The Nigerian Social Media is the last and only standing lifeline not just for democracy but for our right to life. If we lose it, we will have lost everything.
The two atrocious bills (1) Social Media bill and (2) Hate speech bill sponsored by two separate Senators both from Niger state must not be allowed to become law.
If the HATE SPEECH Bill which prescribes DEATH BY HANGING for hate speech makes it through second reading in the rubber stamp Senate, WE ARE DOOMED! Remember, HATE SPEECH IS WHAT THE GOVT SAYS IT IS. For example, if Fumlani herdsmen invade a village killing men, women and children with govt sponsored impunity, and you, a victim of the attack comes on social media to blame the herdsmen, the govt controlled by the same people could accuse you of Hate Speech and seeing as our Judiciary is now ‘achikota ekwee onu’ (a joke), they will effortlessly convict you and the punishment is hanging, according to the bill.
In the process of passing a bill into law, first reading is more like the introduction of the bill which almost always doesn’t require debate on the content of the bill. The real work begins at the second reading when every Senator is expected to have been gifted with a copy of the bill which they must have read before debating it. And seeing as we use the primitive and archaic “yes” and “nays” here as against electronic voting, it is very easy for a pliant Senate President to say something like “the nays have it” even if the “yes” shouted the loudest. It is also so easy for one idiot with the voice of comedian “Broda Shaggi” to raise his voice loud enough to confuse a sincere Senate President into making the wrong conclusion. It becomes worse when you realize that Ahmed Lawan, the current Senate President has never hidden his desire to keep his head and that of the entire Senate as an institution eternally buried in the poo-poo hole of the daura ex soldier who lives in the Rock.
The Senate minority leader, distinguished Senator Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, will use everything in his power to TRY to get his colleagues to oppose that atrocious bill just like he promised today on Channels TV show. But the Realist in me knows HE MAY LIKELY FAIL for obvious reasons: Most of the Senators he will be relying on to oppose the bill are former governors, deputy governors, ministers etc. And reasonable number of them are into govt contracts. Which means, they have one dirty file or the other hanging around their necks. Knowing how this govt uses state agencies to achieve unholy selfish aim, we know how the EFCC will be used to force their hands. And for the very few clean ones amongst them (if they exist), all it takes is a heavy dose of monetary inducement. This is basically how the Executive right from the Obasanjo time controls the legislature. With someone like Ahmed Lawan, Buhari may not even need to go to the above length. So you see why I said Abaribe may most likely fail? This is where we must appreciate Saraki/Ekweremadu leadership in the last Senate.
The only people that can stop these political Bandits is the Nigerian people through constant social media shouting, Facebook and twitter trends which will involve tagging major international media houses and embassies plus credible foreign organizations. And peaceful street protests which, of course, the repressive security forces will clamp down on but it will create the necessary attention. I would have suggested releasing the phone numbers of all Nigerian Senators for a protest calls and text messages but considering our ethnic cleavages, I don’t know how that will play out.
Lastly, this is not the time to mock Sowore or anyone being detained by this lawless govt or those protesting for their release even if they were ex-Buharists. If we must survive this, we must rise above such mawkish emotional sentimentality and see this evil for the whirlwind it really is. Ask yourself, if they could treat their former allies this way, what will they do to you who has been their enemy from Adam? As they ask in the street, death wey kpai Alhaji, wetin im go do to Almajiri?
In life, unforeseen circumstances play a big role in the affairs of man. No matter how perfect these evil men think their plans are, Natural forces can still scuttle it all. So somehow, I hope and pray that unforeseen circumstances will work in our favor here but before then, we must do what we can on our own.
Charles Ogbu
