Hate speech is a statement, words or any action which seeks to attack a person or group of persons on the basis of attributes; such as Race, Religion, Ethnicity, Sexuality, Disability, or Gender, as a result of some behaviours been portrayed by the people or group of people of which the hate speech is directed to.
Over time, Nigerian government have been making different moves to ban what they called "Hate Speech". How well is this for Democracy? Can hate speech be avoided in a Country like Nigeria? All these and more we discussed with our Guest on our one and one interview.
Our Guest- Mr. Peter Chukwuma is a Political strategist and Public Administrator. According to him, he believed Hate Speech may not be total avoided in a Country like Nigeria. "In the Nigerian Politics, different people occupy different positions and they might not be of the same Gender, Tribe or Religion. Freedom of speech should be a welcome idea in such a Country that practices a 'Federal' system of government, characterized by Democracy, which has the attribute of 'Freedom of speech'. Nothing is hate speech to me; once a comment doesn't favour one party, such party at the receiving end will call it hate speech," he said.
Mr. Chukwuma said there should always be a room for freedom of speech in which may sometimes be tagged as "good speech" or hate speech"
He took us down the memory lane, "The Federal Republic of Nigeria, commonly referred to as Nigeria, is a federal republic in West Africa. comprising 36 states and the FCT; officially, she is a democratic secular Country.
"Modern-day Nigeria has been the site of numerous kingdoms and tribal states over the millennia. Nigeria, the most populous African Country (with a population of over 200 million in 2021), is equally divided between Christianity and Islam, though the exact ratio is uncertain. There is also a growing population of non-religious Nigerians who accounted for the remaining 5 percent. In line with these, many people will like to express their views on different political issues, which may sometimes lead to fracas, brouhaha and others by different parties and will be settled amicably."
He said hate speech had also exited during the military era, where Citizens have no freedom of Speech. "During the Military regimes In Nigeria, all was characterized by the absence of freedom of speech. No citizen was allowed to contribute his or her own quota to the development of the Country. Majority of the rights of the citizens were abolished.
"Some government levels are not in support of hate speech from the citizens, thinking that it might jeopardize the togetherness of the Country, while some think that it is valueless. Notwithstanding ,there are so many importance attached to citizens' speech." He added.
He listed some of the importance of speech freedom to include: Fosters good relationship between the government and the governed; It brings about Public opinion which helps government to know the views and ideas of citizens on different issues. According to him, he said if this is allowed, the government will be advised on what to do and it will bring even development in the Country.
He also added "...government that listen to its Citizens will always have the trust and support of the citizens who make the Electorates."
Mr. Chukwuma categorized Speech into two types, namely: Hate and Commendation. He also said Government can not only welcome Commendations at all time, "...such government should be prepared to receive negative ones to tell government of its bad policies. One can not say 'vox populi' should stop, because out of the citizens' views and opinions, a good government builds on," he added.
He went further to say government do not tolerate hate speech these days. "It is obvious nowadays that government do not want to listen to the electorate's voice. Most especially, the present administration led by Muhammadu Buhari. Out of hate speech, we see important speech that will be of good benefits to any government. Different parties can criticize government policies.
"In recent years, non- governmental organizations like the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Labour Congress, Activist Groups, among others do work like Pressure Groups to criticize government policy that seemed unpleasant to the citizens, thereby forcing government to amend, so as to make better policies and such government would harkened to them. But nowadays, government do not seem to listen to those groups' demands again"
The Public Administrator added that In every Democratic Country like Nigeria, speech of any kind should be welcomed, in as much there is Multiparty system, different religious, different Ethnic background, "...our views can't be the same," he said.
Daily News Report also sampled his opinion on Government treating hate speech as terrorism case.
In his response, he said government should try to listen to the peoples' voices to know what they have to say; he said with hate speech, many Nigerians will be voiceless.
As an alternative to curbing hate speech among the citizens, he said "More considerations should be on the masses so as to know their problems and ways to tackle them, adequate care should be provided for the people too.
"Moreover, in lieu of treating hate speech as terrorism as proclaimed by this present administration, adequate hearing should be made available for any hate speech victim because without a reason, a dog can not just bark and for every nonsense, there is always an iota of sense. "
To him, he believed if government actions and policies are humane to the people, Citizens will not have the cause to send negative comments to government at all time. He also charged the citizens and the media to stop sharing fake news around, so as to promote a healthy Democracy.
He added " Democracy can only strive under freedom of speech, while government should carry the people along in its policies, Citizens too much he ready to help government and stop spreading fake news"
He concluded that if government did not seek to the welfarism of Nigerians before fighting on hate speech, many Nigerians will be affected and voiceless.
"Government should cater for its Citizens first, unless this present administration wants to generate money through hate speech, perhaps crude oil has failed them, because the Presidency has said Hate speech would be treated as terrorism and such person would pay a million naira fine or serve jail terms." He added.