Lasun Alagbe
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that hate speech is not the same thing as freedom of speech.
According to him, the Federal Government will not allow anyone to hide under the umbrella of the latter to propagate the first.
Speaking on an ongoing programme on ‘TVC’, Mohammed said the attack he was getting from some quarters, over the increase of hate speech fine from N500,000 to N5m, was unwarranted, saying the decision was about defending national stability.
He added that the law against hate speech was not peculiar to Nigeria, saying the likes of Chad, Norway and UK had different rules against it.
Insisting that hate speech could cause chaos, as, according to him, had happened in Rwanda and Bosnia, he noted, “Freedom of speech is different from hate speech. You can’t hide under it to advance hate speech. We can’t afford it in Nigeria, to make hate speech cause instability in the country. Those who indulge in hate speech know what they are doing and must be prepared to face the consequences of their actions.”
