 Now, according to ranking carried out by the reporters without borders, 23 countries out of 48 are in red or black on the map, which means that the situation of journalists in these countries is still a cause for concern. Head of Africa, RSF, Anod Fogar, says, in almost half of the continent, the press-freedom situation remains worrying. Information is often blocked either partially or completely. There are restrictions to prevent journalists from doing their job properly, and in the worst cases, there are abuses. These means that journalists are intimidated, assorted, sometimes arbitrarily arrested or even cured. Now joining us on the phone to discuss these issues is the National President of the National Union of Journalists, Chris Isigoso. Good evening to you, Mr. Isigoso. Many thanks for joining us on the news now on Plus TV Africa. Good evening. All right, let us start by looking at the day. Any cause for celebration on today's occasion, the World Press Freedom Day? I didn't get that, sorry. Is there any cause for celebration as we mark the World Press Freedom Day? Well, it is a celebration that is marked across the globe. We may not have got to where we expect to be, but definitely we are not where we used to be. The situation was worse than what we have now, but today I believe that we've made some progress. They may not be substantial enough, but definitely we are not where we used to be. All right, while some argue that this is a lot better than the heyday of the military regime, isn't press freedom part of the rudiment of a democratic dispensation? Well, one of the unique ingredients of a working democracy is free expression, the right of the people to freely express themselves as enshrined in the Constitution 39.1. And of course, if you go to Section 22, the Constitution has also reposed the responsibility of holding government accountable in the media, which means the law we operate recognizes the fact that the media must be allowed to operate without limitations, without inhibitions, without being put in a pigeonhole, and that is the essence of what press freedom day. To remind government of his obligation, you know, in 1991, in Nardibia, during the 26th session of UNESCO, the documents endorsing what press freedom day was agreed on, and it was ratified in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly. And every member state, any state that has linked to United Nations is bound to respect this agreement. So the work press freedom day is an opportunity for government to be reminded of its obligations to ensuring freedom of the press and freedom of expression. It is also a time for us to protect the media. We need to stress it so seriously that the media must be protected from unnecessary harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest, an online and offline attack. It is also a time when the fundamental principles of press freedom are highlighted. It is also a time when we pay tribute to our colleagues that lost their lives in the line of duty. So no matter how you look at it, this is a fundamental aspect of a working democracy. At any time, the people's right to free expression is no longer guaranteed, then democracy takes flight. All right, let's do some introspect right now by looking at the overbearing nature of some media owners who do not only enslave their staff, but also all countless months of unpaid salaries. How do you react to this? Well, it has become more like a commonplace. And the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic did not help matters. It started off as a public health crisis. It became an economic crisis. And today it is still ravaging the media industry generally. And that's the situation. But we continue to engage media owners. But beyond the private media owners, what about governments? This government has clearly continued to pay lip service to press freedom. You cannot talk about press freedom when the media operators are polyreminerated. You cannot talk about press freedom when from 12 years ago, when we agreed on the way in allowance for government media workers. We said that every four years it should be periodically reviewed. As I speak to you, I don't think everybody is talking about the review. Over half of the 36 states are not even implementing the way in allowance. So how would democracy work? When the engine room, the oxygen of democracy is not functioning. That is the problem. So we want to continue to call on governments that you have the responsibility in the spirit of the widow declaration that the media must have a conducive environment to operate because the media is the middleman between the government and the government. If the people can no longer lay claim, reach out to the media, then there is trouble. So just before we let you go, one final question for you. There is the issue of harassment of the media by the National Broadcasting Commission and other regulators, the police, the DSS, and other state actors. How can this be stopped? Well, that is another major challenge plaguing against the media in recent times. Broadcast media today are practically operating on their toes. Therefore, that brings to four what I describe as incessant harassment from the operator or rather from the regulator. And this is not good at all. If they have continued to lay claim or make reference to certain laws, which in my own understanding are no longer in tandem with the realities, with the dynamics in the media today. Therefore, it becomes imperative that the regulator must convene a stakeholder's summit for the sole purpose of reviewing the broadcasting codes. Because what presently obtains in that code is not in tandem with reality. So it is important because if you are talking about freedom, you cannot continue to harass the media houses. You monitor who they bring to their stations. You monitor the views they are expressing. You clamp down on them and now find that democracy is in trouble. All right, thank you so much. Indeed, we have been speaking with the National President of the National Union of Journalist Chris E.C. Gozo. We joined the rest of the world to mark World Press Freedom Day. Many thanks for your thoughts and opinions tonight. We do appreciate it. Thank you very much. Do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.