By Tonnie Iredia Hate speeches which have featured prominently in the Nigerian polity in recent times have been outlawed with effect ...
By Tonnie Iredia
Hate speeches which have featured prominently in the Nigerian polity in recent times have been outlawed with effect from last Thursday, August 17, 2017. The pronouncement was made by the Acting President himself, Prof Yemi Osinbajo.
He spoke at the National Economic Council Security Retreat held at the Presidential Villa. It was the second time in 24hours that the acting President would focus on hate speeches as a subject of policy discussions.
The day before, Osinbajo had appealed to a delegation of the Nigerian chapter of the International Press Institute to consider putting on the agenda of the June 2018 global media conference to be hosted by Nigeria, the issue of hate speech and its implications for the polity and for peace and security. It therefore made much sense when he read the riot act while raising the issue again the next day.
Apart from the adverse consequences of hate speeches which clearly justify the new posture of government, it is important to give credit to Osinbajo for his tireless efforts in the past of organizing consultative fora with critical stakeholders on the subject. We need to recall that after the vexatious notice served by some Northern ‘youths’ on the Ibos in the North to quit the region before October 1, 2017, the acting President met with different groups including elders and traditional rulers from both the North and the East.
At the meetings government made it clear it would not allow anyone to get away with making speeches that could cause division and violence. At a different forum, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, appealed to traditional rulers to support the government in promoting peace and unity across the country, amid rising cases of incendiary statements and hate speeches capable of tearing the nation apart.
The occasion was a visit to the Minister’s office by Oba Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi III, Olowo of Owo. The Minister used the occasion to remind Nigerians that it was hate speeches that helped to trigger genocide in Rwanda in 1994, killing about 800,000 people. Interestingly, the series of counselling did not appear to have made any impact on the hate speech merchants thereby putting the nation on red alert. Even the recent defeat of the bill on devolution of powers in the senate has been credited to hate speeches.
As explained by the Senate President Bukola Saraki, “we must be honest with ourselves that presently there is a lot of mistrust in the country; the air is very polluted and let us be very frank, that blame must go all round.” Those who gave the quit notice and those whose utterances instigated the notice have neither retraced their steps nor shown any remorse. Our considered view is that the situation has not changed because the dramatis personae belong to the 3 major groups in the country. Once it is them, no one can really do much. It may just continue to be a series of warnings here and there which would only amount to a feeble campaign.
This reasoning is premised on the fact that there were warnings all along. For instance, when the acting President met the stakeholders early in June he was quoted to have told them that “as a government, we are determined to ensure the unity of the country along the lines of our constitution and I want to say that hate and divisive speeches or divisive behaviour where it is illegal will be met with the full force of the law.”
We honestly fear the latest tough talks may not be taken more seriously than the old feeble campaigns on the subject. While it is true that the new posture of the government to as from now handle hate speech merchants like terrorists looks tough, the old laws against seditious incitements of one group against the other were in essence, not tried out. People made hate speeches continuously and got away with the criminal behaviour.
Those involved are known and are said to be walking the streets free. None of them was arrested, let alone to face the courts. The deviants have been handled the way one of our old Ogas used to deal with wrong doers in our organization.
The story is as follows: two of our chaps were always the trouble makers; they would come late to work; their assignments would fail etc. In reaction, our Oga would issue a statement warning ALL late comers that they would be dealt with soon and everybody including those of us without fault would be served with the statement.
Meanwhile the two notorious deviants were well known and were never directly challenged. Is this strategy by any chance what our government is applying to the subject of hate speeches? Can any of us escape from the negative consequences of hate speeches? If no, why is the subject left to the executive? The other day, the senate suggested that any new law proposed by the executive on hate speeches would be its priority when it resumes from recess in September.
First, must it be an executive bill? Second, why should the senate remain on recess when the nation is burning? Does it mean the era of calling off holiday to attend to urgent matters of national importance is gone or is it when it concerns the welfare of senators that a matter assumes national importance and critical urgency?
Put differently, we believe that the executive is ‘circumlocuting’ on the subject while the legislature has involuntarily abdicated. Wait a minute I hope none of this is hate speech? It is important to ask this question because in the midst of hate speeches, some people think it is the media that is our problem.
While we counsel the media on the expedience of peace education as a social responsibility to ensure the survival of the nation, the media used to convey any hate speech is only a channel. It no doubt deserves some blame but the real culprits are the senders of hate messages because the media hardly manufacture hate speeches. Besides, those who are unduly sensitive to constructive criticism should not be allowed to criminalize dissent. Opposing views are not hate speeches; if we mix it all up, government’s tough talk would be ineffectual.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/08/will-hate-speech-merchants-really-face-trial/
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