Politics
By Emeka Ejere
There is nothing congenital or genetic about perpetrators of hate in Nigeria. Rather it is a consequence of a political system in which the elite socialise their costs and privatise the common patrimony, creating avoidable scarcity of public goods.
These were the submissions of Prof Chidi Odinkalu, former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, at the second annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP, held on Friday in Lagos.
Odinkalu, who serves as the senior team manager for the Africa Programme of the Open Society Justice Initiative, argued that unhealthy struggle for the crumbs falling from the tables of the corrupt politicians is what is fuelling the ugly trend of hate speech in Nigeria.
Speaking on the theme, “Fostering a Sustainable Economy, Credible Elections and Security in Nigeria – What Role for the Online Publisher?”, the human right activist called on the corporate online publishers to resist the temptation of becoming a tool in the hands of the combatants of the war without rules.
According to Odinkalu, “the country is in a funk of multi-faceted polarisation, with both political leadership and institutional organs too inept or too weak to offer reassurance or protection to most of its people.”
He regretted that the irregularities that characterise the nation’s electoral process have consistently denied the people the right to choose their leaders and so make do with whatever the manipulated system offers them.
“It should be clear from this background that the fate of our elections are intimately intertwined with what happens to both our safety and security as a people and also to our economy as a country.
“As should become evident shortly, the success or failure of our elections is and has always been both essential for and a predictor of the country’s stability.”
Odinkalu noted that the 2019 election holds promise and peril for the nation, pointing out that the role of online media is critical in telling the story and influencing global response to what happens.
He said, “Even more than the 2015 elections, the 2019 election holds both promise and peril for Nigeria on all fronts and it is clear that the online media will be central in framing the narrative and shaping the response of the world to what happens.
“It is a role that calls for serious reflection with a sense of responsibility.”
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Olusegun Osoba, chairman of the occasion and former governor of Ogun State,stressed that online journalism has come to stay as what was seen as the future has indeed become the present.
Osoba, who was represented by Lanre Idowu, a veteran journalist and author, charged the online media professionals to put in place measures to ensure that activities of unscrupulous elements in the society do not continue to threaten their integrity.
Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye, chairman of the Centre of Excellence in Multimedia Technology, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos; and Prof. Leonard Shilgba, a former director, ICT Centre, Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, made their incisive inputs as discussants.
The Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN; Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria, BON; Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE; Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ and other stakeholder groups in the media were represented at the conference.
– Oct. 19, 2018 @ 20:45 GMT |
Tags: Hate speech in Nigeria Sign of Leadership Failure – Prof Odinkalu
