Former military President,
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has reacted to the Hate Speech Bill sponsored by
Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi.
Speaking in his Minna Uphill
residence while hosting the National President of the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ), Chief Christopher Isiguzo, Babangida said there was no basis
for the bill because no one can deny Nigerians their fundamental rights.
He said: “I am surprised that
this bill has resurfaced. There is no basis for this now. We are developing; we
should be allowed to develop. If we make mistakes people can be cautioned. If
somebody goes off you have the right to call him to say, ‘no, we don’t want
this.’
“Unless people can express
themselves, those in government or authority will not know what is happening in
the country.”
Describing the bill as an “eye
service” by the sponsor, Babangida said the death penalty prescribed in the
bill was “crude and wicked.”
He said: “If somebody makes hate
speech, put him in the gallows and not shoot him. It is crude and out of tune
with the 21st-century reality. It could have happened, maybe some 300 years
ago, but not now.
The former Head of State promised
to join the NUJ and other stakeholders in protesting against the passage of the
bill.
“I am with you on this. I will
also talk to those of us who could be in a position to bring sanity to bear on
some of these things. if we had their type of media, I think they should be
jailing you all by now. But today, the country is better for it,” he said.
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