Skip to main content

Hate Crime Bill: A Senate Of Fools, Blockheads, Ignoramuses And Idiots By Bayo Oluwasanmi

Bayo Oluwasanmi

 

Nigeria’s Senate is one of fools, blockheads, Ignoramuses, and idiots.

Yes, of course I know this description of Nigerian Senate by a Nigerian is offensive to some, maybe more than some people. Nonetheless, it is true. The Senate is made up of callous, indifferent, stupid fools, who keep silent in the face of tyranny while Nigerians are dying every day.

What do you expect from a Senate of fools, blockheads, ignoramuses, and idiots whose membership is made up of 99.99 per cent thieves, crooks, and rogues than to waste our resources on a bill that will make hate crime punishable by death.

The hate speech bill is resurrection of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ancient Decree 4. Buhari as military dictator was widely unpopular for his Decree 4. Decree 4 was a draconian piece of legislation that allowed Buhari and military leaders to imprison any journalist, who embarrassed them. The hate speech bill is a nebulous bill aimed at muzzling the press and civil society.

Let me remind the blockhead senators that there is no need for the hate speech bill because we have enough laws to deal with hate speech crimes. I invite them to read sections 59-60, 373-381 of the Criminal Code (applicable to the Southern states) and sections 391-40, 417-418 of the Penal Code (applicable in the Northern states). The Cyber Crime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 enacted by the National Assembly deals with the use of social media to promote bigotry and hatred in society.

The hate speech bill will restrict or abridge free speech of Nigerians. It’s a bill based on viewpoint, an egregious form of content discrimination, which is unconstitutional. The constitution does not entrust freedom of speech to the benevolence of Buhari or senators or any government official.

The hate speech bill sponsored by Senator Abdullahi Sabi Aliyu (Niger North) prescribes death by hanging for anyone found guilty of hate speech. The bill will create the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech. The bill passed first reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

If hate speech law was enacted between 2012 and 2014, President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that “blood of dogs and baboons will flow” after losing three presidential elections, would have earned him death sentence. Same goes for the Kaduna midget, who called for body bags for foreign observers during the 2015 elections. Lai Mohammed and other All Progressives Congress’ leaders would not have escaped the guillotine.

The campaign mounted by Buhari and senators to enact a law on hate speech is a deflection from serious national issues that cry for urgent solutions viz: restructure, job creation, security, hunger, healthcare, infrastructure, housing, criminal justice. And many more. The hate speech law won’t fly... bring it on!

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Bayo Oluwasanmi Disable advertisements : 

from All Content
via

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis : 

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi