Opinion I Death Sentence For Hate Speech?

DEATH SENTENCE FOR HATE SPEECH?

         

As days unfold, it seems every political leader in Nigeria is deeply concerned about how all sorts of deviant acts would be tactically flushed out of the country’s system in its entirety. This is perhaps the reason different forms of bills pertaining to criminality or social deviance won’t cease to flood our various lawmaking chambers, both at the federal and state levels.

         

Presently, in the National Assembly (NASS), there is a certain bill lying on the floor of the hallowed chamber that’s targeted at ending every kind of ‘hate speech’, which is at the moment the order of the day mainly on the new media platform otherwise referred to as the social media. It’s being sponsored by the Spokesman of the Red Chamber, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi.

         

The bill, which seeks establishment of an ‘Independent National Commission for Hate Speech’ that would enforce hate speech laws across the country as well as advise the federal government in that regard, if passed into law, shall grant a ‘not less than five-year jail term or a fine of not less than N10 million, or both, for offences such as harassment on the grounds of ethnicity or racial contempt.

          

Among other prescriptions captured in the amazing bill, it’s further advocating that upon conviction, hate speech offenders ought to face the hangman’s noose; meaning literally that a convicted culprit shall be facing a death sentence via hanging. The particular clause that’s seeks capital punishment actually concerns hate speech that resulted in the death of someone.

        

This bill if eventually signed into law, will unequivocally be in disagreement with Section 39 (1) of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, as amended, that allows freedom of expression. The said section empowers Nigerians to freely hold opinions as well as receive and impart ideas cum information without interference. Hence, the NASS probably is equally thinking of how to amend this very section.

         

Criminalizing an activity – free speech – that showcases the true mark of any democratic terrain is enough indication that the people we elected to represent us have abruptly turned against our collective existence. The truth is that, the so-called hate speech does not in any way deserves to be tagged a criminal act let alone warranting a death sentence.

         

It’s mind boggling that this is happening at a time every bloc across the globe, particularly the United Nations (UN), is seriously condemning prescription of capital punishment as a penalty for any kind of conviction whatsoever; at an era when rational thinkers consider such type of sentence as barbaric and archaic; at a period various civil societies are advocating life imprisonment as the greatest punishment to be served by any court of law irrespective of the nature of the offence.

        

The reason life sentence should be preferred to that of death has overtime been made clear. One might be erroneously sentenced, thus if such person is serving a life imprisonment, the judgement could be revisited in the long run when an authentic alibi, or as may be the case, is eventually tendered to the court that convicted him/her. Hence, it’s retrogressive for any legislature to advocate capital penalty at this 21^st century.

         

Besides, it’s baffling to acknowledge that till date, our revered legislators are yet to sponsor a bill that would prescribe the hangman’s noose upon conviction as regards a case involving looting. It’s indeed amusing, to assert the least, that this set of elected officers we look up to is still finding it difficult to align with our notion that looters ostensibly deserve capital punishment if convicted.

         

Why would someone who indulge in an act (looting) that could render thousands of Nigerians jobless and equally results in untimely death of several others be allowed to walk freely and boldly on the streets, but one who expresses his/her feelings or opinions toward the country’s leaders, or public servants in general, would be meant to serve a death sentence? How do we reconcile this? If your thought is as good as mine, then you will agree with me that the bill in question is simply controversial, hence doesn’t merit a second hearing let alone passing it.

        

Time has obviously arrived for us to start placing priorities in all our doings concerning governance. Our continuous misplacement of ‘scale of preference’ virtually in our everyday activity remains one of the basic reasons we often times move aback when expected to drive ahead. The collective yearnings of the people shouldn’t be shortchanged for our individual interests.

       

I’m as well using this medium to urge Nigerians as a people to be much focused whenever they are seeking governance. We ought not to allow our personal hatred for a certain public servant override our collective quest for good leadership. It’s more disturbing when realized that even the leaders seemingly don’t like themselves, thus on a daily basis, display speeches that bear hatred in the name of acting in opposition.

