By Igbotako Nowinta
In our almost sixty years of nationhood, what are some self inclined and blindfolded characters like Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and his co-travelers looking for that some of our statutory provisions in our constitution have not addressed? Why are some jobless, idle and demented personalities in our midst like late Senator Robert McCarthy so desperate to achieve that a firm, dynamic, honest, effective, sincere, focused and transparent federal government cannot handle in a complex entity, called Nigeria? Must we allow genuine enemies of democracy masquerading as sunshine political patriots and emergency nationalists to disfigure, mess up and ridicule our collective sense of nationhood, and in the process pave the way hurriedly to unprecedented and unmanageable chaos? Must we get to Kigali, Tripoli, Kabul or Somalia before we embrace the kite of caution, restraint and common sense? Must we experience McCarthyism in Nigeria before those pushing this time bomb in the name of ‘hate speech’ are ultimately humbled or satisfied?
Today, the issue of the ‘hate speech’ that was once thrown out of the Nigerian Senate, is now back on the front burner of our national discourse.
This is so because the ‘hate speech’ bill is being considered again and pushed vigorously like never before by its sponsors. Now and then it is being discussed intermittently in private and public fora.
In view of its delicate nature to freedom of speech and multiple effects on our nascent democracy, l offer here a brief excursion into how McCarthyism became an issue in the United States of America.
During the thick and thin of the cold war struggles between the defunct Soviet Union and the United States, a demonic character activated himself into the public glare in the United States, and succeeded in no small measure to inflict cold blooded atrocities on known and imagined enemies of capitalist America.
The Soviet Union had tested its first nuclear weapons in 1949, which greatly unsettled policy makers in Washington. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, an obscure Republican from Wisconsin, who had recorded no spectacular success in his parliamentary career, chose consciously to become a perfect negative hero in the American system when he offered himself to help rid ‘America’ of threats of ‘communists’ in 1950.
Joseph McCarthy made a speech in the Senate that he had a list of about 201 Communists who were part of a spy ring employed in the State Department. His intense suspicions from1950 to the middle of 1950s, heightened anxiety to neurotic point, as innocent people were roped from the military, civil service and everywhere into unimaginable traumatic circumstances; many died, lost their jobs and unduly imprisoned.
The worst aspect of McCarthy’s lunatic instinct was that his victims were accused of treason and subversion without any concrete evidence; anyone who tried to oppose him was mauled down with the backing of the United States authorities.
In the end nemesis caught up with him when he died of hepatitis at the age of 48 on May 2, 1957. Earlier on December 2, 1954, the Senate voted 67-22 to censure Joseph McCarthy which effectively eradicated his demonic influence.
Today, in the United States, McCarthyism means ‘denying due process.’ In 1957, in a landmark judgement the Supreme Court in Yates V United States, ruled against any encroachment on civil liberties and freedom of speech.
In our almost sixty years of nationhood, what are some self inclined and blindfolded characters like Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and his co-travelers looking for that some of our statutory provisions in our constitution have not addressed?
Why are some jobless, idle and demented personalities in our midst like late Senator Robert McCarthy so desperate to achieve that a firm, dynamic, honest, effective, sincere, focused and transparent federal government cannot handle in a complex entity, called Nigeria?
Must we allow genuine enemies of democracy masquerading as sunshine political patriots and emergency nationalists to disfigure, mess up and ridicule our collective sense of nationhood, and in the process pave the way hurriedly to unprecedented and unmanageable chaos?
Must we get to Kigali, Tripoli, Kabul or Somalia before we embrace the kite of caution, restraint and common sense? Must we experience McCarthyism in Nigeria before those pushing this time bomb in the name of ‘hate speech’ are ultimately humbled or satisfied?
Excerpts from the proposed bill stipulates that: ‘publication or presentation of materials deemed fit to stir ethnic hatred… written or visual acts seen as threatening, abusive, insulting and offensive’, shows that this bill is meant to deal with the poor and helpless majority, never the over fed or over pampered foot soldiers of political heavyweights and superstars within our polity.
The Federal Government must dispassionately and decisively handle trouble shooters like the Miyetti Allah (The Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria),The Arewa Consultative Forum, The Fulani Nationality Movement, and others in this unholy business of barbarism and utter darkness.
Certainly these hideous, counter-productive groups are not helping the Muhammadu Buhari presidency in any way at all; they are complicating issues of germane national growth, security, sustainable peace and progress.
It is utterly distressing that these ethnic ‘war lords,’ lack clear ideology on the imperative of social inclusion in governance and development; they indeed lack sound clarity of thoughts and solid background on modern administrative philosophy.
That is why such groups are constantly elevating issues of national significance to ridiculous sentiments.
As a professional mediator and conciliator, l know that most wars are caused by conflicts of interests. When there is triumph of passion over reason, social disorder and instability set in.
It is therefore, a dangerous phenomenon when society is taken siege by negative parochial sentiments such as being showcased by Miyetti Allah and company, who are swimming in the lake of political prejudice and bigotry.
For me this proposed hate speech bill must be thrown out again without delay. It will serve no good but to further inflame political, tribal and religious passions in our land.
Have we forgotten so easily those diabolical and sinister factors that recklessly fanned the embers of the nation between January and August 1966, which gradually led to the merciless slaughters and pogrom in the Nigerian civil war?
There is a way to effectively handle or control dissent views without retorting to this unnecessary, unwarranted, time wasting bill nicknamed ‘hate speech. ‘This hate speech bill is meant to hoodwink, harass, and torment the poor and the voiceless; it is inimical to democratic peace, sanity, tranquility and accelerated progress.
The way out of these seemingly intractable ‘problems’ confronting us as a nation is unfettered, sophisticated and sincere true fiscal federalism, constitutional review and restructuring of our system; including drastic electoral reforms that will enable young cerebral patriotic leaders to spring up unconditionally, to give rooms for robust arguments and scintillating initiatives that will push us to the sky of progress and development.
It is painful to know that a country like China that rose up out of the midst of rubles and bloodshed in October 1949, is now rubbing shoulders with United States in terms of economic and technological prowess, while some ethnic barbarians and tribal rascals are spoiling for war where there is absolutely no need for it; where conscienceless butchers are trying to take us to the periphery of 1950s Nigeria.
The sleeping dog must be allowed to lie undisturbed!
Nowinta wrote: Where we are – A call for Democratic Revolution in Nigeria.
