NIGERIA’S DEMOCRACY AND FOURTH ESTATE OF THE REALM, 1999-2012

The third estate of the realm are the three organs of government namely; legislature, executive and judiciary while the fourth estate is the mass media which serves as watchdog over three principal of government. The anti-press rule which operates prior to the rebirth of democracy in May 29, 1999 seems to repeal the freedom of unhindered flow of information in Nigeria. This study therefore examines the relationship between democracy and fourth estate. The study adopts libertarian theory of the press as framework of analysis and secondary data was mostly used due to the nature of the study. The study argues that efficiency of fourth estate of the realm is necessary for survival of democracy of any country. It equally identifies some positive development that took place within the period of the study. In spite of the feat of fourth estate and democracy in Nigeria, some challenges were identified. The study recommends the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information law which is capable of addressing the major lacuna between democracy and fourth estate of the realm.