Hate speech, act of terrorism ―Osinbajo

ACTING President Yemi Osinbajo has classified hate speech as terrorism which would no longer be tolerated.

Speaking at the opening of the National Security Retreat organised for state governors and top government functionaries at the banquet hall of the presidential villa, Abuja on Thursday, he said government would deal with any attempt to intimidate the population through the use of words.

Osinbajo stressed that leaders must speak out against hate speech to prevent it from gaining foothold in the country.

He said: “The Federal Government has today drawn the line on hate speech. Hate speech is a specie of terrorism. Terrorism, as it is defined popularly, is the unlawful use of violence or intimidation against individuals or groups especially for political ends.

“The law, that is the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011 (as amended), defines terrorism as inter Alia, an act which deliberately done with malice which may seriously harm or damage a country or seriously intimidate a population.

“The intimidation of a population by words, by speech is an act of terrorism and this government intends to take this matter very seriously.

“As I have said, we’ve drawn a line against hate speech. It will not be tolerated, it will be taken as an act of terrorism and all of the consequences will follow it.

“I call on all business, religious and political leaders, whatever your political leaning, your religion or tribe or faith to condemn in the strongest possible terms at all times, hate speech.

“Speech that promotes violence against an individual or group, especially when such comes from people of your own faith, tribe or group, your silence in such situations can only be seen as an endorsement.”

Osinbajo observed that the silence of leaders while hate speeches thrived led to grave consequences in Nazi Germany and Rwanda.

According to him, “Hate speech, and the promotion of the same throughout history from Nazi Germany and the extermination of Jews to the Rwandan genocide succeeded in achieving their barbarous ends by the silence of influential, voices from the aggressor communities.

“When leaders in communities that speak in such a manner as to create dissension or to intimidate a population are quiet, they do a great disservice to our unity and nation.

“This is why I urge all of our political leaders, religious leaders, business leaders and all of those who truly want a united country and a country where there will be peace and security, to ensure that we do not tolerate by our silence the hate speech that we hear every day in our community.”

The Acting President recalled that the present administration came into office on a vision covering security, the economy and the fight against corruption.

He pointed out that without guaranteeing security, government would struggle to attract the kind of investments, domestic or foreign, needed to create jobs and prosperity for the people.

“And when those jobs are hard to find and keep, our people will naturally be more susceptible to the lure of criminal activity.  Which means that governments that are serious about fighting crime ought to be extremely serious about fighting poverty,” he declared.

While noting that, “we are all daily confronted by the disturbing reality of Nigeria’s security situation,” he said it was time to implement “our thinking and our talking; to add action to our analysis”, telling the participants at the retreat that “action must be bold, ambitious, urgent and, and very importantly, innovative.”

Osinbajo also observed that the internet has altered the nature of conflict and war in contemporary times, enabling and amplifying the efforts and impact of terrorists, insurgents, warmongers, secessionists, and peddlers of hate speech.

He added: “Against this backdrop, the question we should be asking ourselves, as governments, especially as Chief Security Officers in our states, as Law Enforcement Agents, is: how can we take advantage of these same tools and technology to stay permanently ahead of those who seek to wield them to create mischief, and cause terror, fear and bloodshed?”

The Acting President revealed that he had directed the Inspector General of Police to constitute the Community Policing Programme as part of effort to incorporate the society into security architecture.

He stated: “Yesterday, we took an important step in incorporating all of our society into this security issue and into the fight against insecurity in our country.

“But by this directive, we expect that the Community Policing Programme will take root and take effect and all of our Police formations across the country will engage their communities in the very creative ways the Police themselves have prescribed in the Community Policing programme.

“We expect that this will be a fundamental change in the way that policing is carried out in our country and that it will yield the kinds of results that we expect.”

In his remarks, the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, pledged the commitment of the judiciary to do things the proper way and  committing itself to having a good Nigerian society where peace and justice shall reign.

He added: “I want to tell you also that though we also say that there are two sides to a coin, in reality there are three sides to a coin. In our condition in terms of where we find ourselves today, it is my personal view that insecurity, corruption, and impunity are the three sides of the same coin which ought to be taken together holistically if we are to move the country forward.”

Also speaking, Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, observed that 99.9 percent of security issues emanated from the states.

He expressed concerned that the security situation in the north east has escalated after the progress that had been recorded.

“We are still having some pockets of issues in the North East which is worrisome. In the last 12 months, we were experiencing some kind of progress but all of a sudden it resurfaced again,” he stated.

The governor argued that even if nothing else was done, government must be sure to tackle corruption and security.

He assured that governors were doing their best as chief security officers of their states to deal with the situation.

According to him, “Governors are doing their best and the security chiefs can attest to that. We have been shouldering so many responsibilities of logistics in our separate states.

“If government will not achieve anything, it must achieve two things, fighting corruption and ensuring that they fix insecurity.