At each moment in time, I have at least twenty draft comments and opinions on current issues in my smart phone, my workhorse. Because I often tire of hearing my own voice, I do not pursue all of them, to bring them to the public domain. Let us take this example.
The Acting President recently summoned the media chiefs and gave them the marching orders to stifle "hate speech" on their platforms, and to desist from publishing same. On the surface, that was a noble gesture. I leave it to the reader to deduce whether that stand was aimed ONLY at IPOB. Then again what was the jamboree worth? Find below an exerpt from the opinion which I wrote a forthright ago. There has been no urgency on my part since I feel like I am talking to the deaf.
HATE SPEECH, NATIONAL UNITY & SECURITY
Hate speeches and "divisiveness", whatever that means, are the least of our problems. For crying out loud, Nigerians need to feel and actually be equal and safe, if not in far away South Africa, at least IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
Hate speeches and "divisiveness", whatever that means, are the least of our problems. For crying out loud, Nigerians need to feel and actually be equal and safe, if not in far away South Africa, at least IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY.
Did any Igbo man or woman ever collapse and die or his property suddenly went ablaze as a result of the "extreme rhetoric" by the Arewa compatriots? That is why I find it impossible to agree with the new assignment that the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has cut out for himself to convince the press and citizenry to talk more kindly about one another. As for me, so long as my fellow Nigerians abide by the constitutional undertaking to do me no harm, I can absorb all the insults that they may deem proper to heap upon me. In street parlance, "Na dem sabi" In Igbo, "Na aru fa li."
Post Script:
From the records we know that some Ndigbo who were murdered in 1967 in the north had only a day before had a most convivial encounter with their would be murderers - joking, eating, drinking, buying and selling, playing droughts, even visiting each others homes, etc. What then is a hate speech worth if indeed it is all "njakili" with no murderous followup? That's where the government's role comes in. To protect me even if I say the "wrong" thing. All the huffing and puffing by the likes of Tanko Yakassai, Ango Abdullahi, Junaid Mohammed and others, I can take in my stride, IF AND ONLY IF my government can assure me of protection from their murderous knives. Fear those who with a smile on their faces say no ill, but come at you in the dark. That's the Nigeria that we live in.
From the records we know that some Ndigbo who were murdered in 1967 in the north had only a day before had a most convivial encounter with their would be murderers - joking, eating, drinking, buying and selling, playing droughts, even visiting each others homes, etc. What then is a hate speech worth if indeed it is all "njakili" with no murderous followup? That's where the government's role comes in. To protect me even if I say the "wrong" thing. All the huffing and puffing by the likes of Tanko Yakassai, Ango Abdullahi, Junaid Mohammed and others, I can take in my stride, IF AND ONLY IF my government can assure me of protection from their murderous knives. Fear those who with a smile on their faces say no ill, but come at you in the dark. That's the Nigeria that we live in.
No comments:
Post a Comment