gisw13_chapters

the issue in the public eye until positive steps aretaken.Closely related to this is the domestication ofthe Convention on the Rights of the Child throughthe Child Rights Act, which has yet to be endorsedby some states in Nigeria. The progress of the effortsof UNICEF and civil society entities to promotethe process needs to be monitored.The bills that are now being considered by thelegislature will also be closely monitored: the Genderand Equal Opportunities Bill and the ViolenceAgainst Persons Bill.The use of ICTs to express public outrage in thechild bride case is similar to the initiation of thenationwide Occupy Nigeria movement of 2012 – amovement that started with a tweet. The implicationof the use of social media for galvanising publicopinion is not lost on the Nigerian government, andit is now making efforts to limit citizens’ access toinformation on the internet. This challenge providesthe opportunity for another action step: sustainedand coordinated action by civil society to monitorand evaluate the government’s bill, titled “An Act toProvide for the Interception, Development and Protectionof Communications Networks and Facilitiesfor Public Interest and other related matters”, andthe push for endorsement of a national surveillanceprogramme that has both serious financial and civilrights implications. This can be pursued by forgingcloser networking with ICT journalists and relevantcivil society organisations, such as the ParadigmInitiative, 21 to ensure public oversight and discussionsto monitor how these initiatives might infringeon the right to free communication. ■21 Paradigm Initiative (2013) Nigeria: Making a case for enduringinternet freedom, PIN Policy Brief No. 1. pinigeria.org/download/pinbrief001.pdf185 / Global Information Society Watch