        

As much as I’m in support of the NASS’ dogged move to eradicate the so-called hate speech among Nigerians, it’s also worth noting that such movement isn’t meant to erode the fundamental rights of the people. Think about it!

 

Comrade Fred Nwaozor

Executive Director, Docfred Resource Hub (DRH) - Owerri

__________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

+2348028608056
Twitter: @mediambassador            

      

            

Opinion I JAMB, Ongoing Melodrama And The EFCC

JAMB, ONGOING MELODRAMA AND THE EFCC

         

In the first Nollywood play pertaining to crime titled ‘Rattle snake’, it was one of the characters named Peter that referred the protagonist, Ahanna who happened to be his bosom friend to as ‘snake’ when the latter indulged himself in a certain criminal act.

       

The sobriquet was informed by a weird behaviour displayed by Ahanna in order not to be apprehended. The play, which was reportedly based on true life story, is reckoned to be a product of one of the best scripts ever written in the Nigeria’s movie industry.

         

This arguably implies that in some occasions, a human being could act not unlike a living snake. I can’t concur less with the assertion that emanated from the movie because I’ve personally come to realize that in our respective individual endeavours, we sometimes prefer to conceal our real features; an attitude which is similar to that of a snake.

         

As I dispassionately write on the above subject matter that mentions snake, I can’t help but deeply recall the aforementioned play that was produced over twenty decades ago. In the second week of February 2018, precisely on the 10^th, the news went viral that some proceeds amounting to about N36 million were allegedly swallowed by a ‘snake’ in the office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) situated in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

         

It would be recalled that in the past, applicants had to purchase scratch cards from JAMB state offices and other designated centres across Nigeria, to enable them gain access to the Board’s website for either registration or to check their admission status. But the reforms newly introduced by the current JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede put an outright end to the use of scratch cards.

        

Hence, a team of auditors was recently dispatched to different state offices of the JAMB to take inventory of the sold and unsold scratch cards as well as recover whatever money that might have either been generated or squandered during the period of the sale of scratch cards. Intriguingly, on their visit to the Makurdi office, the sales clerk Mrs. Philomina Chieshe disclosed that she could not account for the aforesaid amount, which she made in previous years before the abolition of scratch cards in 2016.

         

The clerk claimed that her housemaid connived with another JAMB officer called Mrs. Joan Asen to ‘spiritually’ steal the proceeds from the vault in the accounts office. According to her, Mrs. Asen and her accomplices had confessed that they had been stealing from the proceeds through a mysterious snake that usually sneaked into the vault to swallow the money.

       

The bilious and actionable confession angered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) just as it did to other well-meaning Nigerians, hence the agency swiftly swing into action. Just  penultimate week – on Tuesday 6^th March 2018, which marked three weeks after the incident, the same Mrs. Chiesha upon the EFCC’s interrogations, eventually made a u-turn, revealing that the missing money was collected piecemeal by her coordinator Mr. Samuel Umoru.

        

She further tendered painstaking statistics, with dates, on how the withdrawals were made by her in line with the directives of the superior staff. The EFCC had reportedly verified the alleged withdrawals and afterwards arrested Mr. Umoru. At this point, it’s needless to state that every concerned Nigeria cannot wait to see how this intriguing melodrama would end, especially as it is under the control of the revered EFCC.

         

Whether the proceeds were mysteriously swallowed by a snake or embezzled by a human being, the fact remains that some snakes made away with the money. And in this case, Mrs. Chiesha ought to be regarded as a first-class ‘snake’. Of course, for her to have initially cooked up the story of a mysterious creature – be it in a sober mood or under the influence of anything whatsoever – makes her the most culpable individual in the ongoing melodrama.

         

This indicted theatre involving the JAMB does not deserve any pity in any way if the needful must be done. A holistic scrutiny needs to be conducted towards ascertaining why in the first place a ‘feat’ allegedly recorded by a human was credited to an animal. The opaque scenario must be unravelled headlong by the anti-graft agency or anybody involved. I still strongly believe that there’s more to the story than we can presently see.

