The Federal Government says it is pushing ahead with a long-delayed law that will criminalise hate speech. The announcement was made by the Minister of Interior, Lt Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd) following the appearance of songs on social media calling on the Igbo’s, one of the country’s main ethnic groups to leave the north parts of the country.
Dambazau said this while fielding questions from journalists at the APC secretariat where he had earlier briefed the National Working Committee of the party. Hate speech must never be allowed in Nigeria since nobody could determine the tribe he or she would belong to, he said.
Anti-Igbo sentiment in Nigeria is seen by some as a response to growing Igbo calls for their own independent state in the south-east of the country. Asked to explain the reasons it was difficult to prosecute those perpetrating hate speech, he said: “We just submitted a draft bill to the ministry of justice on hate speech.
That draft speech is supposed to go as an executive bill after getting to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
"That draft speech contains the laws and punishment for hate speech. Hate speech should not be allowed in this country, everybody is entitled to belong to the religion he believes in. I mean people don’t choose the tribe to be, that’s how God brought him and there is absolutely no reason for hate speech. So, if the national assembly passes that law, certainly anybody who is engaged in hate speech will be prosecuted in accordance with the law.”
But the fear is that the inflammatory language, if left unchecked, could trigger ethnic clashes.
A large part of the problem is that politicians often play up ethnic card to shore up their own support base during electioneering process in the country.
