sincerely.
The Judiciary must also be ready and exhibit capacity to play its role in a positive and most effective manner in adjudicating on issues that arise from the operation of the act.
The citizenry too must be vigilant and be ready to seize the initiative in making the Act work. Knowing that a vast majority of the populate lack the wherewithal to do this, the Media and the Civil Society organizations amongst others are expected to be pro-active and be the vanguards in this area.
Where the need arises to have a review of some of the provisions of the Act, the legislature should respond promptly and do the needful.
There is also the need to publicize and simplify the provisions of the Act for quick and easy understanding of the masses.
Access to the court where judicial review becomes necessary must be made easy and affordable for the generality of the populace.

The above suggestions of mine are by no means exhaustive. But I consider them the minimum that must be met in order that the F. O. I. Act can be made to work.

I thank you all for your attention.

Communique Issued at the end of the Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy Skills for CSOs and the Media

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP ON ADVOCACY SKILLS FOR CSOs AND THE MEDIA ON FOI ACT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE SOUTHWEST AT RICHTON HOTEL & SUITES, ABEOKUTA FROM 11TH TO 12TH SEPTEMBER 2013

Preamble

The Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy Skills for CSOs and Media on FOI Act Implementation in the South West was organized by the South West FOIA Network and supported by the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD-II) Project and its international partners – the EU, DFID, CIDA and UNDP. A total of 43 organizations from all the states of the region participated in the workshop.

Objectives

The objectives of the workshop were to:

Strengthen the advocacy skills of the CSOs to engage the leadership of the three arms of government in the Southwest States in pressing them to concretely implement the provisions of the FOIA in their respective states, in line with the age-long progressive leaning of the region.
Provide a platform for generating discussions and relevant actions around FOIA implementation.
Devise strategies that the Network could deploy to engage the law-makers in the respective states in the region in drafting and passing acceptable state FOI laws consistent with the FOIA at the national level.
Identify with a view to partnering with relevant MDAs, the institutional bodies affected by the FOIA and development partners in ensuring unfettered FOIA implementation.
Increase the capacity and skills of CSOs and the Media to embark on relevant activities to increase the level of awareness on the FOIA among members of the public including those at the grassroots.

The workshop was attended by representatives of CSOs and Media in the South West geo-political zone. The keynote address was delivered by Mrs. Abimbola Ibironke Akeredolu, the Hon. Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Ogun State ably represented by the Director, Legal Drafting, Barrister Lanre Iyanda.

There were also lead presentations on: ‘Understanding the Role of Public Officials and CSOs in the Successful Implementation of the FOIA in Nigeria’; ‘Community Mobilisation for Development: Strategies for CSOs Use of FOI Act in Making Requests’; ‘Traditional and Social Media as Watchdogs of FOIA implementation’; ‘Understanding Essential Elements of Advocacy in Engaging the Authorities on FOI Act: Some Critical Tools for CSOs’; ‘Methods and Strategies for Monitoring the Implementation of Freedom of Information Act’ and ‘The Imperative of the Rule of Law as a Fulcrum for Promoting, Accessing, and Upholding the FOI Act within the Nigeria Context’

In addition, there were plenary and group discussions on: ‘Practical Application of Freedom of Information Act for CSOs/Media: The Right to Ask;’ ‘Tackling the Challenges of Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria’; ‘Producing a position paper or a briefing note;’ ‘Carrying out a media interview’ and ‘Organizing a press conference.’

Observations

After comprehensive discussions of the keynote address and the lead presentations, the participants observed that:

If information is the oxygen of democracy, we find it objectionable that 27 months after the enactment of the FOIA, save for Ekiti State which enacted its FOI Law on 4^th July 2011 and is currently in the final stage of passing a more robust amended version, other states in the southwest region i.e. Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos are yet to either enact State Level FOI Laws or concretely implement the FOIA.
Many public institutions in the region and across the Federation are yet to deliver on their obligations under the Act, including the all important duty to proactively disclose certain categories of information stipulated under Section 2 (3) of the Act.
There is also persisting low level awareness on the detailed provisions of the legislation amongst public officials and members of the public, which is militating against robust usage of the law by various stakeholders.
We are concerned that despite the plethora of binding judicial decisions from several superior courts of record, including the apex court in the country, which establish amongst others, the legal doctrine of covering the field, while state like Oyo in the region still insist that the FOIA does not apply to them.
Despite the fact that the 7^th Assembly of the Lagos State Parliament, recently revived the process of enacting a State level FOI Law, in a process that dates back to the 6^th Assembly, we are concerned about reports of what appears to be an official policy that gags public officials in the state from responding to FOI requests received from members of the public.
While the Act requires private institutions, including CSOs providing public services, performing public functions or utilizing public funds to be proactive in their duty of disclosure in accordance with the provisions of FOIA, we are concerned that this is not being done currently, due largely to a lack of proper understanding of the provisions of the Act.
There is growing concern that journalists in some states in the region, especially those in government owned media houses exhibit tendencies depicting bias, partisanship and lack of professionalism in their work, which negatively affects the FOI compliance process, especially since they are major stakeholders in the FOI project in these States.
In consonance with the letters and spirit of the FOIA, it is believed that proactively disclosing publicly details of the agreement reached in 2009 between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government would have gone a long way to compel the Federal Government to comply with the said agreement and avert the current strike action that has resulted in the over two months closure of Federal and State Universities nationwide.
Unless there is a subsisting appeal by the defendants in the case, the continuing disobedience of the order of mandamus made by the Federal High Court on the 10^th of July 2013 directing the Clerks of the Senate and House of Representatives to furnish the plaintiff, with the salaries, allowances and Constituency funds of Senator Ehigie Uzamere representing Edo South Senatorial District and the member representing Ovia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives Nosakhare Osahon, is symptomatic of the culture of gross impunity and flagrant disregard for the rule of law and court orders by public officials which should attract immediate punitive consequences for all such offenders.
Strong concern was expressed by participants on the call by some serving public officials that the FOIA be amended even though empirical evidence shows that the Law has hardly been significantly implemented by all tiers of government in the country.

Resolutions

The workshop also resolved/recommended as follows:

Members of this Network, CSOs and other stakeholders in the region should be mobilised to sustain focused advocacy with the three arms of government in their respective States to ensure compliance with the FOIA and where desired, enactment of the state level FoI Laws that meet the minimum benchmarks established in the FOIA.
Public institutions in the region and the nation at large should, as a matter of urgency put in place the requisite framework and machinery for delivering on their obligations under the Act, including the all important duty to proactively disclose certain categories of information stipulated under Section 2 (3) of the Act.
In line with the provisions of Section 13 of the FOIA, governments in the region should immediately embark on robust capacity building programmes aimed at deepening the understanding of public officials on the provisions of the FOIA. Furthermore, such capacity building and sensitization programs should also be extended to members of the public resident in the region.
Following existing judicial decisions from several superior courts of record, including the apex court in the country, establishing the legal doctrine of ‘covering the field,’ members of the Network call on state governments in the region to as a matter of urgency, uphold these existing judicial precedents by implementing the provisions of the FOIA forthwith in their respective states.
The Network commends the 7^th Assembly of the Lagos State Parliament for reviving the process of enacting a State level FOI Law in Lagos State and hopes that the process would be completed speedily. In furtherance to this positive development the Network also calls on the executive arm of government in the state to, as a matter of urgency clarify the allegation making the rounds of the existence of an official policy that prevents public officials in the state from responding to FOI requests received from members of the public. The Network also urges all arms of government in the state to commence the process of putting the requisite machinery in place for promoting the public’s right to know as enshrined in the FOIA.
The Network will partner with other stakeholders in the region to carry out capacity building and sensitization programmes for private institutions, including CSOs who provide public services, perform public functions or utilize public funds to be proactive in their duty of disclosure in accordance with the provisions of FOIA.
Members of the Network will carry out advocacy with journalists in some states in the region, especially those in government owned media houses to be unbiased, non-partisan and professional in their work, which also aids the process of FOI compliance in their respective states.
The Network calls on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government to proactively and urgently disclose publicly details of the agreement reached in 2009 as part of the process of resolving once and for all the issues implicated in the current crises.
There should be immediate punitive consequences for all public officials who disregard court orders enforcing compliance with FOIA.
Participants distance themselves from the call by some serving public officials that the FOIA be amended despite the fact that it has not been substantially implemented in any shape or form. We reiterate that at this point in time, emphasis should be on implementing the FOIA, so that its benefits can be enjoyed by all and sundry, including government itself rather than a premature amendment that does no good to the legislation.
In view of the growing recourse to the courts as the most viable forum for resolving FOIA disputes the Network calls on the National Judicial Institute as a matter of urgency and necessity to organise capacity building training programmes on FOIA for the judiciary at all levels. Furthermore, the Network also urges the judiciary as a key arm of government to immediately kick-start the process of complying with the FOIA in all ramifications.
The Network will seek partnership with the Human Rights Committees of the branches of the Nigeria Bar Associations (NBA) in their respective states to provide pro bono services for resolving FOIA disputes.

