Politics And The Sloppy Hate Speech Laws 

By IKECHUKWU AGADA 

The current intelligentsias in Nigeria have calibrated the most fragile sloppy political law for all heavyweight champions whose eyes are fixed on the 2023 goal post. The law is unwritten, and it’s a mind game.

With the economy taken, security gone, the mass media have become the battlefield, given the knowledge that the South controls it (in the hands of some contenders) and a pertinent missile for political victory.

The intelligentsia understand all the tricks of the trade like the back of their hands and invent many new ones their rivals never see coming.

They have mastered the political craft like a chess game designed to box opponents into a corner by slowly and steadily clipping their wings. The dead and buried “Social Media Bill” of the last National Assembly reared its ugly head again.

Every student of Nigerian politics should be good at spotting pattern, which is the ultimate weapon of the sloppy law framers. To use a cliché, “the rest is history”. Records are made to be broken, so goes the saying. What the speaker does not add is that the statement rings hollow when applied to the arena of politics in Nigeria.

Those who make the loudest noise are useful tools for the battlefields. But the diplomatic missions, the level-headed and reserved are most sought after.

Read Also:Editors Caution FG On Moves To Regulate Social Media

The interests of 2023 have put the wailers, the plotters and the decision makers on a meal table. The Social Media Bill is the biggest joke ever cracked in the history of Nigerian politics.

The idea is a joke, passing first reading is a bigger joke, while defending the bill is 2023 politics taken to the extremes.

It defies logic that a government laced with renowned pressmen and rode to power via the instrumentality of the media (electronic, print and new media) would suddenly change the goal post in the middle of the game.

The bill is a duplication of the Cybercrime Act that has the hate speech aspect in it. Section 4 subsection 2 of the Cybercrime Act has almost the same wordings with the bill.

Fake news is bad, hate speech is condemnable but awarding the defaulters with a capital punishment like death by hanging is a hug to fascism. It is also digital totalitarianism and tyranny at its peak in a country where many who are indicted of corruption are treated like sacred cows.

Death by hanging at a time the world is moving away from capital punishment is retrogressive governance. The bill is designed to silence criticism of the authorities via social media interventions.

It is a well thought out graph plotted to criminalise dissenting voices. Even the government is not free from the bill. What parameters would determine hate speech?

What of those that throw hate speech at the marketplace using native languages? What of purveyors of fake news and hate speech who live abroad?

These are some questions begging for answers. In a nation where corruption reigns supreme, creating hate speech agency is a waste of resources as their job description will be laughable.

Some civilized nations like UK, Canada, France, Netherland, etc, have hate speech laws but they are not punishable with capital reward.

The Nigerian information and communication agencies need to bring stakeholders on the table to discuss best ways to handle the menace of fake news and hate speech. A lot of work should be put in the areas of sensitization, workshops, seminars on the distinct between free speech and hate speech to discourage disinformation and misinformation of the public.

The Federal Government should put more efforts in protecting human rights. The National Human Rights Commission should be properly funded to function effectively.

Rule of law should be obeyed at all times since it is fundamental to the independence of the judiciary and enforcement of human rights.

It should be noted that disobedience to the rule of law is the worst form of hate speech. It is also hate speech to ridicule Nigeria before the world.

Hate speech flows from hate action. Often, unemployment, bad governance, insecurity, poverty provoke hate speech. Nigeria does not need the Hate Speech Law, therefore, the bill should not pass second reading.

The National Assembly should enact laws that will facilitate good governance and better welfare for Nigerians.

As the clock of the years prepares to strike 60 for Nigeria, the world expects a boom in her economy, massive job creation, good standard of living for her citizenry, reduced insecurity, standard electoral reforms and corrupt free system. This global expectation is the core.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Instagram