By Owei Lakemfa
As a young man, I quite often heard the Latin phrase: “Vox populi, vox dei”, meaning: “The voice of the people is the voice of God”. Democracy, whatever the brand, is supposed to uphold this.
But the Nigerian people might be too busy to speak; too hungry to talk. Under such circumstances, they need to remain silent. But who better to speak for the people than the National Assembly? That is why parliamentarians are assembled: to speak for their otherwise preoccupied constituents.
As a young man, I quite often
heard the Latin phrase: “Vox populi, vox dei”, meaning: “The voice of the
people is the voice of God”. Democracy, whatever the brand, is supposed to
uphold this.
But the Nigerian people might be
too busy to speak; too hungry to talk. Under such circumstances, they need to
remain silent. But who better to speak for the people than the National
Assembly? That is why parliamentarians are assembled: to speak for their
otherwise preoccupied constituents.
This must be the reason, the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, introduced his
profoundly thoughtful Counter Subversion Bill and other related draft
legislation on July 23, 2024.
Trust Nigerians not to listen to
simple instructions such as speaking only through parliamentarians. So, the
Speaker’s bill, understandably, had to in effect, suspend sections of the
Constitution such as the right to assembly, free speech and movement.
Equally, given the fact that
governance is such a tasking job that requires the full concentration of the
leaders, the Taju bill seeks to stop politicians in power from being distracted
or even insulted. So the bill provides that Nigerians should be jailed up to
two years or pay a fine of N4 million for any action considered to demean or
embarrass a public official.
Does this sound familiar? Maybe
not to the Gen Zee generation. But to mine, it was a law we lived with under
the military. It was called Decree 4 of 1984 under which if a story, even if
true in all material particular, embarrassed a public official, the culprit
went to jail for one year. It was a decree promulgated by General Muhammadu
Buhari, as he then was. So, for that law and, the Taju bill, the truth is not
an amour.
I have to state now that the
Speaker is not well advised on the bill and that the law he wishes to push
through is in aid of fascism. If I were to say so after the bill becomes law, I
may write my columns in the next two years from jail as this comment might be
deemed to embarrass the man who is Number Four in the country’s political
hierarchy.
The Speaker also seeks a
three-year jail term or a N5 million fine for “disrespecting” constituted
authorities. This obviously will be quite good to shut the wide mouths of those
whose stock in trade is to be disrespectful to our revered leaders or, even
make disrespectful skits. They need to be taught that governance is not a joke.
The Speaker is not selfish, so
the category of those to be protected under this section are not just our
leaders at local government, state and federal levels, but also the leadership
of “a community, religion, lawful group”. This means that wherever you are, be
careful not to insult leaders at any level, otherwise you may be headed for the
jail house.
Nigerians, since colonial times, have been known for protests. Even after
independence, the protests continued, especially by students, youths and human
rights groups. We have witnessed protests against continued colonial rule, the
Anglo-Nigeria Defence Pact, increases in school fees, the IMF Structural
Adjustment Programme, fuel price hikes, military misrule, police brutality and,
this month, against hunger. All these, under the bill, would become criminal
activities.
Clause 3 of the Tajudeen bill,
reads: “A person who engages in illegal road traffic functions, illegal
roadblocks, imposition of illegal curfews, conducting illegal processions,
checkpoints, and other similar acts, commits an offence and is liable on
conviction to a fine of N2,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of five years or
both.”
Pro-democracy activists like
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are lucky this type of law did not exist during the
fight against military dictatorship and for the actualisation of the June 12,
1993 presidential election. Otherwise they would have cooled their heels behind
bars.
Many Nigerians are fond of using
symbols that promote other countries rather than Nigeria. For instance, they
wear T-shirts like: ‘I Love New York’. Some hoteliers hoist the flags of
various countries and protesters even carry the flags of other countries. All
these unpatriotic acts which tend to show loyalty to other countries or promote
them, would under this bill, earn 10 years imprisonment or a fine of N5
million.
Some Nigerians always complain
about marginalisation. Some even advocate leaving the federation. With this
bill, any such agitation has to be done in jail. It states that any statement
or action for separatist agitation, attracts a fine of N10,000,000 or
imprisonment for a term of 25 years or both.
The bill also specifies a fine
of N5m, a 10-year prison sentence, or both for anyone found guilty of
destroying national symbols, refusing to recite the national anthem and pledge.
Splits occur amongst Nigerians
and their groups. Under this bill, anyone who forcefully takes over any place
of worship, town hall, school, premises, public or private place, arena, or a
similar place, for whatever reason, can be fined N5m, or imprisoned for 10
years or both.
Many civil society organisations
are known to receive foreign donations. The bill seeks to criminalise this. It
states that a “person who receives financial or political support from a
foreign organisation, group or country that is not compatible with the
interest, development, security and progress of Nigeria, commits an offence and
is liable on conviction to a fine of N15m or imprisonment for a term of 20
years or both.”
If you are a non-conformist with
a propensity to disregard, disobey, or disrespect constituted authority, rules,
regulations, order or contravene the law wilfully, under this bill, you are on
conviction to spend three years imprisonment at the first instance, and seven
years for a subsequent offence or to a fine of N5m or both.
I am not sure if Speaker Abbas
read the bill he presented or reflected on it. Otherwise, he would not have
included many of the clauses, some of which, quite honestly, are not just
absurd but are incomprehensible in a sane society.
He has now announced the withdrawal of the bill. But whether this is a
true realisation of the satanic nature of his bill, or a tactical withdrawal is
left to be seen. Meanwhile, We Move!
*Lakemfa is a commentator on public
issues
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