Whether intended or not, President Muhammadu Buhari hit the Bull’s-eye on cybercrime and abuse of technology in his Independence Anniversary speech. It was not the plank of his message but it was a worthy side-kick at a scourge that is insidiously swamping the nation. While the President’s speech narrowed its focus on cybercrime to abuse of cyberspace by promoters of ethnic hate and religious zealotry, there is the need to take note of cybercrimes that spread to the larger precincts of financial crimes via the internet and associated misdemeanors including phishing, cyber-terrorism, romance scam and the now popular hacking of networks, remotely, using a combination of codes to undermine networks.
For want of space, let’s limit the debate to issues raised by Mr. President. He said: “Our attention is increasingly being focused on cyber-crimes and the abuse of technology through hate speech and other divisive materials being propagated on social media. Whilst we uphold the Constitutional rights of our people to freedom of expression and association, where the purported exercise of these rights infringes on the rights of other citizens or threatens to undermine our National Security, we will take firm and decisive action.
“In this regard, I reiterate my call for all to exercise restraint, tolerance and mutual respect in airing their grievances and frustrations. Whilst the ongoing national discourse on various political and religious issues is healthy and welcome, we must not forget the lessons of our past – lessons that are most relevant on a day such as this.
“The path of hatred and distrust only leads to hostility and destruction. I believe that the vast majority of Nigerians would rather tread the path of peace and prosperity, as we continue to uphold and cherish our unity.”
I was delighted to hear this from the President. It is refreshing to note that Buhari is seeing the colossal damage done to our psyche by the unrestrained deployment of cyber tools by some Nigerians. Even more heartwarming is the fact that Mr. President is at least aware that some Nigerians have on various occasions crossed the redline in their use of social media. And now he calls for restraint. Now, he threatens such abusers. The president’s speech is a potent cue, a signal to law enforcers to further abuse the privileges of their offices. Now, Nigerians have become suspects in a widening circle of harassments, attacks and arrests by security operatives for holding divergent views.
One of the charges against Omoyele Sowore, the defiant co-convener of #RevolutionNow is that he insulted the President. Some other Nigerians have been arrested in Kaduna, Calabar and elsewhere for expressing views critical of governments at local and state levels. Does holding a non-conformist view or being critical of government amount to cybercrime, hate speech or promotion of divisiveness? The President and his handlers must realize that freedom of speech is a fundamental right of the people. The security operatives must come to terms with the reality that plurality of opinion is one of the ingredients of democracy. They must never interpret the President’s statement to mean zero-tolerance for dissent.
All over the world, the social media space – Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram, etc – has become islands of slur, insult, smear campaigns and sundry demeaning tendencies and expressions. Creators and co-creators of these tech-tools intended them for good, to promote civilization, socialization, enhancement of productivity, social harmony, sharing of values and deepening of cultures. Hate was not on their mind. Divisiveness was never intended. In fact, these tech-tools simply collapsed the walls that divided humanity. But as it is with all things operated by humans, some elements have brought the evil tendencies which they openly hawk in real world into the virtual space. A religious and ethnic bigot in real life cannot be otherwise on social media. Indeed, the loose identity which social media offers lends it to abuse by miscreants, bigots and zealots.
And here is my worry with Buhari’s speech. It assumed that abusers of social media and cybercrime are out there in the streets as enemies of the government. The speech anchored its premise for denigration of cyber bulls on the faulty pedestal of ‘we versus them’. Mr.Buahri assumed that abusers of social media privileges are far away from him. But he’s wrong. The real cybercrime perpetrators who promote hate speech, divisiveness and other negative tendencies as outlined by the president are actually those dining with the President himself. Can we scroll back in time to the social media handle and ‘homes’ of Lauretta Onochie, one of Buhari’s perception managers on new media? She is the perfect picture of a cyber-hound. She cuts the picture painted by Buhari in his speech. She should be first on the list of those the President and his team of cyber monitors should focus on. She spews hate. She is the chief agent of insult and slight. She is divisive and so are many swarming around the president.
I admire Buhari’s courage to speak out against cyber-bullying and propagation of hate speech (in lieu of free speech) in cyberspace. I like that his “attention is increasingly being focused on cyber-crimes and the abuse of technology through hate speech and other divisive materials being propagated on social media”, but I will advise Mr. Buhari to start with himself and his aides.
Some of the President’s words and actions have been most divisive and hate-infested. He never hid his aversion for the South East. His now infamous ‘5 percent’ answer to a question on equity in distribution of resources indexes the mindset of a President who is for some people, not for all the people. His lopsided appointments are evidential of divisiveness and a clear affront on the diversity of the nation. The unity and togetherness of Nigeria has been more challenged under Buhari than under any past leadership.
Yes, I concur with the President that hate must yield the space to love. I agree that Nigerians must wean themselves of primordial fault-lines of ethnicity and religious intolerance. But this moulting of our primeval cassock must begin from the leadership, the President himself. When the voice of leadership spews hate, it is taken to social media and given exuberant amplification. When the body language of the leader resonates with the tenor of hate for one and love for the other, followership, especially the mob of unschooled and badly schooled followership, interpret such to mean ‘we versus them’. This is a ready recipe for cyber-bullying of the alternative social actors; the proletariat, the opposition and any other imagined shadow standing in the way. Away with such. Away with hate speech and its merchants.
But make no mistake about this, Mr. President: if you and your cabinet members and platoon of aides and hangers-on begin to preach love and unity and be seen to act same, Nigerians would naturally follow. Nigerians may be stubborn, but their stubbornness is chiefly positive. It defines their tenacity, strong will and capacity to persevere. More importantly, it defines their willingness to love and to learn to love. They are not difficult to lead. Just teach and show Nigerians love, they will follow you, support you and stand with you. Let the President take the first step.