Nigeria’s obnoxious hate speech bill

Hate Speech and Crime in UK, West and Europe bother on race, religion, disability, aexual orientation and gender.

I had the opportunity to coordinate a hate crime reporting center center between 2014 and late-2015 after a training with Strathclyde Police here in Scotland. The African-organisation I headed then was chosen as a reporting centre because “race” was one of the “Protected Characteristics”

The definition is “motivated by hostility to those listed “Protected Characteristics” However, it will take a look at the action, impact and how often such is commited before a prosecution could be successfully executed.

While some persons have chosen to excuse the speak-and-die proposed law in Nigeria on Europe and West doing similar, which is besetting (as one would have expected those persons to put their literate minds to active work), Nigeria has yet to come up with a list of “Protected Characteristics” or identify the social group its obnoxious proposed bill is meant to tackle.

Some politicians, including the UK PM was heckled with eggs few days ago (it’s a constant drama here) and one could claim that the perpetrators were encouraged by public criticisms of the government’s policies. For the sake of argument, let’s say he tripped on the eggs, fell and died, who will be prosecuted per the Nigerian proposed Hate Speech bill, the masses who threw the eggs or those who criticised the government and encouraged public action of protest?

If my records are correct, execution in Nigeria, from 2006 to 2013, was 4, despite over 1 thousand inmates on death row. The last was 3 in 2016.

You don’t make a law you cannot execute.

Samuel Oludare Yerokun

Scotland