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Saturday 23 September 2017

Make Nigeria Free for all; a lesson on free speech

Today it's very easy to predict our government, especially now that elections 2019 is round the corner. The political system is becoming less democratic as the government now struggles for word power. I have just read a recent media directive in this regard seeking surveillance and media control including social media, even threatning the citizens with death for hanging for free speech. There have been several attempts to seek legislation in this regard. One now wonders if this is democray or something else especially in a secularised society like Nigeria. Guidance of public opinion should be least headache of a transparent government especially in a democracy.  The era of government telling people what they may or may not publish or broadcast in one country is over. Today's liberation technology has made it difficult for government to determine what the citizens see and hear. The UN declaration of Human Rights proclaimed that :"Everyone has a right to freedom of opinion and expression: this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and import information and ideas through any media, and regardless of frontiers". The free communication of ideas and opinions is a fundamental human right which must be respected by governments.  The International community has declined to assist the local government to surppress the activities of IPOB,  and other minority and civil society organisations in Nigeria. This is a strong signal to caution the government of unnecessary abuse of its own citizens rights. The government should direct our lean resources to  more meaningful infrastructure development and social services and restructuring of the country to create more opportunities for the citizens instead of unnecessary intimidation to hold on to power. It is worst when it's obvious that it's discriminatory, only what the government want to hear. The free communinication of ideas and opinions is every citizens right . This very government is a good beneficiary of this man's most precious right as they were once in opposition, so deploying control for political gains is barbaric, undemocratic, and 'full-blown totalitarian regimentation'. Free speech enables us to seek and find the truth and hold the government to account.  "Rather than having politicians who can't handle the truth, we seem to have politicians who have no idea what the truth is"-The Economist. We are waiting to see how the government will deliver on their promise of restructuring the country. We are earnestly waiting for the report of the advisory committee of the ruling party on restructuring. The beauty of democracy is that every four years they will be looking to secure new mandate from the people, sadly ordinary people's votes do not count. This is one good reason why 'the politicians have no idea what the truth is'. Read More about Freespeech debate http://freespeechdebate.com/en/  A country that wants its citizens to prosper and flourish should advance the ideals of democracy and human right not supressing civil-liberties. Participation in a democracy should not be confined to voting only. Free speech facilitates citizen engagement which enables ordinary people to deman greater accountability and better services from the representatives they elected to represent them. Freespech is very essential for democracy, the government we elected should enable it rather than seeking to suppress it. Freespeech helps us to know the truth and to hold the government to account, Nigeria is a sad story where wealth in natural resources has become a curse rather than blessing. Elite capture, violence and coercion. Anyone who disagrees is an enemy.
Uche Okeke is a Social Entrepreneur, he lives in London.

3 comments:

  1. Free speech is a fundamental human right that must be embraced by every society. thanks to today's technology for helping to advance this inalienable right....., I enjoy reading your blog, very inspiring, educative and informative. How i wish our bloggers will be more patrotic in addressing our basic development challenges.

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  2. Thanks for your insight and very informative blog. Free speech is vital to proper functioning of democracy and development. Free speech helps us to know the truth and hold the government to account. Thanks for publishing.

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  3. Thanks for your insight and very informative blog. Free speech is vital to proper functioning of democracy and development. Free speech helps us to know the truth and hold the government to account. Thanks for publishing.

    ReplyDelete

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