Conclusion

The participants appreciate the support provided by the UNDP’s Democratic Governance for Development (DGD-II) and its international partners, the EC, DFID, CIDA to the Southwest FOIA Network for the success of the workshop and calls on them to kindly provide additional support to the Network as it embarks on the process of taking the FOIA implementation campaign in the Southwest zone further.

Signed on behalf of the participating Southwest CSOs:

Ayo Adebusoye ………………………………………………………………………….
Rita Ilevbare ………………………………………………………………………….
Ebofin Michael ………………………………………………………………………….
Gbenga Ganzallo ………………………………………………………………………….
Jide Bamgbose …………………………………………………………………………..
Moji Akinsanya ………………………………………………………………………….
Tola Winjobi ……………………………………………………………………………….(Zonal Coordinator)

Group Three Work on Press Release

TASK

PRESS RELEASE

Come up with a press release either as a rebuttal to statement credited to a public official on non-applicability of FOIA in a hypothetical state of the federation or as the position of your organization on the applicability of FOIA in a hypothetical State. You may need to consider: content, style, presentation and photograph (if necessary).

NAME OF ORGANISATION: Organization 3.

PRESS RELEASE

TITLE OF POSITION: NEED FOR A STATE TO IMPLEMENT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) NOW

Our attention has been drawn to the fact that “A” STATE is yet to implement the FOIA two years after its passage by the National Assembly and the assent to it by the president.

Our position for the applicability of the FOIA in this state has become imperative in view of the recent workshop on “Capacity Enhancement Training on FOIA for CSOs in the Southwest”. The revelation at this workshop shows the compelling need for our dear states to apply the FOIA. For us, it can no longer be business as usual.

For the purpose of education, the FOIA is the first law that empowers Nigerians with the right to access the records of public institutions (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) as well as the private sector, where they perform responsibilities of public nature. The Act which is a codification of the right to know and also a fundamental human right of every Nigerian citizen, grants all persons the legally enforceable right to access public held records. Moreover, the signing of the FOI Bill into law is an opportunity for the clearest demonstration ever of the power of civil society working together to influence public policy and initiate reform.

The whole Act borders on the issue of the right of access of anyone to public record and information. Section 2(1) of the Act categorically declares and establishes the right of any person to access or request information “which is in the custody or possession of any public official, agency or institution howsoever described”, whether such information is in a written form or otherwise.

However, after the two day workshop, which incidentally was held in this state, we strongly hold through this medium to appeal to the government of this State to, as a matter of urgency to implement this act in order to save our nascent democracy.

More so, the rationale behind our position steps from the fact emerging from the workshop that a sister state has already passed the law and another has held a stakeholders’ meeting on it. Therefore, for a state that prides itself as a pacesetter of the nation, there is the need and the time is now to have the application of the FOIA.

Among other benefits, is the need for free flow of information between the government and the governed, the public and the private institutions and the general public.

Our organization is ready to provide in areas of advocacy, to facilitate the implementation in order to contribute to the promotion of freedom of speech, human right and strengthen the rule of law in the state.

In conclusion, we want to appeal to all relevant authorities to take the bull by the horn to create an enabling environment for the applicability of the FOI Act.

Signed Organization 3.

Omotayo Elegbede tayojet@gmail.com
Olamiji Olutowo sotowolami@yahoo.com
Imam Busairi imambusairi@yahoo.com
Kosoko Adesola adesolakosoko@yahoo.com
Ilesanmi Adetoun F. iadetoun@yahoo.co.uk
Comrade Tunde Hassan tunisky@yahoo.com
Rotimi Niyi niyirotimi@gmail.com
Kehinde Akinyemi trustmaninogun@gmail.com

Welcome Address at the Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy Skills for CSOs and the Media

A WELCOME ADDRESS PRESENTED BY DR DAVID TOLA WINJOBI THE SOUTHWEST COORDINATOR OF SOUTHWEST FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT NETWORK AT THE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP ON ADVOCACY SKILLS FOR CSOs AND THE MEDIA ON FOI ACT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE SOUTHWEST AT RICHTON HOTEL & SUITES 62/64 EDUN ADILA STREET, IBARA HOUSING ESTATE, ABEOKUTA FROM 10TH TO 13TH SEPTEMBER 2013

I heartily welcome all of you to this two–day Capacity Enhancement Training on Advocacy Skills for CSOs and the Media on FOI Act Implementation in the South-West States of Nigeria.

As we are all aware, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law on the 28th of May, 2011 by President Goodluck E. Jonathan. It is the first law that empowers Nigerians with the right to access the records of public institutions (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) as well as the private sector, where they perform responsibilities of public nature. The Act which is a codification of the right to know and also a fundamental human right of every Nigerian citizen, grants all persons the legally enforceable right to access public held records. Moreover, the signing of the FOI Bill into law is an opportunity for the clearest demonstration ever of the power of civil society working together to influence public policy and initiate reform.

The preamble to the longish title of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 clearly sets out in a self-interpretative language the following as the objectives and thrust of the law as follows:

Making Public Records and Information freely available;
Provision for Public Access to Public Records and Information;
Protection of Serving Officers from adverse consequences of disclosing certain official information and;
Establishment of Procedures for the achievement of the above and related purposes.

What is more to the above unprecedented right is the express provision in the Act at Section2(2) that an applicant, that is, any person seeking access to public record and information, need not demonstrate any specific interest in the information being applied for. This singular ancillary provision is most laudable having regard to the fact that before the Act, public institutions, offices and government agencies had effectively used the ground of lack of or insufficient interest as a Carte Blanche to refuse any application for information in the custody of government offices or officials.

Current Situation of the Act in Nigeria:

Since the act was signed into law, there is relatively low level of awareness of the FOIA among members of the public in Nigeria and especially in the southwest geo-political zone. The situation is worse in the northeast geopolitical zone for obvious reasons as many public servants are not aware of the Act while those that are aware do not know the import of the Act. Apart from Ekiti State, no other State in the Southwest has enacted a State level FOI Law. Many public institutions and officials are yet to fulfill their obligation under Section 13 of the FOI Act, requiring them to build the capacity of their workforce to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act. The free flow of essential public information as stipulated by the FoI Act is being hampered by the lack of official websites by some public institutions and lack of regular update of information by those who have.

