Tag Archives: Hate Speech

IBB Condemns Documentary On Buhari

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Former Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has condemned producers of a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP sponsored documentary which he said, denigrated the personality of the All Progressives candidate presidential candidate and former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari.
Babangida, fondly called IBB, lamented that the documentary not only cast aspersion oh Buhari, but tended to bring to disrepute the reputation of other former heads of state including himself, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Abdulsalami Abubakar, and the Late Gen Sani Abacha.
Making reference to a television documentary aired on Tuesday night on a private television network to project President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the presidential election, Babangida noted that the president’s campaigners at the same time poured calumny on some of the country’s former military rulers.
Babangida took strong exception to what he described as the negative imputations put on the integrity and services to the nation by Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Muhammadu Buhari, himself; Ibrahim Babangida, late Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and T.Y Danjuma.
Averring that the sponsors of the documentary which he termed a hate campaign were either intellectually bankrupt or suffering from memory loss; or a combination of both, Babangida referred to his leading role in the formation of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
“For record purposes, and without sounding immodest, the idea of a PDP that has now become the “largest party in Africa” started in my home, here in Minna. With the support of my fellow colleagues, we prepared the way for this democratic process that has now led us to where we are presently. We built the democratic infrastructure and architecture.
“Those who are parading themselves as democrats today, all participated in military governments. As a deliberate principle of remaining unsung, or blowing my own trumpet, I have elected over the years to maintain dignified silence on so many issues concerning Nigeria while I cultivate my access to each sitting President to pass across my advice in whatever form.
“It is on record and this is incontrovertible that the government I ran paraded some of the best brains this country can be proud of. I still remain eternally grateful to those wonderful brains who participated in our government to fashion a new roadmap for re-engineering the country. Some of our policies have remained unsurpassed till date and most of what the country enjoys today was a creation of the military.
“From primary healthcare to good roads, DFRRI, Better Life for Rural Women, housing, river basin authorities, MAMSER, new airports, agricultural development and other economic infrastructure, to mention but a few, were platforms where our interventions were felt. We achieved that much with very slim resources. If we had the several billions of dollars that are flying around today, we would have turned Nigeria to the Dubai of Africa.

Buhari Might Sue NTA & AIT for Hate Speech

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General Muhammadu Buhari , has threatened to take legal action against the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, and the African Independent Television, AIT, for airing hate broadcasts against his personality.

This came on a day the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, warned all broadcasting stations operating in the country to adhere strictly to the provisions of the broadcasting code or risk sanctions.

In a protest letter lodged through the Legal Director of APC Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN, Buhari, insisted that the two television stations must not only retract the “hate documentaries,” but also issue a public apology to him.

Read More: vanguardngr.com

Commission to Compile Records of Hate Speeches in Campaigns

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The National Human Rights Commission, on Tuesday said it had decided to start keeping records of hate speeches and the people who are behind them. “We are going to name and shame them; we will publish them publicly and make sure that they are held accountable through the use of the law enforcement agencies.”

Ben Angwe, the Executive Secretary of the commission, stated this at the Kukah Centre and MacArthur Foundation Roundtable on Hate Speech in Abuja. Represented by Tony Ojukwu, an officer in the commission, Angwe said that freedom of expression allowed individuals to criticise government’s performances but was being abused in the country. He condemned unsavoury utterances by some politicians against their opponents in their campaigns.

He said by using the mechanisms available under the law, people would be discouraged from the use of abusive words in the future. He noted that there were conditions under which freedom of expression could be restricted, especially when it injures the reputations of others.

Angwe said that statements that constituted hate speeches could provoke people to violence, incite them against others’ religions, tribes and standards of life. “We had the issue of violence after the 2011 elections where more than one million Nigerians were affected and properties worth almost N40billion were lost.”

“We cannot afford that at this point in time and that is why all stakeholders are trying to do one thing or the other to prevent the possibility of violence before, during or after the elections,” he said “When you call the opposition cockroaches, pigs or make statements that some people and their religion or ethnic origin are prone to dying in office, you are provoking them.”

He said such statements may not matter to some educated individuals but could provoke illiterate audience to violence. “If you look at the level of literacy in Nigeria, to most trained minds, these things may not mean much but for the untrained minds, it can incite them to violence,” he said. “Until now, nobody is held responsible; people do these things and get away freely.” He said by using the mechanisms available under the law, people would be discouraged from the use of abusive words in the future.

Dr Jideofor Adebe, a Political Scientist and Media Commentator, said the current campaigns in the country were noisy with people competing to have their ways. Adebe noted that campaign speeches in some jurisdictions like the U.S. and the UK, were protected. He said that there were some parameters for knowing when a comment becomes a hate speech in the developed world.  Adebe said such parameters should be applied in the Nigerian context to avoid provocations that could result in violence.

Credit: NAN