Nigeria dropped by 5 places in the latest Press Freedom index published by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
The RSF is an independent NGO with consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF).
According to the RSF, the annual index "ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists. It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region. It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking. Nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country or region."
In its 2020 rankings, Nigeria had recorded a marked improvement, climbing up five places to 115 from its 2019 ranking which placed it at 120.
However, the country could not retain the spot and has dropped back to 120th spot out of the ranking of 180 countries and territories in the 2021 ranking released in April 2021. The RSF index described Nigeria as having a "Climate of permanent violence" against journalists.
Globally, Norway retained its number 1 spot which it attained in 2020 after edging Finland out of the top spot. In Africa, Namibia retained its top spot although falling by one spot in the global ranking.
In addition to the commonly recognised practices of direct, physical intimidation of journalists by governments and criminal elements, emerging threats such as attacks, trolling and intimidation of journalists online is becoming even more common across many countries - including Nigeria - and is thereby gaining prominence as a measure of the degree of press freedom.
RSF also says "Online freedom is restricted by a 2015 cyber-crime law that is widely used to arrest and prosecute journalists and bloggers in an arbitrary manner."
Many journalists and bloggers have been detained on the orders of state governors and other apparatus of state leveraging on provisions within this law.
Financial inducements to compel compliance by journalists and media owners to report selected viewpoints is also becoming of increasing concern.