Most private organizations including CSOs utilizing public funds, performing public functions or providing public services, erroneously believe that they are exempted from the ambit of the application of the FOIA. Furthermore and worse still, some state governments also incorrectly opine that they are not bound by the provisions of the FOI Act. A bad example is that of the Attorney General for Oyo State who in April said that his State (Oyo) was not bound by the Act. Efforts were made to seek audience with him so as to educate him that the law of the federal republic takes precedence over those enacted by any state while each state is bound by the federal law.

Rationale and Objectives for the Workshop:

Apart from apathy from the CSOs, there is also skepticism among some of them about the safety and security of whistleblowers including the media. Though many CSOs are aware of the Act, many lack the skill needed as whistle-blowers to engage the public officials and the legislators on the need to implement the Act in their respective states.

The need to create public awareness of what Freedom of Information is and its connection to the daily lives of stakeholders is paramount. Media and the use of ICT bear much relevance in this regard. People need to see it being done and not to see what ought to be done. The demands to know and the knowledge of how to apply the information obtained in solving social, economic and political problems facing different people at different stages of life need to be addressed.

The overall objective of the Southwest FOIA Network is to contribute to the promotion of freedom of speech and human rights, deepen democratic accountability and strengthen the rule of law in Nigeria. The specific objectives of the workshop, however, are to:

Strengthen the advocacy skills of the CSOs to lobby the law-makers in their respective states in drafting and passing acceptable state FOI laws consistent with the FOIA at the national level.
Provide a platform for generating discussions and relevant actions around FOIA implementation.
Identify with a view to partnering with relevant MDAs, the institutional bodies affected by the freedom of information law and development partners in ensuring unfettered FOIA implementation.
Increase the capacity and skills of CSOs and the Media to embark on relevant activities to increase the level of awareness on the FOI Act among members of the public including those at the grassroots.

I would like to use this medium to appeal to the federal government of Nigeria to, as a matter of urgency, declare a sincere state of emergency on our educational system. In view of the current impasse between ASUU and the federal government, the latter should accede to the request of the former so that our children could go back to school immediately. The federal government should desist from violating the provisions of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Act 2011 as it is evident that NUC has neglected its regulatory function by serving as an emergency contractor, constituting itself into a tenders board for the universities and colleges of education, and administering hostel development grant.

I also implore the media and CSOs to FOI the Federal Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission to make available the details of the salaries and emoluments (including constituency allocations) of our federal lawmakers whose controversial jumbo pay package has been the highest in the whole world. While our legislators are living in opulence, over 70 per cent of Nigerians are suffering from poverty, about 5 million youths pass out from higher institutions without jobs while over 10 million children are out of school. Paradoxically, Nigeria is rich yet its people are poor. Poverty, hunger, starvation and preventable diseases are staring the critical masses of this country in the face as our leaders lack fiscal discipline while money that would have been used for development is being leaked into private pockets.

As CSOs and the media, we need to use FOIA to demand accountability from our public officials. We need to know how our resources are being allocated or spent; it is our right to ask and it is their responsibility to answer. We need to FOI MDAs, procurement and award of contracts; revenue allocation; environment on ecological fund; constituency allowances; infrastructural development; housing; agriculture; the Public Complaints Commission; MDGs Projects; Good Governance Team etc.

I wish us all successful deliberations.

Thank you for listening.

Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy Skills for CSOs and the Media on FOI Act Implementation in the South West

REPORT OF THE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP ON ADVOCACY SKILLS FOR CSOs AND THE MEDIA ON FOI ACT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE SOUTH-WEST, ORGANIZED BY SOUTHWEST FOI ACT NETWORK SUPPORTED BY UNDP/DGDII AND ITS INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS – the EU, DFID, CIDA AT RICHTON HOTEL & SUITES, ABEOKUTA 11TH – 12TH SEPTEMBER, 2013

Acronyms and Abbreviations

FoIA – Freedom of Information Act
CSO – Civil Society Organisation
NOA- National Orientation Agency
DG – Director General

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledging those who contributed to the success of the Capacity Enhancement Workshop for the CSOs and the Media on FoIA implementation in the South-West, Nigeria, the contributions of the organization members of the network are irreplaceable. The performance of the Zonal Executive of FOIA Network has been excellent from the conception, planning and till the implementation of the workshop.

The efforts of the grand adviser, Prof Albert Ilemobade, and the Zonal Coordinator, Dr Tola Winjobi coupled with the enormous support of his deputy, Ms Mojisola Akinsanya, the Secretary, Mr Michael Ebofin and the State Coordinators made the educative workshop a reality. Without their cooperation nothing would have achieved.

The role of UNDP Democratic Governance for Development (DGD-II) Project and its international partners – the EU, DFID, CIDA and UNDP in sponsoring the workshop is highly appreciated. Their support cannot be underestimated because we were planning for a low keyed workshop, due to non availability of funds to drive our intention before they came to our aid.

1.0: INTRODUCTION

After much agitation by Nigerians, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law on the 28th of May, 2011 by President Goodluck E. Jonathan. It is the first law that empowers Nigerians with the right to access the records of public institutions (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) as well as the private sector, where they perform responsibilities of public nature. Most of the states in Nigeria are yet to adopt the FoI Act in their various states due to ignorance, claiming that it is a federal law, and not binding on them. In order to unmask the veil on the Act, the CSOs had been working on modalities to be put in place on awareness creation for the populace.

A sensitization workshop was held in Akure which was attended by representatives of CSOs and Journalists in March, 2013. There have been series of meetings to strategize for a vibrant network that would be responsible for sensitizing the community and engaging the governments on FOIA. Against this backdrop in May, 2013, a network was formed at Osogbo at where the name “Southwest Freedom of Information Act Network” emerged to further step down the awareness campaign on (FOIA), and to be engaging governments and non-state actors on FOIA.

The network observed that the awareness of the FOIA has been relatively low among members of the public since it was signed into law. The CSOs in the south-west geo-political zone have been agitating for its effectiveness. Hence, the membership of the network mandated the Executive Members to take the training of its members as the first priority as many of them still needed to be informed about the import of the FOIA before they begin to engage the government.

Therefore, a Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy Skills was organized for Civil Society Organizations and Media on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) implementation in the South-West of Nigeria. The training was organized by the South-West FOIA Network, with the support of the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD-II) Project and its international partners – the EU, DFID, CIDA and UNDP. The participants were drawn from the six (6) states of the south-west, Nigeria. The motive of the workshop was to increase the awareness and participation of the CSOs and the media in the use of Freedom of Information Act and its efficacy in connection to the daily lives of stakeholders

The objectives of the workshop were to:

Strengthen the advocacy skills of the CSOs to engage the leadership of the three arms of government in the Southwest States in pressing them to concretely implement the provisions of the FOIA in their respective states, in line with the age- long progressive leaning of the region.
Provide a platform for generating discussions and relevant actions around FOIA implementation.
Devise strategies that the Network could deploy to engage the law-makers in the respective states in the region in drafting and passing acceptable state FOI laws consistent with the FOIA at the national level.
Identify with a view to partnering with relevant MDAs, the institutional bodies affected by the FOIA and development partners in ensuring unfettered FOIA implementation.
Increase the capacity and skills of CSOs and the Media to embark on relevant activities to increase the level of awareness on the FOIA among members of the public including those at the grassroots.

2.01: Workshop Implementation

The Process:

The executive having brainstormed on the steps to be taken in the actualization of the workshop, embarked on resource mobilization by forming synergy with stakeholders that would be of assistance. Fortunately, UNDP/DGDII agreed to support the workshop financially. The executive members with the cooperation of its members were able to pick the location for the training due to the aim and objectives of the network. The state coordinators succeeded in mobilizing their member organisations. A proposal, including the workshop agenda was forwarded to the donor agency for ratification. The topics and the names of the resource persons were adjusted to meet the purpose of the training. Invitation letters were sent to the resource persons, including the invited guests and the participants.

