Nigeria

According to BBC news, Nigeria is one of the biggest media markets in Africa.

There are lots of radio stations and TV networks. But Nigeria is nevertheless only “partly free”, as the Freedom House (FH) reported for 2019. FH was founded in 1941 and is an independent watchdog organization that fights for the freedom and democracy.

Still according to FH, the aggregate freedom score in their freedom index is 50 out of 100 since the beginning of 2019. Their score in 2018 was 37 out of 100.

Journalists face threats and violence regularly because of their work. Since 1992, 10 journalists died and they were almost all murdered. These numbers were communicated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). CPJ is also an independent non-profit organization that promotes press freedom and defend journalists in their everyday work.

The Reporters without Borders (RSF) is an independent non-profitable organization as well. It was founded in 1985 and is defending the freedom of information. According to their World Press Freedom Index, Nigeria’s ranking in the world is 119 out of 180, which increased since 2017, with the position of 122 out of 180. We can also see that Nigeria’s best ranking was back in 2015, with 111 out of 180.

Still according to BBC news, Nigeria is said to be a source for reliable news. Each state in the country owns at least one TV network and one radio station. There is cable and also direct-to-home satellite offers. The most popular platform in Nigeria is Facebook.

But Nigeria’s relation with media is difficult. Indeed, some journalists were denied access to reliable information by officials and the police. Journalists are also being harassed by local businesses because of issues with some critiques.

Nigeria’s actual situation is that there has been a lot of communal attacks from ISIS. One of their leaders, Boko Haram, even threatened the Nigerian medias. In addition to that, there has been a lot of insecurities and also economic problems. For example, Nigeria is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, but only a minority benefit from it.

The President of the country, Muhammadu Buhari, is a former military ruler and was the first opposition candidate to win the elections. His plan was to fight crime and corruption but has been accused of serious right abuses in the past. Since his election, he is trying to promote democracy and be a better civilian leader for his country.

— — — —

Audrey Kestens came to AUBG as an Eramsus student to study JMC and is from Belgium