Nigeria’s government wants to gag the press

IF NIGERIAN JOURNALISTS have misgivings about the government’s plan to grab more power to fine them and close media houses, it is with good reason. Many remember how in President Muhammadu Buhari’s first days in office as a military dictator in 1984, he passed Decree 4, which allowed him to close down newspaper houses and jail journalists who criticised his junta, ridiculed its officials or published information the state deemed false.Now, more than two decades after democracy was restored, many Nigerians see history being repeated. Lawmakers are trying to push through parliament a bill that would allow the government to jail journalists, fine newspapers up to 10m naira ($20,000) or close them for up to a year if they publish “fake” news.