The Deputy Zonal Coordinator, with the assistance of a network member distributed the invitation letters for the guests and the resource persons within Abeokuta township. The workshop covered a period of four days including the days of arrival to departure. The participants arrived on the 10th September, 2013. The same evening, the executive and some selected members serving in the committee had a pre-workshop planning in the training venue to set the stage.

2.02: COMMENCEMENT

The training commenced on Wednesday 11th September 2013 with the technical session due to the lateness of the invited guests, facilitated by Gbenga Ganzallo and Sola Afariogun at the Conference Hall of Richton Hotel, Ibara Housing Estate, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The opening prayer was led by Evangelist (Mrs) Nike Obatayo after which the participants introduced themselves accordingly. The zonal coordinator, Dr Tola Winjobi, announced the names of the participants who were to serve in various committees. They were in charge of Logistics/food, Housekeeping, Rapporteur, Communiqué, ICT and Media. Immediately after Mrs Sally Musa, the UNDP representative gave necessary house keeping rule and information as regards the success of the training.

Ground Rules/Expectations

Mr Ebofin Michael anchored the setting of ground rules, expectations and fears of the participants at the training, whilethe time table was adjusted in compliance with the participants.

2.03: FIRST PAPER PRESENTATION:

The first paper was delivered by Mr Remi Omowon, the Director National Orientation Agency. In order to safe time, the zonal adviser, Prof Albert Ilemobade, the zonal coordinator, Dr Tola Winjobi, the UNDP representative, Mrs Sally Musa, Ekiti state coordinator, Evang (Mrs) Obatayo were called to the high table to accompany the guest speaker, Mr. Omowon, The title of the paper Understanding the Role of Public Officials and CSOs in the Successful Implementation of the FOIA in Nigeria, and was moderated by Dr Tola Winjobi. Mr Omowon began by identifying the following benefits of FOIA to include:

Provide Citizens access to record and information.
Protection of Privacy.
Reduce corruption in public places.
Freedom from hunger and consequently bequeathed to people healthy society.
Promote respect for Human rights.
It will entrenched an inform citizen capable of participate actively in government
Entrench accountable and responsive governance at the Grassroots.
Crucial for effective democracy.

The presenter declared that the Ministries, Parastatals and Agencies are expected to pro-actively declare information concerning their MDAs to the people concerning their functions, mode of operation, structure together with their budget and expenditure.

Furthermore, before he identified the roles of CSOs and Media. He stated that all actors should be ready to make the Act work. He said according to the Act, the Attorney Generals are expected to encourage government and institutions to comply with FOIA while, the head of institutions requested to constitute Committee on FOIA and appoint a Desk officer who is expected to handle request from requesters.

The followings were listed as the roles of Public Officials;

They are expected to treat all requests with politeness.
Treat all request equally.
They should help put their request into proper shape and if the information sought for is not available in their office, they are expected to inform the requesters where the information could be found.
If the request is not granted, they should give written response as to why the request is denied.
They give the requesters, the receipt and reference number for the request.
They should inform the requesters, the procedure the request will follow.
Progress report is expected to be given to the requesters.

On the roles of CSOs, Mr Omowon identified the following:

To carry out advocacy to relevant stakeholders to promote implementation of FOIA.
Generate awareness through posters, stickers, publications, campaign, drama, and others.
Building the Capacity on FOIA.
Using the provisions in the Act to promote public service delivery.

He however, submitted that to do these CSOs had to carry out social auditing.

Finally the speaker submitted that CSOs should see government as partner in progress. Immediately after, this presentation, the moderator, Dr Tola Winjobi appreciated the presenter for delving into vital issues relating to Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria, after which the high table was dissolved for the opening ceremony.

2.04: OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY

The official opening ceremony commenced with the introduction of the invited guests to the high table by Mr Sola Adenekan. Those invited to the high table were:

Ogun State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Mrs Abimbola Akeredolu, represented by Barr Olusegun Iyanda,
Engr (Rev) Tunde Awolana, General Manager OGBC
Mr Sola Babalola, Ogun State Director of NOA,
Mr Wale Idowu, Deputy Director, NOA, Ogun State,
Mr Wole Sokunbi, Ogun State NUJ Chairman, represented by Mr Soji Amosun, Secretary, NUJ Ogun State
Mrs Folake Adeniyi, Chairperson NAWOJ, Ogun State
Mrs Sally Musa, UNDP representative
The South-West FOIA Zonal Coordinator, Dr Tola Winjobi
Grand adviser, Prof. Albert Ilemobade,
Evang (Mrs) Nike Obatayo, Ekiti State FOIA Coordinator

2.05: WELCOME OPENING /ADDRESS

Welcoming the invited guests and the participants, Dr Tola Winjobi, South West zonal Coordinator, said the objectives of the capacity building were: to sharpen the advocacy skills of the CSOs and media practitioners, to build the capacity of the participants on how to engage government constructively, to provide a platform for CSOs and Media and also to contribute positively towards promotion of freedom of speech and access to information. Dr Winjobi challenged the National Assembly members to declare their salary and allowance publicly in the spirit of FOIA. He further appealed to federal government to honour their agreement with Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who are currently on strike in the interest of the students.

Finally, the Zonal Coordinator declared the workshop open.

WELCOME SPEECH

In his speech, Prof Albert Ilemobade welcomed the invited guests and the participants to the capacity enhancement programme. He identified the training as one of the roadmaps of the sensitization workshop on FOIA held in March 2013 at Akure. He commended the participants .

KEY NOTE ADDRESS

The Ogun State Attorney General, Mrs Abimbola Akeredolu was ably represented by Barr Olusegun Lanre Iyanda, Director Legislative drafting. His statement is recorded as part of the goodwill messages below:

2.06: GOODWILL MESSAGES

For his good will message, the representative of Attorney General, MrsAbimbola Akeredolu, Barr Olusegun Lanre Iyanda, Director Legislative drafting went memory lane as regard the enactment of the law and identified advantages of the law. This includes; Guaranteed right to Information, it creates jobs opportunity for people, information for research become accessible and creates informed citizens that can participate actively in governance.

The law, according to representative of AG, is applicable to public and private institutions that make use of public funds. The law promotes pro-active disclosure of information, protect the whistle blowers, and it is expected the Federal and State Attorney Generals should oversee the effective implementation of the law and report to the House of Assembly annually.

Finally, he submitted, that though the FOIA has not been adopted or enacted in Ogun state, it is already in operation in the State since it a federal law.

In his goodwill message, the General Manager OGTV, Engr. (Rev) Tunde Awolana said that ideas that would move this country forward always emanated from Southwest and implored the people to sustain the legacy. To the participants and Media, he appealed to them, to obtain right information and disseminate it rightly.

The National Orientation Agency (NOA), Ogun State, in their Goodwill message by the Mr Sola Babalola represented by his deputy said that the mandate of the CSOs and the Agency are similar. Therefore, they are partner in progress. He stated that FOIA was enacted to tackle corruption and implored CSOs to go out and tackle the cankerworm (corruption) in the interest of all.

For the representative of the Chairman Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Mr Wole Sokunbi represented by the Union Secretary, Mr Soji Amosun rhetorically declared that the workability of

FOIA depends on the sincerity of the leaders in the country saying “they are not prepared to make the law effective”. Therefore, he called for capacity building and sensitisation talks for the leaders. The representative of NAWOJ, Mrs Fola Adeniji promised the commitment of women journalists to the promotion of FOIA. Barr Olusegun Lanre Iyanda in responding to a question stated that FoI as an Act is a law and part of the constitution, so it can be cited in the law court. During his response to a question, Mr Soji Amosun stated the negative attitude of our political office holders towards the constitution, as he cited the statement of a former speaker who asked if anything has changed in the system after the enactment of FOI in Nigeria?

