Press Freedom and Rhetoric of Human Rights in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper appraises the constitutional framework of press freedom and human rights in Nigeria. Press freedom, human rights or freedom of expression have been overarching concepts. Scholars of repute have taken positions and argued on either side of the divide. Classical liberal thinkers are of the opinions that freedom should be inalienable right human and of the press for the purpose of upholding accountability in the affairs of the state and beyond. These rights, they contend, should be unfettered in a way that the press should have unconditional access to operate without hindrance through the various state repressive apparatuses. On the other hand are scholars who argued that freedom of the press and human rights should be curtailed. One of such thinkers is the controversial philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, whose seminar work Anarchical Fallacies had sparked divergence intellectual debate. Betham describes rights as of all sorts as “Nonsense upon Stilts” and this has long established bipolar arguments among scholars globally including Nigeria.