The Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan has slammed his country’s new hate speech law announced by the vice president of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo last week.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the former president criticized the move by the President Muhammadu Buhari government to criminalize hate speech declaring it as an act of terrorism.
Osinbajo on his twitter account gave details of a speech he delivered at a security forum in the capital Abuja on the latest changes to the country’s security laws.
He said “Hate speech is a specie of terrorism … We’ve drawn a line against hate speech, it will not be tolerated, it will be taken as an act of terrorism and all of the consequences will follow it.”
Osinbajo asked citizens to avoid speeches that create dissent and intimidate people since “they do a great disservice to our unity and nation.”
But Mr. Jonathan re-posted a picture of a quote he made on Facebook in 2014.
The post read in part, “I am the most abused and insulted President in the world but when I leave office, you will all remember me for the total ‘freedom’ you enjoyed under me.”
The Punch reported that a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode told its reporters that Jonathan’s re-post was a prophecy foretold.
Fani-Kayode, said the ruling All Progressives Congress got to power through hate speech and rigging claiming it was hypocritical of the APC government to complain about hate speeches.
Source: Africafeeds.com