DESPITE being Nigeria’s media and commercial hub, Lagos State has been identified as one of the most hostile environments for journalists. This is according to the 2024 Openness Index released by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
The index, unveiled on Thursday, July 31, shows that press freedom landscape registered a concerning 50.51 per cent average in 2024, placing the nation squarely in the ‘Average Enabler’ category.
Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Imo, and several other states performed relatively ‘poor’ across indicators related to media safety, political tolerance, and freedom of expression.
The report, based on a sample of 1,110 respondents, including journalists, media owners, and civil society actors, categorised states on a spectrum from 0 to 100, where 0-39 represents ‘Extreme Inhibitors,’ 40-49 ‘Inhibitors,’ 50-59 ‘Average Enablers,’ 60-69 ‘Satisfactory Enablers,’ and 70-100 ‘Good Enablers.’
Nigeria’s national average stood at 50.51 per cent, placing the country in the ‘Average Enabler’ category, some states recorded scores ranging from 21.63 to 50.52 per cent on either of the seven indicators.
The indicators are political, legal, security, economic, sociocultural, media environment and gender inclusion.
Lagos scored just 29.21 per cent on the indicator measuring violent treatment of journalists, despite ranking 22nd overall.
Presenting the findings to the audience, on Thursday, at the launch of the openness index, Victor Ayidun-Aluma, a professor of Mass Communication and Social Change, stated that the index was designed to combine perception data with incident-based evidence in order to provide a holistic, and actionable picture of democratic openness at the state level.
While noting that the national average places Nigeria in the ‘Average Enabler’ category, he stated that the detailed state-by-state breakdown showed significant variations.
For instance, Cross River State leads the overall ranking with 70.40 per cent, placing it in the ‘Good Enablers’ category, while states like Anambra, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Ebony, and Imo, record lower scores, indicating a more challenging environment for press freedom.
According to the report, media professionals in Cross River reported minimal interference in their work and also the civil society actors described constructive engagements with public officials.
On the lowest performing states based on the perception index, the report found them to perform below average on indicators that appraised political tolerance, media independence, and behaviour ofthe security forces, reflecting a repressive environment.
“Twelve states ranked as average enablers, including Katsina (57.51 per cent) Abia, (53.15 per cent), and Kwara, (50.53 per cent).
“Twenty-two states ranked as inhibitors, including FCT Abuja (49. 28 per cent), Jigawa (48.95 per cent) Lagos, 48.93 per cent), Akwa Ibom, (47.81 per cent), Kaduna, (45.72 per cent), and Imo, (40.70 per cent) – the worst performing federating unit. No state ranked as an extreme inhibitor of press freedom and freedom of expression,” the report showed.
Inhibitors of press freedom
The key challenges identified as inhibitors to press freedom include significant economic challenges at both national and subnational levels.
According to the report, news organisations face financial constraints due to shifts in advertising revenues, increased competition from technology companies and social media, and reductions in global funding for journalism.
These economic pressures, it noted, often lead to operational cost increases and inflationary pressures, jeopardising editorial independence as media organisations may seek funding from government or corporate entities.
The index also pointed to legal restrictions, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), and political intimidation as significant hindrances.
Mediocre performance
Speaking with The ICIR, on the findings, the Executive Director of CJID, Akintunde Babatunde, described the ‘average enablers’ as a ‘mediocre’ result that falls short of acceptable standards.
He also stated that journalists are often “scared for their lives,” subjected to attacks, or even “kidnapped” while performing their duties.
These incidents, he noted, are a clear indicator that the environment is far from enabling.
“Beyond the index, we have very clear incidents of press attack, media attack, that makes it difficult for journalism to be done,” he said.
The ICIR reports that the findings of the report are heavily corroborated by data from the CJID’s Press Attack Tracker (PAT), which documented 140 attacks between December 2023 and November 2024.
According to the report, which encompasses data from the Press Attack Tracker, the threat of violence is particularly acute in some states, such as the FCT and Lagos, where 45 and 21 attacks on journalists, respectively, were recorded during the period under review
Nigerian media faces existential challenges – Panelists
One of the panellists on the state of the media and civic space in Nigeria, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Kashere, Umaru Pate, a Professor, noted that Nigeria media industry now faces several existential challenges, adding that some of the problems are beyond press freedom.
Pate also noted that many journalists are faced with economic difficulties which consequently has an impact in their practices.
He added that “economic independence determines editorial independence.”
He also highlighted challenges such as credibility crisis, accessing and mastering technology, safety of the media, and poverty.
On his part, Tonie Iredia, a professor of Media Law and Broadcast Management, said Nigeria has had many incidents of threats and attacks on journalists for a long time, adding that: “There is no freedom of press in Nigeria.”
He noted that Section 39 and other line items of the Nigerian Constitution do not protect media freedom and rights as people wrongly believe.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M