Personally, I believe citizens have the right to know everything that goes on in their country regardless of the devastating effects. It's the right of citizens to be aware and informed about all that's going on either good or bad, nothing should be kept away from them.
But in my beloved country Nigeria where we all say we run a democratic system of government, the reverse is the case, the Nigerian government concedes news a lot and it's bad.
Majority of times citizens are kept in the dark on some certain issues, the people in government usually hide certain information from the public all because they want to settle it within themselves but in a situation where there are whistle blowers amongst them the information will link to the public which will lead to its escalation.
There are a number of times, NTA (Nigeria Television Authority) will not broadcast some news all because it's against the government while private television would have spread the news all over their TV and social media platforms to inform the citizens about what's going on in government. For instance the rate at which the Officers of the Nigerian Police force are harassing youth is alarming.
Some would go to the extent of killing passengers or drivers on highways all because they demanded bribe and those people refused. If not for the outcry of youths on social media, the police and their special anti-robbery squad would have finish all of us "the youths" here in Nigeria.
Even though the squad was disbanded, some citizens still went to their early grave during the protest in 2020 and till date the government hasn't say a word about the incident.
Also, in terms of budget and federal allocations to different states, the citizens needs to know how their money is been spent. Not for one politician to embezzle the money and abscond to another continent claiming to be sick, then after numerous years aboard the corrupt politicians will be begging to come back home to die.
Let people know how their tax money is been spent and who is responsible for embezzlement whenever it happens. Accountability and transparency is needed in everything, let us all know how everything is going in the economy not for certain issues to be sideline.
Presently in Nigeria, the information that reaches people like the speed of light is all about sports and their health. Information about how to live a healthy life is everywhere or whenever there is an outbreak of disease, everyone would carry it on their head likewise in sport.
So if information like that can spread within a twinkle of an eye, then let the citizens know:
- everything about the ongoing insecurities in the nation, don't lie whenever bandits attack scores of soldiers and claim it's just 5 officers that died or when police officers cheat citizens
- the tactics kidnappers are using so as for us to know where to go and not to go
- the people vandalizing our fuel pipes and those stealing our natural resources for personal interest
- what's causing the recent food scarcity and the solution to it etc
There are numerous information that Nigerians aren't aware of and it's bad. It is our right to share in the nations joyful and bad moments, so we all need 247 news to be aware of what's going on in our beloved country so that we all can be part of the decision makers for better governance.
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