SPEECHES

Consul General Brian Browne’s Remarks
Nigerian Media Training Workshop

“The Role of the Media in Promoting Free and Fair
Elections in Nigeria.”

March 5, 2007
Lagos Civic Center

Dr. Doyin Abiola
Mrs. Gold Oruh
Mr. Arnold Isaacs
Mr. Steve Coon
Mr. Mike Beardsley
Charles Ojo of Bank PHB, our sponsor
Distinguished Members of the Nigerian Press
All Protocols Observed

It is an honor to be here this morning to help open this media training workshop on “The Role of the Media in Promoting Free and Fair Elections in Nigeria.”

It is a little known fact, but the US Government has enjoyed some form of diplomatic presence in Nigeria for over 90 years.  During that time period, we have sponsored scores of training programs in Nigeria.  However, none has been as large as this.  And given the hour that approaches, none has been as important.

I think Deborah Potter, a former faculty member at the prestigious Poynter Institute in my home state of Florida expressed it best when she stated, “A free press is often referred to as the oxygen of democracy, because one cannot survive without the other.” 

The US Mission in Nigeria vigorously promotes press freedom.  It sits at the cornerstone of our diplomatic activities and assistance programs.  We do this by supporting the rights of independent reporters, producers, and broadcasters, and through training for journalists, editors and media managers.  We do this because we actually do believe a free press is the air that democracy must breathe. 

Thus, if that air is to be one that provides life and sustenance or one that begins to choke the very freedom the press seeks, it is the responsibility of the news media to give the public the information they need to monitor and address their government, to help them find their voice, and to help them define Nigeria’s democracy and their place in it. 

Members of the press, however, must be swayed neither by popular sentiment nor by the hand of power.  Your pursuit must be the pursuit of truth and then the accurate publication of it.  Democracy gives journalists the freedom to collect information and publish and broadcast all manner of sense or nonsense, but democracy also holds you to the great ethical responsibility of providing factual reporting based on credible sources and information.  False reporting and sensationalism misinform the nation, impoverish public discourse and thus strike mortal blows to the heart of democracy.  A free and responsible press is essential to a strong civil society.  Such a press informs and educates the public, raises a hue and cry at the abuse of power, and gives voice to people and issues that otherwise would not have a voice.

The responsibility you assume is a large and sober one indeed.    As we look forward to the upcoming elections, your media organizations must objectively analyze and report on the views of the candidates in the elections, and report fairly on what the public sees as the issues of the day.  Much depends on it.  No less than the well being of Nigeria’s democracy lies in this balance.

The past three decades have seen a dramatic global expansion of democracy, which has led to an extraordinary focus on the institution of elections.  In countries around the world, credible elections have served to help resolve long-standing conflicts and to initiate or consolidate the transition to democracy.  They have served to bring new freedoms and to review hope in places once blighted by war, injustice and oppression.   

International declarations unambiguously establish democratic elections as the basis of legitimate government.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that the “will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government” as “expressed in periodic and genuine elections.” The International Covenant in Civil and Political Rights provides that “Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity… to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections.”

Elections remain central to promoting democracy and broadening fundamental freedom in a society.  First, competitive elections catalyze profound change in a society. 

Second, elections offer a broad thoroughfare through which average citizens can become involved in public affairs.  They are an opportunity to engage civic organizations and citizens in politics through voter education, election monitoring, policy research, and advocacy. 

Almost eight years ago, Nigeria rejoined the club of democratic nations.  In doing so, it followed the dominant political current.  In the mid-1970s, only 40 countries worldwide held regular competitive elections.  Now, there are almost 120 democratically elected governments. 

In the early 1990s, 44 of the 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa labored under military or single-party rule.  As we look across the region today, almost half are electoral democracies. 

With regard to the elections, I have heard many people say that Nigeria is at a crossroads.  If only it were that easy.  If at a crossroads, a traveler only has to decide which split in the road to take, then resume his journey. 

Yet, the questions facing Nigeria are much more existential.  Nigeria is battling to define itself.  Nigeria is fighting itself for its very soul.

Will Nigeria continue to emerge from the mire and fog of military rule and its attendant ills which benefited a small few, but which also failed to redeem the many promises made to the rest of the populace? 

Will Nigeria emerge a better, healthier nation of expanding political and economic freedom for all, regardless of ethnicity, religion, and region, or will its progress be throttled so that it slides back into the costly ways of an unproductive past?  This is nothing short of a contest for the collective spirit of the nation. 

One should we turn to face reality squarely when it has tapped you on the shoulder?  So let’s face it.  There are some people who have benefited from the way things were.  They are not eager to see Nigeria as it should be.  Having taken full advantage of the imbalances of the past, they seek to resurrect that past. 

Fortunately, there seems to be a growing corps of people, including members of the press, who realize that a system which provides the opportunity of freedom, prosperity and fulfillment for all is the best insurance for securing these things for themselves.  While the numbers of people moving to this side are swelling, none should rejoice just yet.  For, although the numbers grow, their collective voice is still feint and uncertain.  If we are not careful, they could still be drowned out or muted by the stentorians of inequality who do not want to see Nigeria develop into a more economically and politically just society.

Do not think what I am saying is intended to favor or oppose any person, group or organization.  I am here not to condemn or commend any particular person or party.

