John Adams, Minna
A former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism and a leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger State, Mr Jonathan Vatsa, has commended the decision of the Nigerian Senate to listen to the public outcry of Nigerians by suspending a controversial Hate Speech bill which had prescribed the death penalty for would be offenders.
Briefing reporters in Minna on Thursday, Vatsa, a former Niger APC publicity secretary, said the lawmakers have demonstrated that they are true representatives of the people with the suspension of the bill, advising that they make laws that will improve the standard of living of the people.
Related: Hate Speech Death Penalty: Hold public hearing, Governors advise NASS
“I want to sincerely commend the Nigerian Senate for listening to the cries of Nigerians [with] the suspension of the draconian and unpopular Hate Speech bill. The decision by the Senate to suspend the bill is a clear demonstration that our senators are true representatives of the people,” he said.
“They have shown that the interest of the people who they are representing is paramount in their decision making. This is what democracy is all about and I thank God that this anti-people bill did not see the light of the day.”
Vatsa, who had earlier condemned the bill, describing it as laughable and predicted that it was dead on arrival, advising lawmakers to always use the opportunity of being the representatives of the people to make laws that will add value to the living condition of Nigerians “rather than embarking on what I will call selfish and unpopular mission,” he said.
According to him, “if the Senate had proposed a bill which will prescribe death penalty for corrupt Nigerians, it would have made the war against corruption easier for President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration”.
“I still maintain that corruption, injustice, nepotism and lack of rule of law are some of the things that promote Hate Speech that we are talking about.
“When people are being deprived of their right, when there is no equity, justice and fairness, when people’s votes cannot count in an election, when job opportunities are only reserved for the few and highly placed, certainly there must be Hate Speech,” Vatsa argued.
“What they called Hate Speech is a social way of expressing grievances and frustration to challenge the high level of injustice in the society. Our lawmakers should focus their energy towards addressing all these societal ills so as to reduce Hate Speech.”
Vatsa went on to advise the sponsor of the bill, Senator Sani Abdullahi representing Niger North, to channel his “legislative intelligence” towards finding solutions to the barrage problems facing the state, particularly his constituency “where smuggling, armed banditry and floods have reduced economic activities there to nothing.”
Vatsa disclosed that there is no year that an incident of boat mishap has not occurred, leading to loss of hundreds of lives in Agwara and Borgu areas of the state where Senator Abdullahi comes from, “and yet that is not a problem to him, but how to sponsor a bill that will make Hate Speech an offense punishable by death.”
He regretted that since the demise of late Senator Awaisu Kuta and the inability of former Senator David to return to the senate, the Hydro Power Producing Area Development Commission (HYPPADEC) bill has been put on hold “because there is nobody to pursue the bill to make it a reality.
“This is what we in Niger State expect from our lawmakers to focus their attention on, not death penalty for Hate Speech. It is a retrogressive bill.
“Niger State has the worst federal highways in the country and nobody is botheree about that. Lives are being lost everyday to accidents due to the deplorable conditions of these roads, with economic activities at its lowest ebb, but our lawmakers will not see that as a problem,” Vatsa said.