A Law against Hate Speech?
Students of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, have been roaming the streets for almost four months due to a lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of the university. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, so goes a popular saying. Some of the students have become nuisance in their various communities due to this prolonged closure. Students who ought to have graduated, as well as returning and newly-admitted students are roaming on the streets. Some may not return if the school eventually reopens. Children of Ekiti State elites, including those of Governor Ayodele Fayose, don’t attend this school. This is why the crisis has remained for this long. If the closure persists, the students may miss a whole semester. My dear Fayose, I am disappointed that you have allowed this crisis to fester. I care less about your previous intervention because it did not yield fruit. You must intervene pragmatically, by addressing issues bothering on improved staff welfare and under-funding of the university. These are the problems keeping away the lecturers. Four of them are already dead due to irregular salary. The Chairman of ASUU in the university, Prof. Olufayo Olu, confirmed that the teachers are owed huge backlog of salaries and allowances. Its wage bill of N455 million, in relation to the N260 million monthly subventions from the government is preposterous. As a result, facilities in this university are in a sorry state. The school is often left in darkness. The management can’t even guarantee regular power supply due to inadequate funding.
My beloved Fayose, it is clear that your government can no longer fund Ekiti State University properly. This is a reality that you must face. I am sure that you must have read a bit about university autonomy. You must allow this university to run autonomously, and charge fees that would cover its operating cost. Your government can then offer bursaries and scholarship to students from financially-challenged homes. This is the global standard and the only way forward for this university. Nigeria is miles behind in this regard. Fayose, you must lead this change with Ekiti State University.
The bill sponsored by Senate Spokesperson, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi
purportedly to curtail so-called hate speech is evidently a planned assault on free speech by people who do not really understand how democracy and the rule of law work. Just imagine a proposal of capital punishment for hate speech offenders? This will be a very good tool in the hands of despots. This Hate Speech Bill is a product of evil. We must all rise against this evil bill. All men of goodwill and lovers of democracy in the National Assembly must kill this bill with a sledge hammer. I share the assessments and worries being expressed by the sponsor of this bill but this is surely not how to go about it in a democracy.
Shuaibu Usman Leman, the National Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalist puts it pertinently: “It is instructive to note that citizens are entitled to free speech even if they hold offensive and hurtful opinions. We also cannot forget that people have the right to be biased, even offensive in their speech, even if journalism is different, and we have to be aware of this. It is therefore our considered opinion that it is pertinent to avoid such pitfalls in our bid to come up with legislations to curtail the excesses of citizens.”
These are words of wisdom and in agreement with global best practice. I believe that the National Assembly is largely composed of distinguished men who would not allow a treacherous bill of this nature to sail through. The sponsor of the bill, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, is obviously high on something and needs to purge himself. Only God knows what he took.