BIAFRA: Those drumming the beats of war too young to appreciate our bitter history – Osinbajo

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has said that, in the light of divisive and hateful separatist agitations in the country, the bulk of those heating up the polity did not experience Nigeria’s civil war firsthand, and thus could not fully appreciate the magnitude of the danger inherent their agitations.

He made these comments extensively while delivering a speech at the Institute for Security Studies seminar themed, ‘Unity in Diversity’, On August 2, 2017.

The acting president appeared to seize the opportunity provided by the forum to air his far-reaching considered thoughts on the many arguments being canvassed about Nigeria’s state of affairs especially regarding the question of unity.

Osinbajo said, “those who only read or heard history may have the advantage of approaching life without the bitterness and burdens of history, but they are often so far removed that they tend to minimise or even dismiss the ramifications of history. My wife turned 50 last month and I had to say to her that any one of her age was born in the year the civil war began and that such persons including those who are under 40 are probably largely responsible for many of the inflammatory statements that we are hearing today stoking up war.”

He added, “But I think that it is true that the farther away one is from the horrors and deprivations of war, the less impact it has on one’s thoughts, one’s motivations and one’s worldview. We must not allow dangerous amnesia that leads nations unwittingly to the fatal repetition of tragic errors.”

Osinbajo argued that it was a false narrative to say that, “countries formed the way ours was formed are doomed to fail. In other words, countries formed without a deliberate agreement of people to come together are bound to fail.

“This is what some people have said, that Nigeria is a mere geographical expression and for that reason it is not likely to succeed as a united whole. But those who say so do not know that even the expression, mere geographical expression used in relation to a country was not first used in relation to Nigeria. As a matter of the fact, it was the German statesman Klemens von Metternich who used this same expression for Italy. He simply summed up Italy as a mere geographical expression exactly a century before Nigeria was born.

“Italy is still a mere geographical expression but still a nation. So we must not be misled by those in some pseudo-intellectual way suggest to us that the mere fact that we did not deliberately one day hold a conference to come together means that we should not or cannot stay together. Indeed we can.

“Most countries of the world came together by some accident of history, one way or the other, many were put together, many were forced together, but the wise have stayed together, the wise have remained united.”

Read also: Osinbajo’s ‘extra judicial’ comments on Biafra, proof that Kanu’s trial political – IPOB

The acting president highlighted hate speech as a major threat to the country. He argued that freedom of expression did not include hate speech, stating that it would constitute the biggest mistake any people can make, to relate hate speech with freedom of expression.

“Every major catastrophic human conflict has begun by hate or extremist ideology, especially hate speech, in particular, every genocide in human history has been preceded by hate speech and it is promoted by the media sometimes and promoted by public discourse. But always hate speech precedes genocide and some of the greatest tragedies in human history”, he stated.

Osinbajo noted that the challenge of hate speech had been worsened by the emergence and mainstreaming of social media. “Our situation is worse now with social media; instant communication of any type of news, most of it false, most of it divisive, most of it dangerous”, he said, insisting that, “We must do something about hate speech, we must control hate speech and we must insist that it is not acceptable at public discourse of any type whether it be on radio or social media. We cannot allow the promotion of hate speech.”

He further warned that Nigeria faced the risk of repeating the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide if the dissemination of hate speech was not checked, reminding that, “The ICC, International Criminal Court, had reason to sentence several persons, owners of media to long terms of imprisonment over the Rwandan genocide. Because many radio stations promoted hate speech and the promotion of hate speech led to the killing of about a million Rwandans in April of 1994”.

The acting president, while advising Nigerians to display mutual respect and understanding, presented the government’s hard stance on the subject of hate speech. He maintained that the government had a responsibility to protect lives and property and as such will not permit hate speeches to continue without repercussions.

“We must respect each other’s religions, we must respect each other’s views. The language of interaction and exchange must be civil. We must not permit a situation where people talk anyhow. Whether they are leaders or elders, we must not tolerate a situation where people are allowed to speak in any manner that they desire. There must be a way of speaking properly, we cannot allow people to just speak in any way that they want. The assurance of protection of lives and property is a very crucial one. We have no choice especially as government to assure every Nigerian of the protection of their lives and property”, Osinbajo stated.

Many have long called on the federal government to make its comprehensive position on the pervasive intense agitations in the country clear. These elaborate views by the acting president certainly provide insights into the thinking and approach of the federal government on the issues surrounding the country’s unity, and will certainly provoke reactions from keen observers, as well as the main actors.

Only days ago, the acting president was flayed by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), for his comments dismissing the agitation for Biafra as being outside the bounds of the Nigerian law. Osinbajo had made these comments while consulting with some Igbo leaders.

His comments in this speech appear quite consistent with those earlier comments and it will be interesting to see the reaction of separatist groups, including those clamouring for Oduduwa Republic in the South West.

 

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