Hate speech, death sentence and the Nigeria senate

Life is is a paradox. Human mostly focuses on seemingly irrelevant by vigorously attacking the ringworm in their bodies while leaving leprosy that is ravaging the same body. For majority of  Nigerians, life has become hell of a place. To eat once or twice a day is  a big issue. People in authority  who should focus attention on this will rather make a mountain out of the molehills, pressing for activities with less values.

If this is not the truth, how does one explain the justification  for the Nigerian Senate’s  reintroduction of  a bill that will regulate the use of social media in the country with such severe punishment? While there be may element of reason in the bill, the thought of a capital punishment for offenders beat one’s imagination. In a time capital punishment for stiffer offences are being campaigned against.

What are the issues in this misguided bill tagged ‘Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill 2019’?

Is there anything special in this bill that the existing social media bill cannot handle? Why the need for suggesting  the creation of a full government agency? In a country where funding has become a major challenge.

What is the problem with our thinking which believes the more the merrier instead of a keen look at necessity, relevance and financial expediency? What will this new proposed Agency for hate speech do that the ailing National orientation Agency and other agencies within Ministry of information as well as communications cannot do?

Before the thought of this bill, has the sponsored done a good research to ascertain the problems and best solutions instead of coming to the public glare to start something capable of destroying himself and the government he  is serving?  Did he, Sen. Mohammed Sani Musa, widely consulted with his constituency before sponsoring this bill or he just woke up from the blue to seek a popularity contest?

No one argues against regulating social media as its use has some inherent disadvantages. Given this, has he checked what obtains in western environment where  the problem is much pronounced?  Regulation are going towards calling on the platform owners to pull down hateful and offensive materials. Nothing close to the suggestion of death by hanging. One wonders who are our senator’s advisers.

Each has retinue. What are the advisers paid for?  We do know some of  them(officials) are heady and will not listen to any aide yet they hire aides  in droves like a polygamist with an insatiable urge for women will acquire more.

If truly the aim of the bill is to  curb fake news on the internet, there are other potent answers to doing this right. There is presently a Media and Information literacy (MIL) project undertake by United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization which can handle all vices in this regard. The document already  produced is rich enough to handle hate speech and other internet vices if properly executed.

While not empower National orientation Agency, or may be any other, to learn and inculcate the tenets of this MIL’S  document through proper education, mobilizations among other identified methods to address this issue? We are a nation which never search for existing knowledge but is bent on recreating or reinventing the wheel where there is a  better way of doing things with ease.

I mean consider the level of wastage the scarce resource will go through if this bill is passed. Hundreds of staff will be needed, offices will  be rented or built at the nation’s capital and regional locations. Cars will be bought, budgets must be yearly allocated etc This is just  to combat hate speech. Meanwhile several diseases and other epidemics are silently killing children and adults in our villages and no one cares.

The voice of the people may be the voice of the the god in this instance. As expected, there had been outcry. One will be grateful if the path of reasoning is followed. A minister in the cabinet  had also said, hate speech bill may be unnecessary and hasty for now.

We can only wait for the Nigerian Senate to do the needful. But Senator Musa Sani’s name may continue to ring bell on the internet for months after.