If you are looking for whom I support, don’t go to any elected official’s office.  You won’t find me there.  Don’t go to any party headquarters.  My footprints will neither be there.  I am singularly disinterested in who beats whom in the political game.  What has my abiding interest is that Nigeria continues to improve its ability to look after the well being of those of its citizens who do not have the capacity to fully look after themselves.

Thus, if you want to see whom we support, get out of your chair, walk out of this hall and go to the schools to see young children struggling to obtain an education that will give them hope for the future.

Go to the marketplace.  See the somber-eyed mother with too many needs to meet but too little money with which to meet them.  Go to the farms.  See people working and tilling the soil from sun up to sun down in order to scratch out a living, to feed their family and feed this nation.  Go to the bus stops.  See the men and women who wake up tired in the morning and come home weary from work late at night.  These are the people I support.

In Nigeria, you now have the formal institutional trappings of democracy but not enough people have sufficiently imbibed the spirit of democracy so that we can state with confidence that democracy has been secured on these shores. 

You have a presidential and federal system.  You have state and local government.  You have had and will continue to have elections.  Despite these institutions and forums, Nigeria is not as democratic as it ought to be.  You cannot claim to have a fully functioning democracy without elections, yet elections without more does not a democracy make.

Too many people look at winning an election as a type of coronation or investiture and not the assumption of a public trust.  Too many people see victory in the election as not making them the representatives of the people but as a form of elected royalty.  Thus, instead of them believing they should act in the public’s interest, they believe the election means the public should act in their interest.

While elections are a dramatic expression of the democratic spirit, the truer test of democracy will come the days, weeks and years after the elections.  Will the elected government represent the will of the citizens and respect their freedoms.  Or, will the taste of power tempt government to ignore them and their hopes and dreams?

Democracy in its true sense is not something found on a piece of paper, or in the organizational structure of an institution.  Democracy flourishes or is buried by how we relate to each other as human beings.  For it to thrive, democracy must be etched in the hearts and minds of the players in the national drama.  It must seep into how we act daily, into our discussions, our decisions, into how we view the world and each other’s place in it.

For Nigeria, the battle to establish the institutional forms of democracy has been won.  Yet, there is still a great deal of work to do.  The next phase is to move from having the institutions of democracy to reaching a level where those institutions perform increasingly better at addressing the pressing needs of the Nigerian nation.

You see, with regard to the elections, focus should not be only on the parties and the candidates.  You should report on what the election means both to the common man, but also to organized civil society.  With regard to civil society, you must report its views on issues, but also what is it doing or not doing to promote democracy.

In Nigeria, we have myriad civil society groups that have among their stated purposes the promotion of democracy.  Yet, to get them to work together, to get them to pool resources to advance the cause of democracy is often as difficult as convincing rain not to be wet. 

The aim of democracy should be so transcendent that it compels these organizations to overcome other considerations and work together.  Unfortunately, such cooperation is more the exception than the rule. 

Instead of consolidating resources to better promote democracy, groups often bicker over who is the truest and fairest democrat of them all.  By trying to “out democracy” each other, the groups do not advance the cause to which they claim to be wedded. 
Instead, they sow the seeds of confusion and disillusion as the public finds it nigh impossible to draw a distinction between the behavior of the proponents of democracy and the behavior of the guardians of the past.

If Nigeria is to advance as it should, civil society will have to act in accordance with its stated priorities.  This means that proponents of democracy must be intolerant with regard to compromising on the ultimate objective. 

Yet, when it comes to the means and methods for attaining the fullness of democracy for Nigeria, they must be tolerant and receptive to different views and approaches.  For out of diversity should come discourse and through the crucible of discourse and debate, our ideas are further wrought and refined.

The journey toward democracy is always a gradual process.  Democratization is not like a light switch one can just turn on and off.  Democratization is more like the progressive movement from dusk to dawn. 

Yet, given the pace of the 21st Century, Nigeria does not have the luxury of taking too long to perfect its democracy.  What used to happen in several decades, must now unfold in the space of several years.  Although timeframes will be more compressed, it is still the case that change will be evolutionary.  This also implies that change is best done peacefully.

Should Nigeria do what it right and become what it should be, Nigeria has the opportunity to not only advance but also to become a model from which other nations and future generations will take inspiration and guidance.

Let me state finally, that should Nigeria fall in this democratic enterprise, succeeding generations will look back and be baffled at how, given the corps of talented people and the ample store of resources Providence has lent this nation, we let it run aground.
To be found waiting at this moment would be allowing your destiny to pass through your fingers as if it were the wind we are attempting to hold, but it is not the wind.  It is our very selves.  So hold fast.  We must act wisely and well to justify why we have been placed here in this special hour.  Remember, what Nigeria does today, Africa will do tomorrow. 

What Nigeria becomes today, is what Africa will be tomorrow.  You have a responsibility that extends beyond your borders and your shores.  Great is the responsibility.  Great is the potential reward, but also great are the consequences of failure.  Let not that responsibility crash against the shoals of failure because of indecision, indifference, and want of vision.

Yes, elections are a critical component of democracy.  We need to focus on the need to conduct this elections right so that the will of the Nigerian people is honored and advanced.

Nothing less than your future depends on it.

Thank you.