Liberal Mind

Our Speech, Our Right

 

By Ayobrown Adetunji

Life is not a prison but a test; was an assertion by many Nigerians
regarding the introduction of ‘hate speech bill’ as presented today.
How else would anyone describe the proposed legislation which was
widely criticised following its introduction to the upper legislative
chamber some weeks ago? The bill entitled, ‘Protection from Internet
Falsehood and Manipulation 2019’, had passed second reading but many
believed that it is nothing but gagging citizen’s freedom of speech as
ascribed in our constitution.
Internet is one of the best inventions in this modern age, but one of
the disadvantages of the social media on internet is the spread of
falsehood and manipulation of unsuspecting users. Human being always
exhibits the desire to learn and share news which they satisfy by
talking to each other and sharing information. Genre of news as it is
it today is associated with the first newspaper which originated in
China as ordinary court bulletin; spread with paper and printing press
to Europe. News is described as information published in newspapers
and broadcast on radio and television and online are all about recent
events in the country or world or in a particular area of human
activities.
How story turn is what you watch the whole movie for, trust Nigerians,
we are true student of history; still fresh in their memories, many
remembered when the Minister of Information and culture in tweet,
expresses apologies to the former president Goodluck Jonathan, stating
that President Buhari administration is worse than Jonathan’s
administration.
In a statement issued on June 9, 2013, Lai criticised Jonathan for
designating Boko Haram a ‘terrorist group’, the then National
Publicity Secretary of ACN, now Minister of Information, said that the
proscription of Boko Haram and Ansaru violates the Constitution and
tampers with the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.
According to him, “by stifling the press, is the Order not abridging a
part of the fundamental human rights guaranteed every citizen under
Chapter Four of the Nigerian Constitution in Section 39 (1), which
states thus: ‘Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression,
including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and
information without interference?”.
“Is this subsection not in conflict with Chapter II Section 22 of the
Nigeria constitution, which says the press, radio, television and
other agencies of the mass media, shall at all times be free to uphold
the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the
responsibility and accountability of the government to the people?,”
Mohammed asked in the statement.
Now event had indeed turned, “…this apology to Jonathan is uncalled
for and provocative. PMB has raised the bar in so many areas. We
raised poverty levels, we raised inflation, we raised status of
Kidnappers, we raised the capacity of Boko Haram – they have drones
now. We will do more insha Allah”, too terrify to belief this was
statement credited to the information minister.
“A government that is unwilling to take responsibility for anything
should not be counted upon. A government has responsibility to protect
its citizens and not engage in blame game”, the words between 2012 and
2014 are never counted as hate speech but ordinary comments.
Truly, wickedness is good, if you doubt this statement, let us do some
analysis to these scenarios. Former president Jonathan took those
comments as nothing but opportunist notes. But many are still
surprised that going by Lai Mohammed’s apology to former President
Goodluck Jonathan, where he said Buhari’s administration is worse
after all, can now turn around to advocate for hate speech he was
known for, that event earn him his present office and position.
Another of such comments: “now this President has finally owned up to
his globally acknowledged incompetence. Never in the history of any
nation has incompetence and cluelessness been exhibited by any leader
as being exhibited today in this government. This government is
running the country aground with a combination of incompetence and
corruption. The fact of this government has nothing to do with
ethnicity but a manifestation of incompetence, cluelessness and
inferiority complex”. I bet you; if anyone make such today would APC
and its agents not only categorise it as hate speech but also go after
such with no mercy.
Just like the proverbial saying; evil that men do. Many are still in
wondering mode, saying that if past Nigerians leaders had gagged
freedom of speech, only gods knows what would have happened by now.
The rest is up to us, to see difference. If Jonathan had adopted ‘Hate
Speech Bill’, many would be dead by now.
The hoax of the demise of President Muhammadu Buhari in London and his
purported replacement by one Jibril of Sudan are those things they saw
as threaten to peace, security and harmony of Nigerians. Many
occasions they termed it otherwise when citizen are demonstrating and
calling government’s attention to their plights, seeing such as
calling president incompetent and dealt with such persons in
unwarranted manner.
Technological and social developments often driven by communication
networks increased the speed with which news spread as well as
influenced its content. Common topics for news reports include war,
government, politics, education, health, the environment, economy,
business, fashion, and entertainment, as well as athletic events, even
quirky or unusual events too are all in the list may be our info
minister needs some handouts.
The internet has indeed democratised information, but for Nigeria
peculiarity, a bill seeking to regulate social media had generated a
lot of uproars. Reasons for those in support said the proposed law,
they claimed is not an attempt to stifle free speech, but an attempt
to check the growing threats they used to their advantage then and
that now they are in government cannot stand the heat which if left
unchecked will cause them serious damage.
Smart difference between fiction and reality, things are changing we
must not deny that fact, but what are those things are changing to is
rather a cause for concern. This is all we got penalty for defaulters,
as it goes up to N300,000 for individuals and up to N10 million for
corporate organisations and imprisonment of up to three years or both.
Many still don’t know what to call this, if it is an act braveness or
stupidity.
Hate the problem and not the speech, the fact remains that information
superhighway is a weapon in the process and governments across the
world trying to mitigate the risks associated with information
transmission via internet by monitoring abuse and deliberate
misconduct. That is what they all do but not act like ours.
If hate speech bill which advocates death by hanging was in place
between 2012 and 2014 when Lai Mohammed was making these acerbic
statements against the Jonathan administration. On Boko Haram,
Jonathan was accused of buying substandard weapons, but now what is
the difference; many challenge the information minister to come to
podium and explain between then and now what had indeed changed.
The right to hold an opinion, make an opinion, is an inalienable right
of every citizen of Nigeria and when somebody who used to use this,
shows up today and now says no you can’t do it for what he did in the
past, that tells you that it’s nothing but intolerance. History still
has them, Lai Mohammed said so many unprintable things during Jonathan
presidency and his right to express his opinion was not trampled upon.
Yes, fake news are everywhere, even in America and other developed
countries but they have not brought any law to gag their citizen. But
Nigeria seems to be holier than the holiest, what happened to the
Cybercrime Act that deals with issues like this, many are asking,
pointing to the fact that there are laws that deal with false
information, libel, and slander. If you can’t handle citizen worst
then you don’t deserve their best, many opined.
Fiction has to be credible, circumscribing people’s rights in the name
protection from internet falsehood is fictitious and may never help
our democracy; government of the day should remember this. Without
saying more than necessary, hate speech was brought to Nigeria by the
APC government before it came to power, this is a known secret. Life
in space is practically impossible; telling Nigerians otherwise will
not work because no man can be lost on straight road. Based on our
constitution, there is freedom of information and freedom of speech.
No government has absolute power over the internet or the social media
as simple as that.

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