The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has named the National Library
of Nigeria (NLN) this week’s inductee of the “Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall
of Shame” for its failure to fully implement the FOI Act, 2011, reports ITREALMS.
MRA’s Programme Officer, Mr. Idowu Adewale, announced the
induction in a statement in Lagos, saying “The National Library, whose vision
is to ensure the building of an informed and enlightened citizenry through the
provision of information resources that are readily available and easily
accessible ought not to be found in violation of a law like the FOI Act, which
is so aligned with its institutional objectives. Rather, it should position
itself as an institution that promotes the Act and sets an example for other
public institutions to follow.”
The National Library was established by the National Library
Act of 1970 to provide the nation with a source of intellectual support and
stimulus for advancement in all fields of human endeavour, particularly in
academic, social, cultural, scientific and technological enterprise and also
provide comprehensive and rich collection for reference and research in all
fields within and beyond the nation's physical boundaries as well as to ensure
for the nation a place in the community of nations which depends on knowledge
and original ideas for survival.
According to Mr. Adewale, of the five broad categories used
in assessing the National Library’s compliance with the provisions of the FOI
Act, it was only on the level of responsiveness to requests for information
from members of the public that the institution recorded a positive
performance.
Information available to MRA shows that the National Library
responded to a request for information dated January 18, 2016, which was made
by Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), an Abuja-based non-governmental
organisation, for records of payments released to the institution for capital
projects in 2015.
Similarly, the National Library also responded to a request
dated July 14, 2016, made to it by the same organisation, asking for the list
of contracts awarded by the NLN in 2015 and its procurement plan for 2016.
MRA commended the institution for its responsiveness to
those requests for information but observed that it performed woefully overall
by failing to comply with all its other duties and obligations as a public
institution within the meaning of the FOI Act.
Highlighting other categories where the National Library
failed to live up to its obligations under the FOI Act, Mr. Adewale noted that
since the enactment of the Law in 2011, the institution has not submitted any
annual report on its implementation of the Law to the Attorney-General of the
Federation, as required by section 29 of the Act.
Mr. Adewale said the institution’s non-compliance with its
obligation to submit FOI implementation reports annually makes it impossible to
determine the number of applications for access to information that it has
received for each year since 2011 and the number of such applications that it
processed and granted for any particular year or overall, besides those made by
the PPDC, which the non-governmental organization itself had publicised.
He cited the “Contact Details of Freedom of Information
(FOI) Desk Officers in Public Institutions in Nigeria” released by the
Attorney-General of the Federation as proof that the National Library has not
complied with Section 2(3)(f) of the FOI Act, which mandates every public
institution to designate an appropriate officer as well as to publish the title
and address of such an officer to whom applications for information by members
of the public should be sent.
In addition, Mr. Adewale said, the National Library has
failed to proactively publish either on its website or anywhere else, the
categories of information that Section 2(3) and (4) of the FOI Act requires all
public institutions to proactively publish and disseminate widely to members of
the public through various means, including print, electronic and online
sources.
He expressed concern that the “National Library, which ought
to be playing a significant role in ensuring that the FOI Act is effective, has
chosen to disregard Section 13 of the Act which requires every public
institution to ensure the provision of appropriate training for its officials
on the public’s right of access to information and for the effective
implementation of the Act.”
Mr. Adewale urged the Board of the National Library to take
urgent steps to ensure that all its staff are appropriately trained on the
public’s right of access to information and that it complies fully with all its
other obligations under the FOI Act as well as under the Guidelines on the
Implementation of the FOI Act, 2013, issued by the Attorney-General of the
Federation.
By doing this, he contended, the FOI Act will provide the
National Library with the opportunities to further assert and strengthen its
relevance in providing information to the citizens.
MRA launched the FOI Hall of Shame in July 2017, to shine
the spotlight on public officials and institutions that are undermining the
effectiveness of the FOI Act through their actions, inactions, utterances and
decisions.
Ayo Midele/GEE
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