Independence Message: Buhari promises tougher stance on hate speech on social media  

 

• Says Nigeria has saved billions of Naira from implementation of IPPIS, other reforms

 

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria on Tuesday said his government will continue to take “decisive action” against persons who spread hate speech on social media.

In his Independence Day message to Nigerians, he said although the government respects the rights of individuals, but abuse of technology that undermines national security will not be allowed to fester.

“Our attention is increasingly being focused on cyber-crimes and the abuse of technology through hate speech and other divisive material being propagated on social media.”

“Whilst we uphold the constitutional rights of our people to freedom of expression and association, where the purported exercise of these rights infringes on the rights of other citizens or threatens to undermine our national security, we will take firm and decisive action.”

In recent months, a few critics of the government have been arrested, mostly on the charges of treason. Omoyele Sowore, a former presidential aspirant and the publisher of Sahara Reporters, was the latest of such persons.

He has been in detention since August when Nigeria’s secret police, Department of State Services, arrested him for calling for protests under the banner of #RevolutionNow.

Sowore’s message resonated with thousands of youthful social media users in the West African country. The Nigerian government said Sowore’s campaign was “a revolution campaign on September 5, 2019, aimed at removing the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The opposition activist was also charged with spreading false information “for the purpose of causing insult, enmity, hatred and ill-will on the person of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Although an Abuja court ordered his release last week, the government spurned the order and arraigned him again on other charges including money laundering on Monday. He still remains in DSS detention.

The handling of Sowore’s case, critics said, shows that the Buhari administration does not respect the judiciary. To their credit, the government has flouted a series of orders given by different courts concerning persons being held by security agencies.

That includes several orders on former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki and the leader of Shiites in Nigeria Ibraheem El-Zakzaky.

In all the cases, the Nigerian government always maintained that national security trumps individual liberty.

“The Sowore affair has moved beyond harassment and taken on a sinister direction,” said the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka.

However, President Buhari maintained on Tuesday that he was not averse to people “airing their grievances and frustrations”. Such, he said, must be done with “restraint, tolerance and mutual respect.”

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said the introduction of the Integrated Personnel and Information System (IPPIS) by the federal government saved Nigeria billions of Naira over the last four years.

He said that it had also deterred the rampant theft and mismanagement of public funds.

He said the strict enforcement of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy and the Whistle-blowers’ initiative had also helped in checking corrupt practices in the public service, adding that his administration is determined to ensure that transparency and good governance are institutionalised in public service.

To this end, he said, the Ministry of Justice, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would continue to address the menace of corruption in the country.

“We must commit to instilling a culture of good governance in all we do. This administration has fought corruption by investigating and prosecuting those accused of embezzlement and misuse of public resources.

“We have empowered teams of prosecutors, assembled detailed databases of evidence, traced the proceeds of crimes and accelerated the recovery of stolen funds.

“Furthermore, we partnered with our friends abroad to combat tax evasion, smuggling, terrorism and illicit financial flows.

“In June 2018, I assented to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act to provide a domestic legal framework for obtaining international assistance in criminal matters.

“This measure has already strengthened our law enforcement agencies in obtaining evidence, investigating suspects and facilitating the recovery, forfeiture and confiscation of property implicated as proceeds of crime.

“An example is the 300 million dollars recently identified as part of the Abacha money-laundering case, working closely with the Government of the United States of America.

“The Federal Ministry of Justice is working with the U.S. Department of Justice to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding to expedite the repatriation of these funds,’’ he said.

The president noted that the P&ID Arbitral Award had underscored the manner in which significant economic damage had been caused by the past activities of a few corrupt and unpatriotic Nigerians.

He said: “The policies that we are putting in place today are to ensure such criminal and unpatriotic acts do not go without consequences.

“Our renewed partnership with the 9th National Assembly will facilitate the swift passage of enabling laws that will institutionalise these anti-corruption efforts in our criminal justice system.’’

Buhari enjoined state and local governments to intensify efforts toward instilling greater fiscal transparency and accountability, and to ensure “greater fiscal efficiency and optimum use of our very scarce resources.

“The blight of corruption is fighting back. Nevertheless, this is a battle that we shall see through and this is a war, which we shall win by the Grace of God’’.

He also called on all Nigerians to combat corruption at every turn “by choosing to question and confront corrupt practices, by reporting unethical practices or through whistleblowing.”

“Together, we can overcome corruption and will no longer be a country defined by corruption.”