What Nigerians think about FG monitoring VIPs’ social media
The Federal Government recently disclosed that it will soon begin to monitor posts on social media by notable Nigerians in order to checkmate hate speech. Daily Trust sought the opinions of some Nigerians. Philemon Joshua, 37, Teacher, Masaka, Nasarawa State It is pointless. We are in a democratic era and freedom of speech is allowed. […]
The Federal Government recently disclosed that it will soon begin to monitor posts on social media by notable Nigerians in order to checkmate hate speech. Daily Trust sought the opinions of some Nigerians.
Philemon Joshua, 37, Teacher, Masaka, Nasarawa State
It is pointless. We are in a democratic era and freedom of speech is allowed.
Remikat Ayuba, 27, Development Worker, Plateau State
The right to express one’s self is God’s gift to mankind. It is through this medium that human beings convey their thoughts and express their feelings, one to the other. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinion without interference and to seek and receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. It is based on this premise that I wish to conclude that the bid to monitor VIPs’ social media accounts is a fundamental human rights violation which should be rejected vehemently.
Democracy strives on freedom of expression, and any nation that seeks to violate such rights should be seen to be autocratic, hence, losing its membership of the body of civilized nations.
Ugwuoke, Kelvin Abuchi, 36, Teacher, Plateau State
I think that it is an infringement on their fundamental rights as spelt out by Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which gives every citizen the right to private and family life. Monitoring their social media accounts will be illegal, unconstitutional and inhuman. There are pressing national issues that require the immediate attention of the federal government like the fuel crisis, farmers/herdsmen clashes, and the fledgling economy. The Federal government should channel its resources and energy on issues that are germane, please.
Sir Dominic Ritji Yilkudi, Lifestyle Coach and Leadership Expert, Plateau State
The first question to put into consideration is what propels the federal government to carry out such plans? Secondly, how do they intend to do the monitoring? In my perspective, I don’t think the plan is appropriate. This is because it will infringe on the fundamental human rights of Nigerians to freedom of speech and expression. The 1999 Constitution as amended guarantees the right to freedom of speech to all citizens of the country, so why would the government want to deny the citizens their freedom of speech? It will be illegal to attempt to monitor social media of Nigerians.
If the federal government wants to curtail hate speech, there are different ways aside monitoring social media accounts. It should be noted that no government is without criticism, therefore when the masses are criticizing, it’s not the right decision to deal with them.
Finally, I don’t think it is a good policy to embark upon. The federal government should give room for valuable criticisms, if not, in the process of eliminating critics it will produce revolutionaries automatically.
Hon. Danjuma Auta, 48, Politician
It is an infringement on freedom of information and the constitution of Nigeria. What does the government have to hide by trying to monitor people’s social media accounts? To me, this is a governance failure because if they are doing well they won’t be afraid of what the people will say. They know that the people are watching them and can easily tell the world about their non-performance. That is why they are afraid.
I advise the government that instead of bringing the obnoxious policy, they should introduce programmes that would better the lives of Nigerians so that social media users can even use it to show case to the world what they are doing, their developmental strides and achievements.
Checking the activities of people on the social media belongs to a bygone age and repressive governments who don’t believe in democratic tenants and fundamental human rights and not a country like Nigeria which is the giant of Africa. Its democracy and freedom is not negotiable and has come to stay.
Emmanuel Makama, 32, Public Servant, Abuja
It doesn’t make any sense. Instead of the federal government to waste its time checking what Nigerians or notable Nigerians as they say are posting on social media, they should channel that energy to finding a lasting solution to insecurity in the country.
Lengshak Gomwalk, 34, Businessman, Jos
After monitoring their social media, what next? They begin to monitor their mails and phone calls? The government has taken away the smile on people’s faces and now it’s their freedom of speech that is being trampled upon.
By the way, what is the real definition of ‘hate speech’? Who defines what constitutes ‘hate speech’? Is that even our priority as a nation right now?
With all the countless things going wrong in this country, does the common man care who makes hate speech or not? We are yet to jail criminals who butcher innocent people at night in the name of unknown gunmen, but we want to witch-hunt people who use their own social space to comment on the things that matter to them.
What next? Where do we go from there?