Osoba: Nigerian Media must Rise against Hate Speech Bill

Sunday Ehigiator

A veteran journalist and former governor of Ogun State,
Chief Olusegun Osoba, has expressed fear over the
controversial Hate Speech Bill, which has passed the
second reading at the Senate.
Speaking at the launch of two books, ‘The Gatekeepers’, a
biographical work featuring 20 Nigerian editors,
columnists and media leaders, and ‘Nigerian Journalism:
160 Years of Advancing Accountability, Promoting the
Public Interest and Speaking Truth to Power’, published by
Posterity Media, in Lagos Tuesday, Chief Osoba charged
the media as the fourth estate of the realm to do all in its
power to sensitize the public and educate the legislators
on the pending dangers of such bill should it be passed
into law.
While ‘The Gatekeepers’, celebrates the inspiring
contributions of editors to democracy and public
accountability, ‘Nigerian Journalism’, a series of essays
and articles by renowned Nigerian journalists and
stakeholders, proffers ideas and insights on how to
improve journalism practice in Nigeria and sub-Saharan
Africa.
According to him, “The challenge I want to place before
all of you is the bill before the Senate. I read in the papers
that the Senate President said the bill will not scale
through, but it has now passed second reading.
“Passing second reading means it would go to the
committee, while the committee would call for public
hearing. Now the challenge before all of you is that, now
that the bill is with committee, we should not just sit down
and write columns or editorials, each one of us must sit
down and write a paper on why the hate bill must not
pass.
“We must make the presentation to the committee. Not
only that, as many of you that would be able to go to
Abuja on the day set for the public hearing, make your
presence felt, and explain to the committee the dangers
of allowing such a bill to pass.
“I must admit to you that we are being embarrassed by
bloggers and social media practitioners. Nobody grounded
in journalism would say that what they are doing is right.
And I would not want to defend the impunity and
blackmail these people do on social media, I will not be
part of it. And the very sad part is that, they are not
journalists nor trained in this profession. And they do not
operate under the code of conducts of journalism practice
all over the world.
“But our challenge as journalists and even myself is to
appear before the Senate committee when they call for
public hearing, and express the dangers in passing the
social media bill and hate speech bills into law.
“Secondly, I want to appeal to you, that we should all
invade social media. All of us as trained journalists must
use all our online platforms and invade the social media
to give credible news and investigative journalism, which
is the kind of news we should be more focused on. That
way, we would begin to change the negative impression of
social media overtime, and also create good alternative
for readers and overtime, they would lose interest in fake
news.”
Speaking on the books, the author, Femi Kolawole, said
the books were as a result of his belief that “journalists
and especially editors, who act as media gatekeepers,
deserve to be recognized and applauded for their tireless
jobs in ensuring that Nigeria becomes a country that
offers hope and limitless opportunities to its people.
“‘The Gatekeepers Volume 2’, is a biography work on 20
Nigerian editors, columnists and media leaders and their
inspiring contributions to good governance and
democracy”.
Some of the editors featured in the books include Mr.
Mike Awoyinfa, veteran newspaper chief and former MD/
Editor-in-Chief, The Sun; Mr. Dare Babarinsa, Editor-in-
Chief, Gaskia Media Limited; Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi,
Chairman, THISDAY Editorial Board; Mr. Gbenga Omotoso,
immediate past editor, The Nation; Mr. Eze Anaba, Editor,
Vanguard; Mr. Tokunbo Adedoja, Digital Director,
THISDAY; Mr. Don Okere, Editor, Daily Independent; Mr.
Debo Abdulai, Editor, Tribune; Mr. Onuoha Ukeh, Managing
Director, The Sun; Mrs. Olabisi Deji-Folutile, former
Saturday Editor, The Punch; Mr. Seye Kehinde, Publisher/
Editor-in-Chief, City People; Mr. Azuh Arinze, Editor-in-
Chief, YES International Magazine; and Mrs. Juliet Bumah,
Editor, Sunday Telegraph, among others.