         

It’s now conspicuous that corruption is seriously fighting back as was earlier alleged by the present government led by President Muhammadu Buhari. If not, how on earth could a public servant in his/her right senses anywhere in Nigeria think of squandering a whooping sum of N36m or thereabouts and when interrogated, would summon the courage to get the whole story twisted in spite of the ongoing war against graft?

         

It’s noteworthy that barely a few days after the Benue saga, yet another N26m was discovered missing in the JAMB office situated in Nasarawa State. It was gathered that the former Coordinator of the jurisdiction was responsible for the alleged embezzlement. The indicted officer whose name was simply given as Tanko, having confessed to the crime, claimed that the unsold scratch cards in his custody were burnt when he was involved in an auto crash.

        

All these, which reportedly transpired prior to the emergence of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, are strong indications that the said financial measure fully implemented by the President Buhari’s administration in the country’s public service is a welcome development thus ought to be sustained at all cost.

        

As Prof. Oloyede’s audit team uncovers these mysterious snakes that had long been hidden in various JAMB offices, there’s a compelling need for each of them to be tactically caught with a red-hot cage by the EFCC with a view to extracting their venoms without much ado. Think about it!

 

Comrade Fred Nwaozor

Executive Director, Docfred Resource Hub (DRH) - Owerri

__________________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

Twitter: @mediambassador            

               

Opinion I As Bishop Okpaleke Bows Out In Grand Style

AS BISHOP OKPALEKE BOWS OUT IN GRAND STYLE

        

The last time I checked, Bishop Peter Okpaleke had graciously tendered his resignation, which implies that he’s not anymore meant to be regarded as the Head of the Ahiara Catholic Diocese situated in the ancient Mbaise nation. It’s noteworthy that the abrupt action was not unconnected with the series of endless controversies experienced by the said clergy since inception of office.

        

The Papacy under the watch of Pope Benedict XVI had upon the demise of Bishop Victor Chikwe – the immediate past and pioneer bishop of the Ahiara Diocese – approved the nomination of a Catholic priest, Rev. Peter Okpalaeke who hails from Awka in Anambra State to serve as the bishop of the diocese. Amazingly, the named clergy was outrightly rejected by virtually all the Catholic faithful in the diocese, stating that the favoured priest did not possess the required qualities to super-head the communion.

        

One of their reasons was that Rev. Okpalaeke does not hail from Mbaise. According to them, it was a grievous blunder for the Pope not to find anyone among over seven hundred (700) Catholic priests of Mbaise origin worthy to serve as the bishop of the Ahiara Diocese. They equally lamented that Rev. Okpalaeke does not speak a dialect that could be comprehended by the members of the diocese, thus could not be ordained to lead them.

          

Notwithstanding, the appointed clergy was eventually ordained amidst the protest. Owing to the unwelcoming attitude of the aggrieved worshippers, the ordination took place outside the Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral of the Ahiara Diocese – Agbala in Owerri North LGA precisely – amid tight security. It was the first time in the history of the Catholic communion a prospective bishop would be ordained at a venue situated outside the diocese he was supposed to oversee.

        

It’s worth noting that after the ordination, the rebellion became more intense. Since then, the seat has been apparently hot for the innocent Bishop Peter Okpaleke who has mostly been operating from the Diaspora. In spite of the order from the Pope, instructing the Catholic faithful in the diocese to unanimously sheathe their swords, the people remain hell-bent towards ensuring that their own becomes the bishop of the diocese.

        

In a recent communiqué from the Papacy under the reign of Pope Francis I, precisely on 8^th June 2017, having received a delegation from the Ahiara Diocese, all members of the diocesan clergy – including the priests and deacons – were given 30 days ultimatum to personally write the Vatican pledging their unflinching obedience to the Pope and unconditionally accepting Bishop Okpalaeke.