SESSION TWO

2.07: SECOND PRESENTATION

During his participatory slide presentation titled: STRATEGIES FOR MOBILIZING COMMUNITIES BY CSOS IN MAKING FOI REQUESTS, Prof. Albert Ilemobade asked participants to define the term “Community”. A few participants came up with different definitions of community, while Prof defined “Community” as the group of people living together and bound together by common interest.Community Mobilisation was defined as an attempt to bring both human and non human resources together. On reasons for community mobilisation, Prof Ilemobade identified the followings:

For creating demand for interventions.
Increasing access to services.
To scale up interventions.
Increasing effectiveness and efficiency of the interventions.
Contributing additional resources to the response.
Reaching out to the most vulnerable.
Addressing the underlying causes of problems.
Increase community ownership and sustainability.

Benefits of Community mobilisation, according to Prof Ilemobade are:

Increase community, individual and group capacity to identify and satisfy their needs.
Improve programme design.
Improve programme quality.
Improve programme result.
Improve programme evaluation.
Cost effective way to achieve sustainable result.
Increase community ownership of the programme.

The various steps involved in community mobilisation are:

Step One: Define the problem.
Step Two: Establish a community mobilisation groups.
Step three: Design strategies, set objectives and select target groups.
Step four: Develop an action plan and timeline.
Step Five: Build Capacity.
Step Six: Identify Partner.
Step Seven: Implement the plan activities.
Step Eight: Monitor, Evaluate and improve.

The Professor Ilemobade also identified the relevant stakeholders in communities to include:

Economically deprived groups (poor).
Women.
Tribal/Ethnic people.
Disabled people.
Minority groups and others.

To round up his session, the resource person gave the reasons why there is a need for community mobilisation for FOIA in the country.

2.08: GROUP WORK I

The session was facilitated by Mr Ebofin Michael who divided the participants into four groups. Groups one and three were asked to brainstorm on the first question: “Practical Application of Freedom of Information Act for CSOs/Media: The Right to Ask”. Groups two and four were asked to handle the second question: “Tackling the Challenges of Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria”

2.09: THIRD PRESENTATION

The third slide presentation titled “Traditional and Social Media as Watchdogs for FoIA Implementation” was delivered by Mr. Jide Bamgbose from Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Ibadan. He stated that the objective of the presentation was to equip CSOs and the media with various strategies available for effective use in the social and traditional media to promote implementation of Freedom of Information Act in South West, Nigeria. He identified the following outcomes of the presentation:

Knowledge: Participants are able to analyse the prevailing political environment and use appropriate media strategies to mobilise and sensitize grassroots to advocate for the adoption of FOIA or enactment of their FOI in their various States.
Attitude: Participants acknowledge and appreciate their vanguard role in championing the establishment of open, transparent and accountable government through the FOIA.
Skill: Participants are empowered with necessary skills to facilitate constructive engagement with power structure on FOIA in South West Nigeria

In course of his presentation, Mr Bamgbose defined the concepts of the participatory session as follows:

Media refer to communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data or proportional messages are disseminated.
Mass media can be described as a medium by which information and news are given to a large number of people.
Traditional Media is often referred to as “old media”. This sort of media includes magazines, books, newspapers, radio and television.
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein defined social media as “a group of internet based applications that build on ideological and technological foundation of web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user generated content”.
Social Media, according to renowned researcher Boyd defined social media as a web- based services that allow individuals to…

He outlined the types of traditional media as – Radio, Television, Newspaper, Magazine and Electronic/Bill boards. He also listed the types, examples and the description in a tabular form viz:

TYPE		EXAMPLES				DESCRIPTION
Social Networking		Facebook,		MySpace,		Allow users to add friends send messages
		LinkedIn,		Google	plus,	and share content. People on social
		Ning, Bebo				networking sites group in communities of
						like mind.
Social bookmarking		Digg,	Delicious,		Yahoo!	Allow users to share their favourite online
		Buzz,	Stumble		upon,	content with one another while also
		Reddit				creating online bookmark.
Blog		WordPress,		Typepad,		Online journals where the author can write
		Blogger,		LiveJournal,		(blog) about any interest he wants. The
		Tumblr				blogger can also use the blog to share
						content picked up from other social media
						site (YouTube, Isuu) by taking advantage of
						the simple embedded codes offered by
						those content hosts
TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Questions	and	Yahoo questions,				Allow users to ask random questions, and
Answers		Facebook Q &A,				anyone can answer and start conversation.
		Formspring.
Meet ups/Events		Evite,	Facebook		events	Allows users to promote and display
		foursquare				where people are at that moment
Intellectual	Property	Creative Commons				Licensing rights and permissions for other
sharing						to use the photo by simply embedding the
						codes in their blog.
Micro blogging		Twitter				Allows users to send short 140 character
						message in real time to large audience.
Photo sharing		Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa				Allow users to upload or watch video
						content or listen to music to a site for
						sharing either privately or public.

OPPORTUNITIES THAT CAN BE EXPLOITED IN THE MEDIA

There is an avalanche of opportunities that can be successfully harnessed for the realisation of the ideal of Freedom of Information Act in the South West geo- political zone.

Traditional Media:

Electronic Media (Radio and Television)

News bulletin
Documentary
News Commentary(Radio)
Interview
News Tip (after or in the mid of bulletin)
Special Report.
VOX pop.
Scroll Messages (News bar).
Live or phone-in programme.
Recorded Programme

Print Media (Newspaper, Magazine, Newsletters)

News Report
News feature
Feature
Opinion
Editorial
Letter to the Editor
Advertorial

Social Media

WhatsApp (creating a group for information sharing)
Skype
Twitter.
Yahoo Messenger
Facebook
Blogs
Blackberry Messenger
On-line Newspapers

EFFECTS OF FOIA ON MEDIA AND POLITY

It enriches the quality of News items and reduce the incident of misrepresentation, misinformation and falsehood.
It stimulates Investigative Journalism and reduces jaundiced journalism.
It enhances the credibility of practitioners and creates conducive work environment.
It sanitizes and promotes stability in the polity by curtailing the spread of dangerous rumour that could cause instability in the system.
It promotes public dialogue and increase public awareness about government „s actions.
It enhances good governance, promotes accountability and development.
It facilitates public oversight of government operation particularly during preparation and implementation.

WAY FORWARD

Media practitioners should come out from their complacency and vanguard the crusade for the adoption or enactment of FOI in Southwest geo political zone.
Access to Information Committee (regional) could formed to critically assess the level of compliance in the zone and possible interventions beyond this training.
Possible dialogue with leaders of the major political party in the zone to stimulate the adoption or enactment of FOI in the South west Nigeria.
Dialogue with media owners and management to secure their supports in the on-going campaign for FOIA.
Explore the potential of media in the sensitization of the people at the grassroots.

2.10: FOURTH PRESENTATION

The fourth slide presentation titled “Understanding Essential Elements of Advocacy in Engaging the Authorities on FoI Act: Some useful Tools for CSOs” was presented by Dr Tola Winjobi who made it participatory by asking participant to define advocacy. The zonal coordinator began by stating what advocacy is not as follows:

Advocacy is not a noise making exercise as some people are wont to believe.
Advocacy is not blind agitation, though it involves the use of pressure to effect a change.
Advocacy is not an information-education-entertainment initiative though it can inform, educate and communicate.

He quoted Tear Fund‟s definition of advocacy as “seeking with, and on behalf of, the poor, to address the underlying causes of poverty by influencing the decisions of governments, companies, groups, and individuals whose policies or actions affect the poor” (Tear Fund 1999). Doctor traced the origin of “advocacy” to the Latin word “ad vocare” meaning to speak for someone. Advocacy is proposing or recommending something or someone for better options. He highlighted common kinds of advocacy as;

Feminist advocacy
Gender advocacy
Policy advocacy
Legislative advocacy
Confrontational advocacy
Legitimate advocacy
Egocentric advocacy
Demonstrative advocacy
Sectoral advocacy
Economic advocacy
Social Service advocacy
Media advocacy

On the purpose and objectives of Advocacy, he identified the following:

Engagement of authorities or governments in dialogue so as to effect a change in their existing policies, practices, beliefs and ideas that are anti-people and not poor-responsive.
Aim at causing the authorities to enact new policies on emerging issues that are adversely affecting the lives of the people.
Necessary to influence the policy makers as a means of addressing roots and causes of the particular problem.

The objectives of advocacy are:

Change laws/policies,
Enact new legislation (e.g. pre-2011 FOIA),
Change position of policy makers and or authorities,
Change action of policy makers and or authorities.

Secondary Objectives

In the process of carrying out each or all of the above objectives, we could be carrying out and achieving other objectives that we might or we might not have planned for. Secondary objectives could be

Increasing social organization and participation,
Strengthening CSOs (NGOs, CBOs, FBOs)etc alliance,
Increasing public awareness,
Increasing media awareness on an issue that is not necessarily germane to the issue on focus, increasing access to policy-makers by the poor masses.

He highlighted some qualities of an advocate as follows:

Being passionate;
Being diplomatic;
Being persuasive;
Being sensitive
Being tactful;
Indirect Lobbying: aims at achieving the same result as in direct lobbying but with the help of an intermediary but one is more efficient than the other.
Lobbying of community leaders: (Gate keepers)
Lobbying aimed at public opinion

Dr Tola Winjobi identified the importance of media work as a method of advocacy. The media work has the chance to influence the image of the government because most governments care about their image. Because the media is the maker and shaper of images, their role is then very important in making advocacy successful. There are three types of media:

Print media ( news paper, journals, magazine etc)
Electronic media ( television and radio)
Social media (twitters, Facebook, netlog/Twoo, etc)
The media can play a key role in:
Building awareness and changing public opinion on issues
Generate action from its audience
Put direct pressure on government by placing it in the spotlight
Protect and enhance reputation
Investigate and expose issues
Influence government policy, both directly and through its power to influence and mobilize opinions.

Campaigning

Campaigning is choosing a specific course of action on the basis of available information and resources which will be most effective in achieving identified objectives. It is an organized course of action to achieve change by convincing the target audience. When campaigning, the following principles must be put into consideration: focus, clarity, credibility, relevance, timing and commitment.

Mobilization

Mobilization is a very important method of advocacy that subsumes synergizing the critical masses of the people, financial, material and technical resources for a common purpose. In simple terms, the types of resources concerned are individuals, groups, money, contribution in kind, labour, expertise and administrative support, including premises for meetings, supplies and equipment10.
It is important to mobilize the community that will benefit from the change. Among the benefit of community mobilization is that it improves program design, quality result and evaluation. Also, it increases community ownership and community, individual and group capacity to identify and satisfy their needs.

Resource Mobilisation

Resource mobilization is also playing a vital role in advocacy because without resources, advocacy could not survive. In order to maintain this effort in long term, time and energy must be invested to secure the necessary funds and resources. Types of resources and sources that could be used:
Personal contributions which comprises subscriptions, contributions in kind, income generating activities, from all the members of the advocacy group.
External contributions which comprise donation, legacies, sponsoring, collections, contributions from institutions, companies and various organizations that have been approached.

Letter writing: A written message packaged and sent to someone for a purpose including the conventional messages sent by post and email messages sent through the internet.

Petition:

It is a written document signed by a large number of people that asks somebody in a position of authority to do or change something.
Petition is also used as an advocacy method. It has a tradition in public protest that goes back many centuries. Some of the benefits of petition are:
It can provide a good focus for group and public activities.
It is a simple way of allowing people to express their support.
It can illustrate the level of public/community on an issue.
It is easy and cheap to organize12.

The zonal coordinator advised on the choice of appropriate advocacy methods as they depend on factors below:

The target person/group/institution;
The advocacy issue;
Your advocacy objective;
The evidence to support your objective;
The skills and resources of your coalition; and
Timing – for example, external political events, when a law is still in draft form, immediately before a budgeting process, time of year, stage of advocacy process.

He concluded his presentation by considering the factors in community mobilization on advocacy concern by categorizing the following;

Factors to consider
Conditions that facilitate advocacy
Conditions that inhibit advocacy

DAY TWO

2.11: RECAST OF THE PREVIOUS DAY WORK

The activities of the second day commenced with the recast the previous day work which was facilitated by Mr Jide Bamgbose and Michael Ebofin. This was immediately followed by the reports of the four groups mentioned earlier above. (Group submission attached)

2.12: FOURTH PRESENTATION

The fourth presentation titled: Methods and Strategies for Monitoring the Implementation of Freedom Information; was delivered by Barr. Maxwell Kadiri. He started by asking a rhetorical question “What can we do to ensure implementation and practical monitoring? He then went further to submit that information is power and because the leaders know the value of information, they did not want the people to have it. That is why they hold on to it. According to him, “No government anywhere is comfortable with disclosure”, that is the reason why it took eighteen years before FOIA could be passed into law in Nigeria. He stressed that having the law is one thing, getting it implemented is another. Therefore it is not yet uhuru for FOIA in Nigeria. Barrister Kadiri emphasised the need for Ministries, Parastatals and Agencies to pro-actively disclose their information to the public.

To ensure implementation at the state level, the resource person advocated for collaboration between NBA and CSOs for possible legal services in case the public officials refusal to response to request. He also stated that requester could also exploit the opportunity provided by Public complaint Commission in case of denial. Furthermore, Barrister Kadiri revealed that National Human right Commission could also giving a bidding order that could be enforced by law court.

Barr Kadiri further emphasised that there is need for CSOs to understanding the kinds of information the people want this will join them to the people as a result win their confidence. Such understanding, according to Barr.Kadiri will enable the CSOs to carry out other things such as social auditing in the community.

He commended the on-going effort of NOA to sensitise the grassroots on the FOIA , but called for linkage between FOIA and other laws such as Public Procurement Act and Fiscal Responsibility Acts that promote transparency and accountability in governance.

2.13: FIFTH PAPER PRESENTATION

The fifth paper presentation titled: The imperative of the Rule of Law as a fulcrum for promoting, Assessing and Upholding the FOI Act within the Nigeria context, by Barr. Yemi Adewole. The legal practitioner started his presentation by defining the rule of law as prescribed in the four cardinal principles postulated by A.B Dicey. The principles according to him were:

Supremacy of the law (that is everybody is under the law, nobody is above the law)
Independence of the Judiciary.
Fair and efficient Legislation(legislation should be prospective not retrospective
Justice and clarity of the law.

Barr.Adewole linked the FOIA to the principles of the rule of law and further emphasised that FOIA gives people access to information and at the same time protects the public sector workers and the whistle blowers. The resource person submitted that the law had 33 salutary provisions, some of which could help to fight corruption in the land.

