Former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has weighed in on the controversial Hate Speech Bill, saying nobody can Muzzle Nigerians and deny them freedom of speech.
General Babangida pointed out that there was even no basis for the bill which has passed the second reading in the Senate insisting that no one can deny Nigerians their fundamental rights.
Babangida spoke in his Minna Uphill residence when he received visiting National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chief Christopher Isiguzo.
The Protection from Internet Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill and the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches Bill were recently introduced in the Senate.
Babangida recalled that a similar bill was presented before the eighth National Assembly and he advised against it.
Meanwhile Proponent of the Bill Deputy Chief Whip Senator Abdullahi Sabi maintains that defamation and libel are grossly inadequate to address instances of Hate Speech in its form.
He argues that parliaments across the world have identified Hate Speech as a new threat that dehumanises and targets individuals and groups and also threatens peace in a diversified society.
He stated that the parliament assembly of the council of Europe with 47 member organisations in a report identified threats posed by hate speech to include exclusion among minority groups, alienation, marginalisation, emergence of parallel societies and ultimately raducalisation.
The lawmakers warned that these are present features in the Nigerian equation which if not tackled with a hate speech bill may become a far greater problem leading to implosion of the country.
(C) Control TV 2019.
