Ekiti Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has cautioned the federal government
\nover its categorisation of hate speeches to act of terrorism, \u201cThis
\nappears as another plot to silence the opposition and I make bold to
\nsay that saying the truth concerning the country and its rulers cannot
\nbe termed as hate speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
The governor, who accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the
\nnumber one promoter and beneficiary of hate speeches in the country,
\nnoted that; \u201cWhen the APC was looking for power, several provocative
\nstatements were made.\u00a0 Nigerians are yet to forget President Muhammadu
\nBuhari\u2019s \u2018the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood\u2019 hate
\nspeeches and the threat by the APC to form a parallel government.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Friday, by his Special Assistant
\non Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor
\nFayose, who said he was totally against hate speech and will support
\nany effort to curb it, added that it was important to caution the
\nfederal government on the danger inherent in the blanket
\ncategorisation of hate speech as treasonable.<\/p>\n
He said \u201ceven if the APC government is sincere with its new found
\nhatred for hate speeches, the APC government must first apologise to
\nNigerians for being the number one promoter and beneficiary of hate
\nspeech.\u201d<\/p>\n
The governor counselled that rather than blanket criminalising of hate
\nspeeches, the federal government should embark on reorientation of
\nNigerians, especially the youths on the consequences of hate speeches
\nto the unity of the country and restore the confidence of the people
\nin the government.<\/p>\n
The statement read; \u201cI wish to express concern over the pronouncement
\nof the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo that hate speech will
\nhenceforth be treated as terrorism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I am totally against hate speech and will support any effort to
\ncurb it, it is important to caution the federal government on the
\ndanger inherent in the blanket categorisation of hate speech as
\ntreasonable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI make bold to say that saying the truth concerning the country and
\nits rulers cannot be termed as hate speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only hope Nigeria is not being systematically returned to the
\ncolonial days when the law of sedition was used to jail many of those
\nwho fought for our independence or the era of Buhari\u2019s military regime
\nwhen the notorious Public Officers (Protection against False
\naccusation) Decree 4 of 1984 was used to jailTunde Thompson and
\nNdukaIrabor, both of The Guardian newspapers for publishing what the
\ngovernment termed as false.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost importantly, going by the APC government\u2019s use of the so-called
\nanti-corruption fight to harass, intimidate, arrest and detain
\nopposition figures, there is no doubt that categorising whatever that
\nis termed as hate speech as act of terrorism is unconstitutional and
\nan attempt to gag Nigerians, especially the press.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should therefore not be seen that since the use of corruption to
\nharass, arrest and detain opposition figures is no longer fashionable,
\nhate speech will now be another instrument of oppression to be used
\nagainst opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe questions that must be answered by the federal government are;
\nwhat constitutes hate speech andwho determines it? Has the Presidency
\nbecomes law unto itself such that it is now the one to determine what
\nis an offense and what punishment to be applied?<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom all intent and purposes, the Acting President pronouncement
\nwhich is obviously not backed by any legislation is an attempt to
\nprovide reasons for an impending clampdown on opposition and Nigerians
\nwill resist any attempt to mortgage their fundamental rights to
\nfreedom of expression under the guise of hate speeches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the APC was looking for power, several provocative statements were
\nmade.
\nNigerians are yet to forget President Buhari\u2019s \u201cthe dog and the baboon
\nwould all be soaked in blood\u201d hate speeches and the threat by the APC
\nto form a parallel government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can be more treasonable than these statements made by President
\nBuhari and his party?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also on record that during the 2011 election campaign,
\nPresident Buhari\u2019s inciting statement led to widespread violence by
\nhis supporters in the North after he lost. Over 1000 people were
\nslaughtered in cold blood, including innocent National Youth Service
\nCorp members.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, even if the APC government is sincere with its new found
\nhatred for hate speeches, the APC government must first apologise to
\nNigerians for being the number one promoter and beneficiary of hate
\nspeech.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, rather than this blanket criminalising of hate speeches, the
\nfederal government should embark on reorientation of Nigerians,
\nespecially the youths on the consequences of hate speeches to the
\nunity of the country while the confidence of the people in the
\ngovernment (at all levels) must be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ekiti Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has cautioned the federal government over its categorisation of hate speeches to act of terrorism, \u201cThis appears as another plot to silence the opposition and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n