Stakeholders in the information sector on Tuesday in Abuja identified the culture of secrecy as a major hindrance to the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2011. They made the observation during the 2016 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) FOIA Desk Officers’ Training Workshop in Abuja. It was organised for Desk Officers in all the 37 secretariats of the corps and the Nigerian Defence Headquarters with the theme: “FOIA 2011 and Implementation Challenges’’.

Mrs Justina Suwa, the Legal Adviser, Federal Ministry of Works, said that moving from the culture of secrecy to openness was a major challenge facing the implementation of FOI in the civil service. Suwa advised that sensitisation campaigns should be taken more seriously to make people more open to giving information. She said that the campaign would also help the public, especially civil servants, to know that FOIA was not an enemy, but a veritable tool in fighting corruption. “I am glad that NYSC is taking this seriously with the training and retraining of its FOIA Desk Officers across the country. “Some Ministries, Department and parastatal Agencies (MDAs) do not take the implementation of this act seriously. `

Some are still afraid, but it is a veritable tool in fighting corruption,” Suwa said. Also, Brig.-Gen. Sule Kazaure, the NYSC Director-General, said that since the last training of the corps FOI desk officers, there had been remarkable improvement in information management and speed of response to requests. Kazaure, represented by Mrs Rhoda Kwaki, the NYSC Director of Community Development and Special Service, urged the desk officers to strive toward improving their performances by coming up with strategies to enhance compliance.

“The Freedom of Information Act was passed and signed into law to make information freely available with a view to entrenching honesty, transparency and adherence to the rule of law in the conduct of government business. “ Since the Act came into effect, the NYSC has taken measures to ensure full compliance. “At the end of the training, you are expected to return to your offices and sensitise all your members of staff. “Priority attention should now be given to proper records keeping, probity and accountability in the management of resources. “Due process should also be adhered to in the conduct of our operations so as to enhance service delivery,” Kazaure said.

Also, Mr Edwin Megwa, the Head of NYSC FOIA Desk, said MDAs faced the challenge of records keeping, adding that without this, it was difficult to release information to the public. He urged MDAs to adopt the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in keeping records to ease information dissemination process. Earlier, Mrs Bose Aderibigbe, the NYSC Director of Press, said asides the schemes swift response to public requests, it was also working to enhance proactive disclosure of information about the scheme through its website.

Aderibigbe said that this approach was in consonance with Section 2 of the FOIA which required public institutions to make certain “proactive disclosures to the public’’. “Just as the House of Representatives recently rated NYSC high in its process of implementation of FOIA, we will endeavour within the official limitations to sustain this enviable height we have attained,” Aderibigbe said.

Source: Vanguard