As FG clamps down on hate speeches, Jonathan reminds Nigerians of freedom enjoyed in his days

As President Muhammadu Buhari’s Federal Government moves to clampdown on hate speech, former President Goodluck Jonathan has taken to Facebook to remind Nigerians how they enjoyed freedom of speech during his days as president of the country.

Jonathan in a Facebook post shared a picture of a quote he made in 2014 where he said, “I am the most abused and insulted President in the world but when I leave office, you will all remember me for the total ‘freedom’ you enjoyed under me.”

The reminder post by Jonathan came on the heels of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s statement that henceforth, the President Buhari-led administration will treat hate speech as terrorism.
Further buttressing the Government’s moves to tackle hate speech, Nigerian Military, this week announced that it will now be monitoring comments on social media so as to clampdown on anti-government and anti-security views.

The Federal Government to also prove that its position to clampdown on hate speech is not a mere threat on Thursday, August 24, directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to sanction any radio or television station that broadcasts hate speeches.

Read also: HATE SPEECH: Sultan urges FG to arrest religious, traditional rulers

The Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, while giving the directive in Abuja at the 3rd Annual Lecture Series of the NBC said, “As a matter of fact, the challenges facing the NBC have never become more daunting, considering the increasing propensity of some radio and television stations across the country to turn over their platforms to the purveyors of hate speech. It is the responsibility of the NBC to put these broadcast stations in check before they set the country on fire.”

Meanwhile, the reminder post by Jonathan has continued to elicited comments from his more than two million followers. While some praised him and regretted the attacks that were poured on his administration, some others criticised him for not doing much to fight corruption.

 

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