Nigerian Concern

A few weeks ago I addressed the journalism breakdown in Sudan. Having worked in and out of Africa for years I am consistently concerned towards the human rights situations (and abuses) that tend to arise on that continent. Now the Nigerian government is attempting to pass legislation that will in effect gag the media of that country. As quoted from the daily sun: "The new bill seeks to abolish the Nigerian Press Council and to replace it with a Council whose Chairman would be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Minister of Information and Communication." This article is taken from a source with limited corroboration, however, I have the tendency to believe that there is a prevalence to conceal the activities of a great number of African governmental organizations. The article went on to quote: "doing nothing in the face of vitriolic criticisms against the press would be to 'encourage a predatory government to forge ahead with the sort of nonsensical bill now before the House of Representative’."

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/nov/18/national-18-11-2009-09.htm