This Openness CJID is Preaching to State Governors
By Abdulsalam Mahmud,
At the Bon Hotel Octagon in Abuja yesterday, one could almost touch the unease democracy still wrestles with as the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) convened a gathering of journalists, civic leaders and state actors to examine the health of Nigeria’s democracy at its most immediate level — the states.
It was not another sterile policy talk. It was a mirror held up to governors and their governments, through the lens of Nigeria’s first-ever Openness Index.
Launched in July and now undergoing deeper conversations with stakeholders, the Index is CJID’s bold attempt to measure civic freedom across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
It takes democracy away from lofty rhetoric and national generalisations, grounding it instead in the lived experiences of citizens. How free are they to speak? How safe are journalists to work?
How responsive are state governments to information requests? The answers are now written in comparative data. Cross River emerged as the most open state, praised for its tolerance of dissent, proactive disclosure of information, and relative safety for civic actors.
Katsina and Ekiti also featured among states making strides. But there was a darker side to the findings. Imo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, and Ebonyi sat at the bottom of the ranking, while Lagos — Nigeria’s economic hub and media capital — was flagged for disturbing cases of harassment, arbitrary detention, and even killings of journalists.
Speaking at the capacity building and stakeholder engagement, CJID’s Chief Executive Officer, Dapo Olorunyomi, represented by his deputy, Busola Ajibola, reminded participants that democracy is not measured by institutions alone but by the daily freedoms ordinary people enjoy.
“Openness is not a given; it is uneven, often fragile, and must be continuously protected,” he said. “The states that perform best show that democratic space can be expanded with deliberate action. Others demonstrate how quickly rights can erode when civic space is treated as expendable.”
For Olorunyomi and his team, the Index is not just a research project. It is a call to action. By combining verified incident tracking with the testimony of over a thousand respondents, the Index paints a sobering yet hopeful picture: a federation where openness is negotiable, but also one where deliberate policies can make civic space flourish.
The Abuja engagement pushed this message home. It underscored that while Nigeria’s democratic health is often judged from the national level, state governments wield enormous influence over whether freedoms thrive or wither. The Index offers them benchmarks, showing in stark relief where they stand, and what they risk if they continue to ignore citizen rights.
In a country where silence often buries abuse, CJID has given voice to a data-driven truth: Nigeria’s openness is uneven, fragile, and deeply dependent on state-level choices. Cross River, Katsina, and Ekiti prove that progress is possible. Imo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, and Lagos are the cautionary tales.
This is the openness CJID is preaching to state governors. Whether they listen, or let civic space bleed further, will tell the story of Nigeria’s democracy in the years to come.
Mahmud, Deputy Editor of PRNigeria, wrote in via: 08067492272