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Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria recognizes the role of the press, radio, television and other agencies of mass media to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people. Section 39 (1) gives citizens the right to “freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference”. The Constitution further states in Section 39 (2) that “every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas and opinions”.

However, these freedoms are curtailed by other instruments in the same Constitution.

The German Ambassador remarked that the existence of independent media is important for a free society. According to the Ambassador, the media is the 4th power and is an important link between the government and the people. He commended the active blogging scene in Nigeria.

KAS Country Representative Mrs. Hildegard Behrendt-Kigozi remarked thus; “Nigeria is very free. Free to do a lot of things. Free to drive as they please. But yet not so free”. According to Mrs. Behrendt-Kigozi, the Media acts as the checks and balances, not just for the politicians but for the people as well. CSOs and Media are working together. She further observed that the Media people cover delicate stories and so the Media should protect courageous individuals who point out delicate issues. People are all over the world are interested in Nigeria, she added.

A paper on the Nigerian media and ethical challenges of Nigerian Journalists was presented by Mr. Shuaibu Leman, National Secretary, Nigerian Union of Journalists. He pointed out that journalists are always target of criticism due to what they do, or what they fail to do. Though every profession is guided by codes of conduct, written or unwritten, journalism as a profession is very hard to control. No media house can vouch for the integrity if their staffs, as many of them have personal, ethnic, and political interests that may not be visible to the employer. The owners of media houses themselves are under pressure from special interest group who are hired to launder the image of such groups or where the owners of media houses accommodate policies that favor a particular group or of people in the society, which is actually their right as owners of a particular newspaper.

As part of the challenges, Mr. Leman raised the issue of remuneration for fulltime as well as freelance journalists. The pay is poor, and it will be difficult to expect the journalists to be just in the face poverty. Furthermore, there is hardly any form of health insurance for the journalists. In case of conflicts, many are not trained on how to escape unscathed, nor covered by any insurance, while risking their lives on duty.

Unfortunately, the government and the media perceive each other as adversaries, as government will want to keep its activities confidential while the media will want to report on such activities for the benefit of the people. Mr. Leman suggested both see themselves as partners in development, so their people will gain from their cooperation.

Mr. FarukDalhatu, General Director, Freedom Radio Kano, on the other hand presented a paper on the challenges of journalists which concerns itself more with the Northern perspectives. He raised the issue that the regulatory body set up by the federal government is more efficient in dealing with privately-owned media houses than with government-owned media houses, even when the government-owned media houses violate the rules on more occasions. Although the lopsided regulation of the industry has put more fear and burden on the private media houses, in general regulation is still good and thought to be protective for all.

The participants reacted by passing comments and questions, which gave more insight into the topic of discussion. Among others the following recommendations were made:

- Media practitioners should practice the profession in accordance with the ethics

- Journalists must avoid being unduly influenced by external factors

- The media should engage citizens in national discussions

- The traditional media should recognize that social media platforms provide a veritable news source which keeps the traditional journalist on his toes.

- KAS/German Embassy should continue to organize roundtables, workshops and trainings for journalists.

KAS announced that there will be a training for journalist organized in 2014 in Abuja by the Nigerian office in collaboration with the KAS Media Program Sub Sahara Africa.