The legal practitioner stressed that for FOIA to function effectively it will require:

Public officials and political office holders must be ready to play the roles ascribed to them by the Act.
Government at all levels must be sincere and ready to remove the entire impediments that can hinder the effectiveness of the Acts in the country.
Judiciary must be ready to play effective role through the execution of their judgments.
The Legislators should be sincere and made a timely response whenever there is a demand for amendment.
There should be access to Justice; that is, Court must easily accessible and cost of litigation must be taking away from the people.
Finally the CSOs as a watchdog must also be ready to be watched

He rounded up his presentation by saying that though the law has not been adopted or enacted in the State but assured that the Gateway state would soon join those states that are now FOIA- compliant.

2.14: GROUP WORK II:

The session was facilitated by the duo of Dr Tola Winjobi and Mr Dayo Bamgbose. At this stage, the participants were broken into four groups to discuss and present a role play on the following topics:

Producing a position paper or a briefing note.
Lobbying /holding a face to face meeting.
Carry out a media interview
Organising a press conference.

(The outcome of the presentations are attached)

After the group session, the participants dissolved into plenary to access the outcomes of the groups presentations

(Group presentations attached)

2.15: COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP

The committee presented the Communiqué of the training to the participants for perusal and adoption. A few issues were addressed in the communiqué. Mr Franklyn Oloniju, the coordinator for Ondo State moved the motion for the adoption of the Communiqué, while Miss Abimbola Aladejare from Ekiti State seconded the motion.

2.16: FAMILY MEETING

The zonal secretary, Michael Ebofin enjoined the participants to come with suggestions on how to raise funds for the network to enable us perform better. Mr Jide Bamgbose supported the motion and requested for volunteers that could raise funds for the incurred and future expenses of the network. The house unanimously supported the contribution of a sum of One Thousand Naira (N1, 000.00) by every participant. State coordinator was able to collect the contributions from their members.

Mrs Kemi Oyewole advised the participants to always learn how to give gifts to their beneficiaries during activities in order to get their supports, while we make our messages short when necessary.

2.17: CLOSING

The capacity enhancement programme was rounded up with vote of thanks by Moji Akinsanya who lauded the effort of the zonal coordinator, Dr Tola Winjobi for making the training a reality despite his tight schedules. Mr Tola Adenekan was also appreciated for being there to circulate the invitation letters with herself. Dr Winjobi also appreciated the deputy zonal coordinator for her handwork towards the success of the workshop. He did not forget to praise the effort of the secretary, Mr Michael Ebofin who was always there to get the information ready whenever he was called to do so. The zonal coordinator thanked the state coordinators for performing excellently. He enjoined everyone to be ready to serve the network when called upon.

The workshop came to a close with a closing prayer led by Imam Busairi at exactly 7:42p.m on Thursday 12, September 2013.

2. 18: PROPOSAL

The intent of the training is the engagement of the CSOs and media in the south-west Nigeria in using the advocacy tools for states to adopt FOIA in various houses of Assemblies. The participants shall henceforth utilize the techniques in lobbying the lawmakers to ensure the adoption and use of FOIA in their various states. Our aim is to have access to public document without hinderance.

2.19: PLANNING

Having organized the impactful training; the network shall carry out the activities in the work plan. The training shall be stepped down in various states to involve other CSOs and media practioners in the localities. The executive shall ensure that the tools are utilized in various states of the south-west, Nigeria.

2.20: RESOURCE PERSONS

Mr. Remi Omowon, Deputy Director, National Orientation Agency, Abuja
Prof. Albert Ilemobade, Grand Adviser, South-West FOIA Network
Mr. Jide Bamgbose, Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Ibadan.
Dr. Tola Winjobi, Southwest Zonal Coordinator FOIA Network & Convener, Campaign2015+ International.
Barr. Maxwell Kadiri, OSIWA, Abuja.
Barr. YemiAdewole, Director, Citizen‟s Right Department, Ministry of Justice, Ogun State.

2.21: METHODOLOGY MODULES COVERED

The adult participatory appraisal methodology was simple, while the training materials were adequate. The communication facilities were in place to facilitate better understanding. The topics treated were professionally handled, as the instruments provided for the role play were understood for the practicals. Below are the topics treated:

Role of public officials and CSOs in the successful implementation of the theFoI Act in Nigeria,
Strategies for mobilising communities in making the FoI Act requests.
Essential elements of advocacy in engaging the authorities on the FoI Act
Methods and strategies for monitoring the implementation of freedom information.
The imperative of the rule of law as a fulcrum for promoting, assessing and upholding the FoI Act

Group Work One

Practical Application of Freedom of Information Act for CSOs/Media: The Right to Ask.
Tackling the Challenges of Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria.

Group Work Two

Role play on the following topics:

Producing a position paper or a briefing note.
Lobbying /holding a face to face meeting.
Carry out a media interview
Organising a press conference.

2.22: EVALUATION

TABLE I: QUESTIONNAIRE ADMINISTERED N=43

No Administered	35	81 % administered
No Returned	32	91% returned
Total No Participants	43

Analysis:

Form the presentation above, 43 persons participated in the programme. Out of the 43, 35 copies of the questionnaire were administered. The result showed that 32 participants actually returned their questionnaire which gives a 91 per cent return out of 35 adminstered. This was a good return.

TABLE II: RESPONDENTS ACCORDING TO IMPRESSION N=32

S/No	Description	Very		Satisfactory		Just Fair		Not	Unconcerned
		Satisfactory						Satisfactory
1.	Appropriateness of the	27	(84%)	5 (15%)		–		–	–
	title of the workshop
2.	Timeliness (relevance	22	(68.7%)	9 (28%)		1	(3%)	–	–
	to the situation in the
	country)
3.	Quality of delivery	18	(56%)	12	(37.5%)	2	(6%)	–	–
	(output)
4.	Venue/accommodation	14	(44%)	8 (25%)		9	(28%)	1 (3%)	–
5.	Meals served	10	(31%)	16	(50%)	6	(18.7%)	–	–
6.	Overall impression	19	(59%)	13	(41%)	–		–	–
7.	Need for a step-down	Yes =28						No= 2 (6%)	1 (3%)

Being resilient;
Being credible;
Being dependable;
Being knowledgeable;
Being resourceful;
Being strategic;
Being pleasant;
Having communication skills and;
Using lobbying skills

The resource person explained the word „Lobbying‟ arising from the word “lobby” as a tool used in advocacy by the pressure group that tries to influence a politician on a particular issue.

It involves two or more people.
It is building of alliances in order to exert pressure on decision-makers and accomplish expected results;
It can sway decision-making in a favorable way for the best interest of the community; and
It plays a major role for organizations striving to influence government policies towards their interests.

He also highlighted different kinds of lobbying strategy which includes direct lobbying, while he listed the techniques used in direct lobbying as:

Oral presentation;
A letter to a VIP;
Informational meeting;
Approach to support committees and;
Contact with Clubs, Associations or Foundations etc.

(87.5%)

Analysis and discussions

The respondents were asked to give their impression about the appropriateness of the title of the workshop. According to the results presented in table II above, 27 participants which translates to 84 per cent of all of them in deed said they were very satisfied with the title of the workshop: “Capacity enhancement on advocacy skills for CSOs and the media on FOI Act implementation in the South-west”. It can be categorically concluded that all the participants were satisfied with the title of the program going by 15 % indicating they were satisfied in addition to 84% that were very satisfied.

The participants were also asked to indicate the timeliness of the programme to the socio- political condition of the country. The majority of the respondents said the programme was timely and relevant as 68% and 28% respectively were very satisfied and satisfied. Only one person an insignificant number said the programme was “just fair” to the situation in the country. The impression of all the participants indicated that the programme was not only relevant but also timely considering the current tempo of the discussions and concerns of Nigerians on governments‟ accountability. Corruption is as topical as demanding accountability from government using FOI Act.

