PRESS REPRESSION IN NIGERIA’S EVOLVING DEMOCRACY

The issue of "freedom of the press" vis-à-vis the right to gather and disseminate information without undue restrictions has become a major challenge to the practice of professional journalism in Nigeria. The 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) although makes provision for a free press or freedom of expression, however, the provision is constantly infringed on by the successive administration. For that reason, journalists in Nigeria have not been finding it easy to perform their professional duties freely. They have continued to be subjected to intimidations, assaults, abuses, unfair arrests, and unlawful detentions, even many of them have died untimely in the course of performing their lawful duties. The quest towards a free press recently suffered another setback with the introduction of two obnoxious bills – the Internet Falsehood Manipulation Bill and the Establishment of National Commission for Prohibition of Hate Speeches Bill. The two bills portend danger, as one proposes the death sentence, while the other permits the government to shut down social media at will. The study concluded, that the continued repression of the press by the government is a threat to the country’s evolving democracy, as well as undermine its socio-economic and political development