        

Based on the directive, those who failed to write would be suspended a ‘divinis’, which would prohibit such priest or deacon from administering any of the sacraments save for a clergy hearing the confession of a person in danger of death, and would equally be removed from their posts.

        

It’s mind-boggling and indeed ridiculous to realize that the religious extremism, which could best be described as amusing and irrational, wasn’t only ignited and fueled by the laity council in the diocese but rather has the full support of most of the Catholic priests from the area who are expected to be more informed regarding the Catholic extant custom.

        

Ever since the melodrama began, I chose to be mindful of my utterances in the public domain thereby making my person seemed not unlike a mere onlooker, knowing fully well that issues pertaining to religion are highly sensitive and delicate, hence ought to be handled as such. My muteness continued unabated not until penultimate year when I thought it wise to wake from the slumber having keenly observed that the incidence was liable to degenerate into an untold crisis if it failed to receive an apt attention. In view of that decision, I objectively wrote a piece titled ‘the trending intriguing politics in Ahiara Diocese’.

        

Lest I forget, two factors ab initio made me not to be too surprised or shocked over the lingered altercation in Ahiara Diocese. One of them was that I grew up to understand that religion harbours politics. Since the world came into existence, the former has ceased to dissociate itself from the latter. Prior to the emergence of Pope Benedict XI (rtd.), what transpired therein made me draw a holistic conclusion that politics is arguably ubiquitous. If the above hypothesis as regards politics and religion holds water, then the Ahiara Diocese ought not to be an exception.

         

Another pertinent factor is the fact that the people of the Mbaise nation have been known for their unison. Mbaise as a people are so apparently united that they invariably, or do not hesitate to, act as a body whenever it calls for action. This remains a core feature outsiders envy about them. It’s then needless to assert that the ensued saga in Ahiara Diocese was an epitome of what the Mbaise nation represents. However, it’s worthy of note that sometimes a cause pursued vigorously in unison could be misleading and preposterous.

          

Though the apology letters were tendered by the concerned priests and members of the laity council as directed by the Papacy, the apparent war ceased to end afterwards. Among all, in spite of the countless reactions of the public coupled with various authorities cum stakeholders, the religious extremists remained hell bent towards actualizing their uncalled and weird quest.  

          

Hence, three weeks ago, the much-criticized Bishop Opkaleke who was consecrated in 2012 resigned, triggering mixed feelings among the Christendom in various quarters. The letter of resignation reads in part “I am convinced that my remaining the Bishop of Ahiara Diocese is no longer beneficial to the Church. I do not think that my apostolate in a diocese, where some of the priests and lay faithful are ill-disposed to have me in their midst, would be effective”. In response, an epistle said to have emanated from the Pontiff on 19^th February 2018, accepted the resignation in good faith.

          

In consequence to the latest development, the Pope appointed the Bishop of Umuahia Diocese, Dr. Luciuos Ugorji as the Apostolic Administrator of the Ahiara diocese, pending when another substantive bishop would be consecrated to lead the Catholic communion.

         

As Bishop Okpaleke resigns in style, it would be needless to notify the Mbaise congregants that the Pope may decide not to deploy any other clergy as the Bishop of the diocese, and they are aware the implications of such decision if eventually taken by the Papacy. More so, the Supreme Pontiff might as well decide to merge the diocese with the Owerri Archdiocese where the affected worshippers initially belonged.

        

This among others is the reason they must be willing to accept any other appointee of the Papacy irrespective of his origin, because based on the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the latter may not succumb to the frivolous request of the former.

        

So inasmuch as I commend Bishop Okpaleke for taking such a bold step for the interest of the Church of Christ, there’s a compelling need for the congregants to tread with caution and equally acknowledge that the church belongs to nobody. Think about it!   

      

Comrade Fred Nwaozor

Executive Director, Docfred Resource Hub (DRH) - Owerri

___________________________

frednwaozor@gmail.com

Twitter: @mediambassador