Decree 4 reloading in Hate Speech bill

The past is returning to Nigeria in the contentious area of speech and civil liberty. Thirty-four years after its enactment and 33 years of its repeal in 1985, Decree 4 is returning to the Nigerian statute books through the back door. It is coming in the shape of the Hate Speech bill now in the legislature.
Decree 4 is the infamous Public Officers Protection Against False Accusations Decree promulgated by the then government of General Muhammadu Buhari, backdated and deployed to jail Messrs Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson of The Guardian on July 4, 1984, the first anniversary of the paper as a daily. It was a decree actuated solely by personal animus of the then Head of State against the critical Nigerian press over its handling of reportage and commentary of the allegedly missing N2.8b from the NNPC.
On February 27, 2018, the Senate heard the first draft of the hate speech bill. Senator Aliyu SabiAbdullahi (APC, Niger) is the sponsor of the bill that would extend the definition of defamation while curbing free speech.
The hate speech bill is evidently the Executive Bill key officials of the Muhammadu Buhari federal government promised in 2017. Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo said on August 16, 2017 at a security meeting of the National Economic Council that the FG would prioritise a legal framework for penalising hate speech. He claimed that persons and groups were guilty of intimidation of a population by words or speech, an act he decried as hate speech. Said Osinbajo, “As I have said, we have 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.”
Five days before Osinbajo’s declaration, Minister of Interior General Abdulrahman BelloDambazau (Rtd) promised the enactment of a hate speech bill from the Executive. He spoke after a meeting with the leadership of the All Progressives Congress. According to Dambazau, “What we have done now is to submit a draft bill to the Ministry of Justice on hate speech which will go as an executive bill after passing through the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation to the National Assembly. The draft contains the law and punishment for hate speeches.
“This should not be allowed in this country. Everybody is entitled to belong to his or her religion and no one chooses the tribe into which he or she wants to be born. That is how God wants the person to be and there is absolutely no reason for hate speech. If the National Assembly passes the bill, certainly anybody who engages in hate speech will be prosecuted in accordance with the law of the country”.
The gravamen of the bill is that any person found guilty of any form of hate speech that results in the death of another person shall die by hanging. Offences include harassment on ethnic grounds or racial contempt. The penalty for this is not less than five years jail term or a fine of not less than N10m or both.
The bill speaks of motive, “if such person intends to stir up ethnic hatred”.
The Bill also seeks to create a new bureaucracy for the hate speech phenomenon. It specifies the establishment of the National Commission for Hate Speeches. An executive chairperson appointed by the president on there commendation of the National Council of State, subject to the confirmation of anat least two-thirds majority of the National Assembly, shall head the Hate Speech Commission.
It is curious that while citizens suffer actual terrorism from Boko Haram and from the herdsmen, the Federal Government embarks on a wild goose chase in search of speech terrorists. This bill is one of several attempts by this government to circumscribe the space for expression and sharing of ideas and speech by citizens contrary to Section 39 (1) of our constitution. As a reminder, the section states that “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference”.
With this bill, citizens would have three legal provisions on defamation. It exists in extant laws. In 2015, officials smuggled defamation into the Cybercrimes Act and turned it from a civil to a criminal offence. Now, the definition of defamation would include terrorism.
The Hate Speech bill is a backdoor attempt to shackle the media. Media are the channels for expression of ideas and opinions now misguidedly tagged “hate speech”. It seeks to shrink the space for public engagement on issues including discussion of the emerging ones around dominant and subordinate ethnic groups.
All persons and groups with a stake in civil liberties, including free speech, must rise to condemn and frustrate this bill from becoming law. The various media associations should lead. Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Guild of Editors, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, and the newer groups representing online media including the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, the Guild of Professional Bloggers and the Online Publishers Association. Then the Nigerian Bar Association, and groups in the civil society space. This is your call.
The Hate Crimes Bill is itself an act of hate against citizens.
Nwakanma, a past president of the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria, is on the adjunct faculty of the School of Media & Communication, Pan Atlantic University. He is a consulting member of the Businessday Editorial Board.

Chido Nwakanma