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Dayo Emmanuel
Civil society organisations under the umbrella of One Voice Coalition have reacted to the current Hate Speech Bill being debated at the National Assembly, saying it is unnecessary and an embarrassment.
At a media parley themed ‘Freedom of expression and the combat of hate speech in Nigeria’ held Thursday April 12 in Lagos, Executive Director, Independent Advocacy Project, Pastor Adedeji Adeleye told participants that such a law with death penalty as punishment could be misused by politicians and political office holders to haunt down their oppositions and members of the civil society organisations.
“Critics have argued that the term ‘hate speech’ will eventually be used to silence critics. The second is that there exists sufficient Nigerian extant laws that could take care of hate speech in the country with little amendment here and there, therefore hate speech law is unnecessary,” he said.
Adeleye added that, “The Bill on hate speech before the National Assembly is an embarrassment.”
Guest lecturer at the event, Professor Lai Oso, a former Dean, School of Communications, Lagos State University, Ojo, gave definitions of hate speech.
According to him, “Dictionary.com defines it as any speech that attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as gender ethnic origin, religion, race, disability, or sexual orientation.”
In his presentation, Oso said, “The issue of hate speech and its cousin, fake news have become issues of concern of late all over the world. However, hate speech has been part of human history for long, at least if we consider racism.
“Global and national political and economic crisis and the spread of access and use of internet based media platforms have heightened the generation and concern about hate speech in recent years. According to a report, occurrence of hate speech increases in correlation with: “increasing broadband, access, increasing migration flows; electoral campaigns, national tragedies like terrorist attacks; and worsening economic conditions. The report goes on to observe that, “indeed, the web 2.0, social networks, and the “Culture of comments” have led to an exponential increase in user-generated digital content as well as in opportunities for people to interact online. As a consequence, hate speech online has found more ground for expression than in the past,’” he said.
He however noted the low quality of presentations and discussion programs on various radio and television stations as a development not too healthy for the system.
“Everybody is now writing and talking on all kinds of things. On the television, you would find all kinds of talk show by people with little or no training. Of course when you go on social media you find all manner,” he said, adding that, “The political and economic situation are also contributory factors to the hate speech. There is a problem about what we understand about hate speech. The definition is increasing. There are so many definition. For instance someone said any form of expression that can be considered to be offensive, it can be very broad.
“The definition in Europe is informed by the happenings in Europe and their experience. Their definition has been colored by their history. The definition has never been stable its been expansive. What are the problem of hate speech apart from the fact that it is very difficult to define it.”
Oso also noted that, “There are lots of laws that can actually take care of hate speech. What is national interest? National interest is an instrument of the elite according to one of my lecturers Professor Akin Oyebode. We don’t have consensus about anything in Nigeria. The police sees national security from the point of view of securing the ruling class. They even prefer to exploit us than secure us. Hate speech is just an emotional reaction.”
In his own reaction, representative of the Director of the International Press Centre, Mr. Lanre Arogundade added that the politicians enjoy so much immunity.
“We all know that as long as you are in power you have immunity. The governors are protected by the immunity clause, who will arrest them? As long as you are in power you have immunity there is no body that will be bold enough to arrest them. They would say he is in power now, when he is out of power we would prosecute him,” he said.
He however remembered a promise of former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions, Nuhu Ribadu who once compiled names of corrupt governors.
“I was at an event at the MUSON Centre where Nuhu Ribadu said the names of all corrupt ex-governors are here we would prosecute them after their tenure but nothing has happened.
“Of course legislators have immunity on whatever they say on the floor of the house so at the end of the day it is you and I that would be prosecuted,” he said.
Also at the event, Lagos State Director of the National Orientation Agency, Mr. Waheed Ishola enjoined Nigerians to participate in the electoral process in order to elect credible representatives.
“Someone said this proposed Bill is dead on arrival. I think it is good that discuss is going on about this issue and I charge the Civil Society organisations to continue to discuss it to see the need whether it is important or not or whether it is going to be another set of law to bring the electorate into problem,” he said.
Ishola added that, “The law is to be made by the legislatures and it is left for the President to assent to it. I think we still have a long way to go. Like someone said legislation should not be left for those who don’t have the capacity. 2019 is ahead and it is left for us to choose our representatives.
“I have been part of the election process since the inception of democracy and we must collectively enthrone the kind of leadership we want. If you seat on the fence you have yourself to blame. You see people who pretend to be comrades when envelopes are exchange and they change the tune, when it is time to take our country back all of us must be involved,” he said.
Concluding, he said, “We must ensure the kind of leadership we want. Until then we would not be able to have people who are credible. If we sit on the fence then we would have ourselves to blame.”
In his own comment, President, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Malachy Ugwummadu sees nothing wrong with the legislatures making laws.
According to him the three tiers of government should carry out their constitutional responsibilities since democracy rests on the three.
“The Judiciary is not meant to interfere with the legitimate discharge of the functions of the other arms of the government. In other words you can’t stop them,,” he said, advising that, “What you can do is to challenge the validity of the law whether the constitution has been vandalized. What we are doing now is the sensitization process that galvanizes the people to prepare for litigation. You can’t stop their duty of legislation what you can do is to challenge it.”
Comparing the Nigerian legislative arm of government with their counterparts in some African countries, Ugwummadu demands more engaging and intellectual discuss on the floor of the National Assembly.
“When you try to juxtapose the legislature with the member of the legislative arm of government with what goes on outside the shores of this country, go to Ghana, Botswana and Kenya and see the quality of debate and the enthusiasm, zest and energy the legislatures use in their debate, you will know they are thinking legislatures,” he said.
