In January 2014, attention of internet freedom and online privacy advocates were drawn to a bill that Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, sent to the country’s lawmakers for approval. The bill reportedly empowers security operatives to intercept various forms of communication including voice and data.
This week, after months of outbursts and commendations from far and near, members of Nigeria’s House of Representatives passed the bill for second reading, thus raising concerns over Nigerian government’s preparedness for online privacy and internet freedom.
While speaking at the 2015 edition of the annual Social Media Week conference in Lagos, the minister for communication technology enjoined citizens to get actively involved in government using social media but the government’s renewed interest in some forms of cyber control may be a major setback to initiatives that are aiming to get feedback from Nigerians.
In its defense, the government said the bill will allow it to enhance national security, prevention of crime committal and facilitate criminal investigations, this may not be unconnected to the country’s current security challenges but there are security challenges in other parts of the world that have respect for online privacy.
There is also lowered passion for online privacy campaigns in Nigeria as a good number of those that were at the forefront of the campaign last year have kept quiet or are focusing on entirely different issues.
But Nigerians need internet freedom, they need to be sure that there would not be repercussions or backslashes for whatever they post online. Even though developments such as the circumstances surrounding the bill are not entirely known to the citizens, its impacts would be extensive. However, a cross section of those that could do something about the bill claim nothing much could be done for now until the final bill is made public.
