Skip to main content

HATE SPEECH BILL:  A REPETITION OF EXTANT LAWS.

By - Idorenyin Inoh




It is no longer news that the Senate which is the only arm of government that represent the voices of over 180 million Nigerians is trying to gauge the flow of information and simultaneously duplicate other EXTANT laws .

The defamation law, sedition law, official secret act etc.  are all in active service. The notion to gauge information flow under the pretext of hate speech is undemocratic, unjustifiable and as well a mockery on the judiciary because what constitutes hate speech should be defined by a competent court of jurisdiction.

If one is defamed or faces character assassination, the way forward is to Head to Court. Using the perimeters of hate speech to send citizens to their early graves is demonic and lacks moral justification.

If the hate speech bill come to stay as a law, it will be an international embarrassment on the image of Nigeria as a sovereign nation.

The establishment of Hate Speech act will show the return of dictatorship rule. As a democratic entity.  Whatever that seeks to work against democratic tenants should be eschewed by both those at corridors of power and private citizens.

Howbeit, if the Senate really wants to regulate the system, the ball is in their court by ensuring all the components of Nigeria works effectively this will reduce hate speech. 

This components are power, good and motorable roads, viable aviation industry,  quality water for human consumption, transparent electoral process at all tiers of government, local government autonomy, state of the art educational system. Strong military system with updated weaponry, every entity of Nigeria should be well represented etc.
Summarily, the Hate Speech bill is against  democratic principles and as far as the libertarian and democratic participant theory of the press is concerned there is no locu-standi.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DON'T LEAVE WHEN IT IS TOO LATE.

The story . Udauk was too weak to continue with the evening chores around the house because of her pregnancy. She bent over the kitchen cabinet in search of a tuber of yam she was to prepare before her husband returned from work. At the point of stretching her hands to reach the tuber of yam under the cabin, she felt a sharp pain down her abdomen. Her left lap was swollen from the beating she got the previous night from the monster's husband. She was still short of three months from her due month. That's when she was to put to birth. The shape pain was accompanied by a loud scream. She dropped the knife she had with her and tried to settle on a table-size stool lying close to the gas cylinder in the kitchen, but she couldn't. She fell and started screaming, reached out to her phone, and dialed her husband. Mr. Sam had branched  Madam G's Native Kitchen to settle for a while before heading home as his habit demands. He was busy at his usual joint with a bottle of chill
2 comments
Read more
Social Media: Are we swallowed by it? It is alarming yet no longer news the rate of social media usage since the turn of the millennium. Social Media has become a tool in nearly every 9/ 10 persons we meet everyday of our lives. In fact it is estimated that youth particularly engaged in social Media taking 8/9 hours a day out of the 24hrs. Without doubt, social media has come to enhance and add more meaning to our daily life. Since the advent of social media in the early part of the millennium, the rate people get involve in these wonderful platforms keep increasing on a daily basis. To some youth and some fraction of older people, social media is like oxygen. They can't stay a moment without. A lady once said that she can't stay without visiting her Facebook page in a day. With the number of people flooding the Social media on per second basis, one will wonder if these technology has any bad effect at all. Millions of people use social media as it is the trend now,
2 comments
Read more

TILL DEATH DO US APART

 The story.  She wanted to fix this once and for all. She felt it was her obligation and responsibility to try and fix her marriage. It is true that when love can no longer sustain the marriage, commitment,  and sense of responsibility does. This was Elma's concern. Though things were never what she expected, especially after having an affair with her personal assistant, she felt she could rekindle the love and bring her home. Shutting the door of the penthouse behind Mark her boyfriend, Elma warned him never to call again, not when she was trying to fix her home and get back with her husband. After Mark drove off, Elma took a step backward from where she was, fell on the bed and sobbed profusely. It was hard for her to see him leave. In the past six months of knowing Mark, he made her feel loved again and provided her a shoulder to cry on. He made her forget the horrors George her husband made her pass through in the last three years.  Elma left the penthouse that night driving wi
3 comments
Read more