These current occupants of Aso Rock seem struggling with a lot at the same time. One of her recent heartaches is the freedom with which Nigerians take advantage of Chapter four, Section 39 of the nation's constitution which posits that,
"Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference".
The failure of this government, through her legislators to enact against social media freedom early in the year is an unforgettable blow too much to forget. In truth, it resorted to section 24 of the Cyber Crime Act of 2015 which reads,
"Any person who, knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer systems or network... (that is/or of) “grossly offensive”... “Menacing character”... commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not more than N7,000, 000.00 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or to both such fine and imprisonment”
In the foregoing references, it is obvious that this government's in-ability to live with criticisms has come to a head. The Jonathan administration may undoubtedly hold a PhD in "Kleptocratic Genomic Contrivance", but the President Buhari led leadership wields the heinous toga of the Communist Party in China and may be tending towards Fascism.
On August ten, 2017, the Zonal Coordinator of the National Broadcasting Commission Mr. Matthew Okoduwa read a riot act, that amongst other breaches of human rights, phone-in programmes on both radio and television stations will cease to be from the first of October, 2017.
He further said #50,000 will be paid by the media house where hate speech emanates and that the cost of such calls will be borne by the media house and not the callers.
It became even ridiculous when he said newspaper reviews can only be aired once in a day, making NBC the owners of the vision and mission of privately owned media houses. Of course i don't expect that you ask me, because federal and state owned media automatically comply.
TELL ME WHERE YOUR VOICE WILL BE ON THE DAY WHEN NIGERIA CELEBRATES HER FIFTY SEVENTH INDEPENDENCE...WHEN TAX PAYERS' MONEY MUST BE 'BLOWN'
We need to remind ourselves, that barely two weeks before President Buhari returned, his Acting "delegate" mooted the discountenance of hate speeches and suggested that Okoduwa's position will be the path on which new feet must tread. Hate speeches are terrible and must never be allowed, but these measure will definitely set us mockingly back.
President Mohammadu Buhari's return speech after 104 days in London also toed the same line. He said and i quote,
"Nigerians are robust and lively in discussing their affairs, but I was distressed to notice that some of the comments, especially in the social media have crossed our national red lines by daring to question our collective existence as a nation. This is a step too far".
Help me to understand please. What are national red lines? What are steps too far?
These are not good signs and until we realize that the canisters upon which our butts are forced upon are releasing combustible smoke, then we are are just content with eating, drinking and making babies whose future seem non-existent; thus repeating a cycle that leaves no indelible mark on the imprints of the enviable fabrics of our world.
"Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference".
The failure of this government, through her legislators to enact against social media freedom early in the year is an unforgettable blow too much to forget. In truth, it resorted to section 24 of the Cyber Crime Act of 2015 which reads,
"Any person who, knowingly or intentionally sends a message or other matter by means of computer systems or network... (that is/or of) “grossly offensive”... “Menacing character”... commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not more than N7,000, 000.00 or imprisonment for a term of not more than 3 years or to both such fine and imprisonment”
In the foregoing references, it is obvious that this government's in-ability to live with criticisms has come to a head. The Jonathan administration may undoubtedly hold a PhD in "Kleptocratic Genomic Contrivance", but the President Buhari led leadership wields the heinous toga of the Communist Party in China and may be tending towards Fascism.
On August ten, 2017, the Zonal Coordinator of the National Broadcasting Commission Mr. Matthew Okoduwa read a riot act, that amongst other breaches of human rights, phone-in programmes on both radio and television stations will cease to be from the first of October, 2017.
He further said #50,000 will be paid by the media house where hate speech emanates and that the cost of such calls will be borne by the media house and not the callers.
It became even ridiculous when he said newspaper reviews can only be aired once in a day, making NBC the owners of the vision and mission of privately owned media houses. Of course i don't expect that you ask me, because federal and state owned media automatically comply.
TELL ME WHERE YOUR VOICE WILL BE ON THE DAY WHEN NIGERIA CELEBRATES HER FIFTY SEVENTH INDEPENDENCE...WHEN TAX PAYERS' MONEY MUST BE 'BLOWN'
We need to remind ourselves, that barely two weeks before President Buhari returned, his Acting "delegate" mooted the discountenance of hate speeches and suggested that Okoduwa's position will be the path on which new feet must tread. Hate speeches are terrible and must never be allowed, but these measure will definitely set us mockingly back.
President Mohammadu Buhari's return speech after 104 days in London also toed the same line. He said and i quote,
"Nigerians are robust and lively in discussing their affairs, but I was distressed to notice that some of the comments, especially in the social media have crossed our national red lines by daring to question our collective existence as a nation. This is a step too far".
Help me to understand please. What are national red lines? What are steps too far?
These are not good signs and until we realize that the canisters upon which our butts are forced upon are releasing combustible smoke, then we are are just content with eating, drinking and making babies whose future seem non-existent; thus repeating a cycle that leaves no indelible mark on the imprints of the enviable fabrics of our world.
No comments:
Post a Comment