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Hate
Speech /heɪt.ˈspiːtʃ/
What exactly is hate
speech, that has now gained national acclaim?
You must have heard that
the Nigerian Senate has introduced a Bill that seeks not only to criminalise
hate speech but also to prosecute anyone whose hate speech results in the death
of another person. And here's the grind: If found "guilty" they SHALL
DIE BY HANGING.
Well, I have no intention,
whatsoever, to fault the Upper Chamber of the Nigerian Legislature on this,
after all, the statutory business of the Distinguished Senators and their
Honourable "cousins" is to make laws (good laws, I should quickly
add) for the good of all.
But how do you then define
what this latest Bill is? I mean the anti hate speech Bill? When the
powers-that-be in our dearly beloved country, now very ill from years of abject
neglect, raise the battle cry over hate speech, their own defined hate speech,
I mean, I expect it to provoke a national debate on who defines hate speech and
what constitutes hate speech for proper and unambiguous elucidation. As it
stands today, should we allow the government, particularly the one at the
centre that continues to flounder over policies of state, determine the
definition of hate speech, namely to give it their own definition?
As I ponder over this, it
became compelling for me to undertake a study on the global meaning of the
compound word that is soon to carry the death sentence and raise a certain
class of modern day hangmen. And here's what I turned up on Wikipedia:
"Hate speech is
speech which attacks a person or group on the basis of attributes such as race,
religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, or gender.
"In the law of some
countries, hate speech is described as speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or
display which is forbidden because it incites violence or prejudicial action
against a "protected group", or individual on the basis of their
membership of the group, or because it disparages or intimidates a
"protected group", or individual on the basis of their membership of
the group. The law may identify a "protected group" by certain
characteristics."
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Looking at the definition
and explanation above, did you notice the number of times that the phrase
"protected group" occured? Does the phrase evoke any similarity of
any group in our country? How about the "cabal" for example? How
about "herdsmen". Don't those look to you like "protected
groups" as espoused by Wikipedia above?You may ask, where do we (the
modern day plebians) fit in? Oh, plenty. In today's Nigeria, two distinct
classes exist: "They, and "The Rest of Us". Where you belong is
determined by you either by your means or by your sympathy to their cause. And
there's a third class, I must hasten to add: the "Protected Group",
constituted by a powerful minority few. In other words, those who are now
driving the vehicle aimed at sending to the gallows the citizens that willingly
surrounded their collective mandates to install them at the cozy offices at the
Federal Capital.
But they must remember that
where they are today is at the instance of the people of Nigeria who once
bought their promise to bring about change, positive change. They must be
reminded that the gallows they build today may await their turn tomorrow at the
hangman's doorstep when they have long left office and their "good morning
my neighbour" may well qualify for hate speech to which they are quick to
give their own definition.
May our dear country
succeed!
Kindly drop your comments.
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