Our Speech, Our Right -By Adetunji Ayobrown

 Life is not a prison but a test; was an assertion by many Nigerians regarding the introduction of ‘hate speech bill’ as presented some people that choose enthusiasm over experience. Or how else would anyone describe this widely criticised proposed legislation as introduced to the upper legislative chamber some weeks ago. The bill entitled, ‘Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation 2019’, which had passed second reading. As seen many, it is nothing but gagging citizen’s freedom of speech ascribed and well spelt out in our constitution.

How story turn is what we watch the whole movie for, trust Nigerians, true student of history; it is still fresh in their memories. Many are surprised that Lai Mohammed could apologise to former President Goodluck Jonathan, can now turn around to advocate for hate speech which many believed he was known for and earn him his present office and position. Many still 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 2013, some even criticised him for designating Boko Haram a ‘terrorist group’, the then National Publicity Secretary of ACN, now Minister of Information is also in the name list of those who said the proscription of Boko Haram and Ansaru violates the Constitution and tampers with the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.

According to a quote, “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.

Event indeed turned, “… 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.

Truly and behold, wickedness is good sometimes because you reap what you have sown. If you doubt this statement, let us do some analysis to these scenarios. 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 associated with the first newspaper which originated in China as ordinary court bulletin; spread with paper and printing press to Europe. News the 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.

“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 citizen’s comments.

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 cluelessnes 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 should dear say such today, it not only be categorised as hate speech but also the author will be shown no mercy and must be put to death as advocated by some quarters.

Jonathan took many of those comments as nothing but opportunist notes. And 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, what makes the 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 the peace, security and harmony of our Nigerian people. 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 too needs some handouts.

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, someone said so many unprintable things during Jonathan presidency and his right to express his opinion was not trampled upon.

If you can’t handle citizen worst then you don’t deserve their best, many opined. Yes, fake news has done a lot 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.

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 some known before it came to power, this is a known secret. Life in space is practically impossible; telling Nigerians otherwise may not work because no man can be lost on straight road.

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 can 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 if we must end this well. 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. Some even want death penalty. But many don’t know what to call these, 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 say 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. Can anyone say such of this government?

Internet, one of the best inventions in this modern age but unfortunately through the social media many are spreading falsehood and manipulating unsuspecting users, a major disadvantage. Based on our constitution, there is freedom of information and freedom of speech. No one has power over the internet or the social media as simple as that.