The output of this project was also very important thus the respondents were asked to give their impression on the delivery of the programme. This included the quality of papers delivered and the presentation itself. Nobody scored for “unconcerned” as everyone was concerned about the workshop while nobody also indicated they were “not” satisfied. According to the results presented in tabe II above, only two (6%) of the respondents felt the presentations were fair whereas great majority (94% ) of them overwhelmingly were of the view that they were satisfied with the quality of delivery and paper presentation. The result therefore showed that the project was successful going by the faculty presentation as there were break out groups where participants were able to interact and contribute meaningfully to the discussion.

On the venue and accommodation for the workshop, though only one percent of the participants said they were not satisfied, this is nothing compared with 25% and 28% who were satisfied while only 9 out of 32 of them said indicated “just fair”. This goes to show that the hotel is good for a programme like this. However, it should not go without saying that the rooms in the hotel were not enough for the participants to the extent that some participants were moved to a nearby hotel. Secondly, food couldn‟t go round in the first night which might be due to unpreparedness on the side of the hotel management in expectation of the guests/participants. These reasons might have accounted for the 28 percent of the respondents that said the meals {6 (18.7%)}, venue and accommodation {9 (28%)} was “just fair” according to table II above.

Bye and large, it was apt we ask the participants to give their general impression about the programme. All the respondents were satisfied with the programme on the whole as indicated by 19 (59%) and 13 (41%) respondents saying they were “very satisfied” and “satisfactory” respectively. This shows that the programme was worthwhile. This is also reflected in the need to have the programme stepped-down as 28 of the 32 respondents said “Yes” while only one person felt unconcerned about the question.

General Suggestions:

The participants were allowed to comments freely about the project including suggestions. The following comments were made:

It is better accommodation is monetized as some participants could not get accommodation in the hotel serving as the venue and meant for the participants. Some were eventually taken to lodge in a nearby hotel. UNDP wouldn‟t have spent as much if they had monetized the accommodation for the participants.
UNDP/DGDII is encouraged to further support trainings like this so as to bring the FOIA Campaign to the grassroots. Some participants suggested sensitization and training for leaders such as traditional and community leaders, NLC, TUC, Okada Riders Association, NUT, NURTW, RTEAN, FBOs, CDAs, politicians, political parties etc. They suggested that in order to go round, this FOIA training be done in the remaining 5 zones of the country for them to benefit since the outcome of the exercise could contribute to stamping out corruption.
Special request is made to UNDP/DGD II to support the training of public officials especially the staff (at the Ministry of Information and office of the Attorney General/Commissioners for Justice) who have responsibilities as enshrined in the FOI Act 2011 in releasing information. Otherwise, these officials might be an impediment to the implementation of the Act not only in the State but also at the federal level.
On the duration of the workshop, the participants were of the opinion that three days, let alone two days, was not enough for such important training on FOI Act. This was different from sensitization programme which might not need breaking into groups, in- depth analysis of issues, all-inclusive participation etc.

Conclusion:

All the copies of the questionnaire used and analysed are available. Also available are CD/DVD, photographs taken, other reports etc.

3.01:KEY OUTCOMES

Well equipped CSO advocating timely and efficient passage of State level FOI laws consistent with the FOIA at federal level.
Civil society organizations are active and successful in mobilising public for the cultivation of democratic values like “the right to know”.
Public knowledge and perception on FoIA increased.
Media are having unfettered access to public documents thus enhancing their work.

3.02:LESSONS LEARNED

The two-day Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy Skills training became roadmaps of the sensitization workshop on FOIA held in March 2013 at Akure. The contents of the papers delivered during the sessions strengthened the participants in addressing advocacy and media challenges. These were evident in the role play on the following topics:

Producing a position paper or a briefing note.
Lobbying /holding a face to face meeting.
Carrying out a media interview
Organising a press conference.

The capacity of the participants were increased in public awareness creation use of the advocacy tool for accessing information states to adopt FoIA in various State Houses of Assembly in the zone.

Amongst lessons learnt include:

Participants were acquainted with the principles underlying freedom of information laws.
Participants were familiar advocacy skills to lobby the law-makers in their respective states in drafting and passing acceptable state FOI laws in the Southwest region.
They appreciated the need for synergy among stakeholders by planning for step-down trainings in their states

4.0: CHALLENGES

Two days were not enough for the programme.
More financial support needed for the successful implementation of the workshop

5.0: NEXT STEPS

The participants went into open session to share their experience in their various states on FOIA and to also look critically at the proposed plan of actions of each state in the geo-political zone.

Lagos

Position paper on FOI Bill

-Enactment
-Implementation of FOIA

Access to the MDAs website proactive disclosure of information
Engaging/Collaboration with the MDAs & LGs
Training/Capacity building for officials of the Lagos state government on FOIA

Oyo

Imam Busairi, the state coordinator suggested Step-Down Training of Abeokuta experience in all the six (6) states of the region. He added that there should be a time table for the training to be taken round zone.

Ondo

Mr Akintade in his suggestion said that each state should come out with a road map plan as a follow-up of the workshop, so a that we can know how effective our advocacies will be at our various states. A timeline of activities of actions should also be stated. The state coordinator, Mr Franklyn Oloniju assured the participants that the state shall be organizing a step-down training on the FOIA (including Abeokuta training) with donation from members.

Ogun

The state coordinator, Mr Abiodun Adebesin suggested that the FOIA should be stepped down in our various communities, as they have to own the programme. CBOs should include FOIA in their training /meetings with their beneficiaries in the state and also collaborate with NOA in their various states.

Ekiti

The state coordinator, Evang (Mrs) Nike Obatayo said they shall organize capacity building/sensitization /awareness in all communities within the state.

APPENDICES (attached separately)

Appendix 1 Papers presented.

Appendix 2 Syndicate Discussion Guides

Appendix 3 Communiqué

Appendix 4 Participants Lists

Appendix 5 Photographs/Video

CONTACT:

Southwest FOIA Network

c/o CAFSO-WRAG for Development Secretariat: Plot 5 Akingbade Street, Near IDC Primary School Off Old Ife Road, Box 15060, Agodi P.O. Ibadan

tolawinjobi58@yahoo.com

southwestfoianetwork@gmail.com

08030618326; 08060012425

D. Tola Winjobi	Michael Ebofin
Southwest Coordinator	Southwest Secretary

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Preamble

Objectives

Observations

Resolutions

Conclusion

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Current Situation of the Act in Nigeria:

Rationale and Objectives for the Workshop:

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Acronyms and Abbreviations

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1.0: INTRODUCTION

2.01: Workshop Implementation

2.02: COMMENCEMENT

2.03: FIRST PAPER PRESENTATION:

2.04: OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY

2.05: WELCOME OPENING /ADDRESS

2.06: GOODWILL MESSAGES

SESSION TWO

2.07: SECOND PRESENTATION

2.08: GROUP WORK I

2.09: THIRD PRESENTATION

TYPE

EXAMPLES

DESCRIPTION

TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

OPPORTUNITIES THAT CAN BE EXPLOITED IN THE MEDIA

EFFECTS OF FOIA ON MEDIA AND POLITY

WAY FORWARD

2.10: FOURTH PRESENTATION

DAY TWO

2.11: RECAST OF THE PREVIOUS DAY WORK

2.12: FOURTH PRESENTATION

2.13: FIFTH PAPER PRESENTATION

2.14: GROUP WORK II:

2.15: COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP

2.16: FAMILY MEETING

2.17: CLOSING

2. 18: PROPOSAL

2.19: PLANNING

2.20: RESOURCE PERSONS

2.21: METHODOLOGY MODULES COVERED

2.22: EVALUATION

3.01:KEY OUTCOMES

3.02:LESSONS LEARNED

4.0: CHALLENGES

5.0: NEXT STEPS

CONTACT:

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