The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has concluded a two-day workshop for journalists and civil society organisations on the use of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
The training was held on November 12 and 13 in Lagos state.
The workshop, powered by Luminate, brought together 33 participants from the media and CSOs in the south-west.
It was organised to strengthen participants’ capacity to utilise the FOI Act of 2011 “as a tool for promoting transparency, accountability, and participatory governance”.
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The objectives of the workshop included enhancing the participants’ understanding of the FOI Act, equipping them with practical skills for making effective requests for information, and engendering greater public awareness.
Participants were also trained on strategies for overcoming challenges in obtaining information and ways of fostering collaboration in investigative journalism, advocacy and accountability initiatives.
At the end of the training, the participants observed that despite being in force for nearly 15 years, the “implementation of the FOI Act remains weak and inconsistent” across levels of government.
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They argued that most government agencies still operate in secrecy, disregarding the clear provisions of the act by failing to comply with their proactive disclosure and reporting obligations.
The participants observed that awareness and utilisation of the act by citizens, journalists, civil society actors remain low due to inadequate education, institutional resistance, and lack of trust in government.
The participants recommended that journalists and civil society actors should strategically and routinely use the FOI Act, raise awareness and train civil servants and public office holders across different levels of government.
They agreed that stakeholders should actively use the administrative and judicial remedies provided in the FOI Act to challenge denials of access to information.
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They stated that the government should demonstrate stronger political will by institutionalising transparency initiatives and mechanisms, including designations of office for FOI.
The participants were urged to leverage digital technology to track requests, analyse disclosed data, and make information more easily available to the public.
