Institute charges govs, CSOs on hate speech

The Institute for Peace and conflict Resolution (IPCR) has urged state governments to stem the spread of hate speech through grassroots campaign.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja at a media parley to mark the 2017 UN International Day of Peace in Nigeria, IPCR Director General, Prof. Oshita Oshita, said apart from social media, grass-root is where hate speech persists.

The conference was jointly organised by IPCR, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) among others.

“The spread of falsehood and hate speech via social media platform is creating and digging imaginary fault lines between people and communities, undermining human respect, safety and dignity across the country,” he said.

Oshita said that there was also need to work with the Civil Society Organsations (CSOs) to reach out to the grass-root population to completely stem the trend.

He said that the agency, apart from the early warning centres created to stem the agitation, had also engaged with CSOs and other stakeholders.

He enjoined Nigerians to be systematic in the way they go about achieving their desired change.

Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Maihaja, who stressed the importance of living together in peace and harmony, said the UN Day of Peace was to campaign against prevailing violence in parts of the world.