Anambra, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi and Imo have emerged as the most hostile states to journalists and media professionals in the country, according to an Openness Index released by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
The report, presented on Monday in Abuja by Christiana Longe, CJID’s Programme Manager, during its Media and Development Conference offered the first systematic measurement of freedom of expression and civic space across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It warned that targeted restrictions on citizen participation, weak accountability systems and rising pressure on the media are shrinking Nigeria’s democratic space.
It assessed states across seven dimensions: legal environment, economic environment, political environment, social and cultural context, journalistic principles and practices, gender inclusion, treatment of journalists and journalism safety.
While Cross River, Ondo and Delta ranked as the most open states, the bottom performers fell below average on key indicators including political tolerance, media independence and the conduct of security agencies. Longe said these weaknesses reflect a “repressive media environment” where journalists face harassment, intimidation and limited institutional protections.
The index also found that no state achieved a perfect score, and all showed weaknesses in at least one dimension.
Nigeria’s overall Openness Index was estimated at 50.1 percent, classifying the country as only an “average enabler” of press freedom and freedom of expression.
The index integrated perception-based data from more than 1,110 respondents—journalists, media owners, CSOs, advocates and publishers—with incident-based evidence from the CJID Press Attack Tracker, a civic-tech tool that documents assaults on media workers across West Africa.
The report also highlighted regional variations. Southern states generally performed better than their northern counterparts, benefitting from stronger institutions and more vibrant media ecosystems.
But exceptions exist: Lagos and Rivers, traditionally seen as media hubs— recorded declines, while some northern states such as Kebbi and Kaduna outperformed expectations, suggesting pockets of resilience.
The report further highlighted the gap between perception data and real-time incidents, citing Delta State which recorded the highest number of press attacks within the period due largely to a single event involving the denial of access to 250 journalists, yet received moderate perception scores, suggesting that practitioners saw the incident as an anomaly rather than a sign of deeper repression.
It also noted that freedom-of-information requests are frequently ignored, as public information offices are often under-resourced or non-functional, further weakening openness.
Security agencies were repeatedly identified as major contributors to shrinking civic space, as respondents cited harassment, suppression of protests, arbitrary detentions and intimidation of reporters as common barriers to expression and public participation.
Despite these challenges, Longe said Nigeria’s media and civil society continue to show resilience. Journalists, activists and civic actors are still pushing back against repression and defending the public’s right to information, even as digital spaces, the new battleground for expression, remain vulnerable and under-regulated.
She said the findings of the CJID Openness Index offer a clear mandate for policymakers, regulators and the public. “The erosion of press freedom, freedom of expression and civic space is measurable, persistent and demands immediate attention,” she urged.
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