November 2019
The National Assembly and the Presidency have been working on a bill to criminalize hate speech across the country. This came barely a week after the Senate introduced another bill to regulate social media. One can only wonder if these leaders want to completely erode our freedom.
While people should truly not allow hate-filled conversations fueled by tribal or political sentiments, the Federal Government’s definition of hate speech has always been about ‘opposition or dissent.’ So, this bill means that whatever contradicts or criticizes the government may be considered hate speech.
The bill is backed by those who do not like to hear the inconvenient truth because it breaches Nigerians’ right to freedom of information.
The contemplation of such laws is in itself not just hate speech, but an abuse of the legislative process that will violate Nigerians’ constitutionally guaranteed right to Freedom of Speech.
More interesting is the fact that one of the senators sponsoring the social media bill, Elisha Abbo, was dragged over the internet this year after a video showing him assaulting a woman for no reason was made public online.
It is prudent to build upon the tolerance inherited from those years and not shrink the democratic space to satisfy personal and group interests. We must prioritize our challenges ahead of the whims and caprices of those who do not like to hear the inconvenient truth. Stop this folly and focus on issues that matter to Nigerians.
There are more important issues affecting the population. Police brutality; corruption, wrongful or false arrests; poor laws governing electricity use; vague or weak labour laws, especially in the private sector amongst other challenges affect the average Nigerian more than what is said on social media.
Instead of our legislators to aggressively chase a law that can toss us back into the military era, a better bill to sponsor and discuss would be the one that would protect the rights of the average Nigerian and improve the quality of his life.
Such legislation like the social media bill only make Nigeria a laughing stock in front of the world. We can’t boast to be in a democracy or a place where there is rule of law, with all these anomalies in place. If the National Assembly continues its anti-people legislation at this pace, we may end up as a fascist nation by 2023.
The lawmakers have to put a stop to these actions that only make a joke of our democracy. Nigerians don’t want an authoritarian government, not before, and definitely, not now.
Following the burial of Mr Corruption March 23rd, 2019 by Citizens for Righteousness and Social Justice (CRJ) which is the Best Way to Go fighting injustices and raising Anti Corruption Crusaders, pulling out the oxygen keeping Mr Corruption permanently dead for a Better Nigeria by enacting a bill that will make Corruption to carry death penalty in Nigeria and not a hate speech.
Sharing is Caring please kindly forward others for a Better Nigeria.
The People's Bishop Kenneth Obi, Edo COGIC Prelate. Advocate of Humanity and Social Justice.
The People's Bishop Kenneth Obi, Edo COGIC Prelate and Chairman, Citizens for Righteousness and Social Justice (CRJ) Imo State._
Earlier in August, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) beamed a searchlight on some members of the National Assembly over the utilisation of funds for constituency projects. Senators Godswill Akpabio and Isa Misau were at the centre of that petition.
While that was an excellent move, mismanagement of public funds needs to be taken more seriously than this. If we decide to wait for petitions before we checkmate the excesses of many lawmakers, such funds will continue ending up in their pocket.
Corroborating this, the Executive Director of Divine Era Development & Social Rights Initiative (DEDASRI), Oge Enwelum, said civil society organisations (CSOs) are all calling for the establishment of such panel.
She narrated how, during a recent community constituency project tracking conducted by the ICPC in partnership the CSOs, what they could count as constituency projects did not justify the huge expenditure.
She said: “During the field visits, we discovered a lot of abandoned projects across the state and also in other states where the ICPC works. So, we designed this particular programm to bring onboard communities to participate in taking ownership and monitoring constituency projects in their area. We discovered during the visits that the people didn’t have the idea of what constituency projects are all about.
“Once a project comes to their communities, they take it that it is a favour from the representatives; they don’t know that the projects are Federal Government money and they feel they don’t have any stake about that particular project.”
According to Enwelum, they were shocked by a discovery in one of the senatorial zones of Enugu State, where the senator allegedly locked up materials meant for constituency projects in his compound for almost a year, stressing that the intervention saw to their distribution.
She also lamented that, in siting constituency projects, community needs were not taken into account, adding that the engagement would enable communities to demand accountability from their representatives as well as tackle those social norms that promote corruption.
There’s only enough that the community can do. They can’t know when funds for constituency projects were disbursed, except when the lawmakers tell them. So, watchdogs like the ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have significant roles to play in ensuring that these funds are put to good use.
They should set up a joint panel to track the funds from the point of disbursement to execution. It should date back to previous National Assemblies, and ensure that each lawmaker explains how the funds were utilized. And when they couldn’t, they should all cough out the funds.
Following the burial of Mr Corruption March 23rd, 2019 Citizens for Righteousness and Social Justice (CRJ) is calling for the masses of Nigeria to wake up from Slumbering and demand accountability from there constituencies leadership to end suffering and smiling in Nigeria.
Sharing is Caring please kindly forward others for a Better Nigeria.
_The People's Bishop Kenneth Obi, Edo COGIC Prelate and Chairman, Citizens for Righteousness and Social Justice (CRJ) Imo State.
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