•Says police, military have no business monitoring social media
From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
SENATOR representing Kaduna Central in the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has called on President Mohammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, fumigate proverbial hyenas, jackals and wolves in his cabinet.
The lawmaker, who stated this in an interview with newsmen, shortly after his visit to home of the destitute in Kaduna, yesterday morning, said the president’s determination to disinfect his cabinet now is the surest way of achieving his vision, mission and programmes for Nigeria.
According to activist turn politician, any cabinet member who is not performing satisfactorily should be thrown out of the Presidency while competent hands should be brought in now because if the initial appointment was meant to appease political interest, then the time has come to face the reality to avoid disappointing Nigerians who voted for the All Progressives Congress (APC) based on Mr. President’s personal respect and integrity.
To Sani, “everybody knows who the lion is. As regarding the hyenas, jackals and wolves, I think I will leave that for Mr. President to mention them, if he wants to. But, in general terms, these are the elements within the cycle of the Presidency who have personal interests, other than that of Mr. President. And, they are called in broader sense ‘cabal.’ These are the mafia that exists within Presidency.
“As I said, their intent is different from that of the president himself, but, they are part of what is called Presidency.
“One thing the president needs to do, which is very important, is for him to take a proactive stand in order to reset his presidency by looking at his cabinet in totality.
“Those who have failed should be shown the way out and those who have not been able to perform satisfactorily should be replaced or reshuffled.
“But, it is time for Mr. President to throw some people out of his cabinet and change the portfolio of some of them so they can help him perform better.
“There is a message I am sending to Mr. President; to fumigate and disinfect the presidency, in the general interest of his own government and also the country as a whole”, he added.
On the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, the senator suggested that stolen funds recovered from former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke should be deployed to solve the problem between the university unionists and government, “in the interest of young Nigerians who are trying to acquire knowledge through formal education.”
Senator Sani also reacted to a recent resolve of the Nigerian Army to go after those who make inciting statements on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter.
Sani insisted neither the Nigerian Police Force nor the military, or any security outfit in Nigeria has any business monitoring social media under the guise of tracking hate speeches.
He likened it to giving security agents blank check to humiliate every person who pours out his opinion on issues that affect people as bonafide citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He quickly added that Senate is already working on a bill that will address any form of hate speech.
“Few days ago, I was at the headquarters of National Human Right Commission and I told them and I am still saying it, that, we at the National Assembly, particularly in the senate, the bill is on the way that will clearly define what hate speech is and what hate speech is not.
“This will prevent giving security agencies blank cheque to go after each and every person who speaks. Nigerians must speak to defend their constitution and republic. They must speak to criticise their government, hold them accountable and speak, to cast out lies in our democratic experiment. This democracy is a product of struggle of those who laid down their lives. And on no guise we will fold our hands and see our democracy simply taking away,” he added.