STAKEHOLDERS WARN OF DANGERS IN HATE SPEECH

 STAKEHOLDERS WARN OF DANGERS IN HATE SPEECH

JOHN KERRY ,SECRETARY OF STATES,UNITED STATES WITH THE NIGERIAN PRESIDENT,MUHAMMADU BUHARI SEATED COMFORTABLY AS THE LATTER SEEMS TO HAVE FORGOTTEN YESTERDAY AS HIS RULING A.P.C.'S CULTURE OF IMPUNITY IS NOT DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF HIS PREDECESSOR
Rising from a one day media sensitization seminar, stakeholders have agreed fully that Nigerians should watch what they say in public as such could provoke others to act contrary to the dictates of the law.
Recently, a media sensitization program under the auspices of the National Broadcasting Commission, the National Security and Peace Reconciliation Committee and the Centre for Information  Technology and Development [CITAD]in conjunction with The International Press Centre[I..P.C]organized the thought provoking one day seminar.
In her submissions at the event, The Director, Lagos Zonal office of the National Broadcasting Commission, Mrs Olubunmi Cole lamented the issue of hate speeches in our polity.
She started by telling the audience of why it was vital that they imbibe  the culture of responsible journalism.
She assured that despite the fact that the N.B.C as presently constituted was a state agency they will never shirk from their responsibilities to the Nigerian people.
She Speaks:”We do not censor but we regulatory as our statutory function ,we have a lot of viral research bodies that monitor situations “
“Some sanctions could take up to six months ,it does  not matter how long ,there was a day somebody was doing a movie on lesbianism and homo-sexualism and we ordered that it be stopped”
“Broadcasting is a dynamic field ,we have said that between the hours of Seven O clock to ten o clock P.M. every day should reflect programmes of national heritage because we soon noticed that South American Soap Operas had taken over the entire space”
Miss Ijeoma Theo-Obodo,Assistant Director Monitoring of the National Broadcasting Commission also shared Mrs Cole’s sentiments even as she sat in the audience as a participant in the event.
In his own contributions,The Program Coordinator,Peace,Centre for Information Technology Development ,[CITAD],Mr Abdulganiyu Rufai Maidumbayya lamented the high rising cases of hate speeches in the Nigerian media.
In an hour long presentation, Maidumbayya enjoined the press to help stakeholders at curtailing the issue of hate speeches .
The Peace advocate   then defined hate speeches while insisting that the concept can help to catalyse violence.
According to him in his presentations, a powerful speaker with a high degree of influence over an audience can lead to a lot of problems in the society.
He  revealed that in Nigeria  based on their research study ,the major means of disseminating hate speeches was on face book where at least 66 percent of Nigerians have access to such information.
He affirmed that at least 92.6percent of hate speeches were recorded  in English language with 72 percent of speakers been identifiable .
He pointed out that the volumes of hate speeches disseminated  by politicians was found to be as low as 5.7 percent.
He noted that they discovered that elections were a key driver to hate speeches in Nigeria and shortly after the election and Dr Goodluck Jonathan accepted defeat the concept of hate speeches were reduced to the barest minimum”
The analyst told the gathering made up of a cross section of Nigeria’s leading news and information providers that 76percent of hate speeches disseminated in the local media was from the male sex gender.
In a related issue ,Dr Tunde Akanni ,a lecturer in the Department of Mass  Communications of the Lagos State University,Ojo,Lagos,Nigeria painted a grim picture of the local press as far as national discourse was concerned.
He said because of the perceived gaps created by the press,global bodies like U.N.E.S.C.O have tried to plug the gaps by using a multi-track  diplomatic approach.
He explained that it Was due to this format that stakeholders like researchers ,N.G.O.S were now willing to work with the press to aid dissemination of quality information to the public domain.
He told the gathering that the practice of journalism differed considerably from the art of mediation .
Akanni Speaks:”N.G.O.s who are supposed to be involved in this do ,do not seems to have a full understanding of the issues at stake,conflict sensitive journalism helps us to appreciate our places in the society but now the media is not what it used to be “
“since 2003,Oxford Advanced documented dictionary formed our usage of blogs but before then it was not known at all ,am surprised that Gani’s assignments did not include tracking of blogs though it can be stated that bloggers that are active today may not be active tomorrow”
He pleaded with the press to be supportive of all initiatives being undertaken by stakeholders towards peace and conflict resolutions at all times.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists ,Lagos state Chapter,Mr Deji Elumoye said he had a lot of reservations on the conduct of the n.b.c during the last elections as the hate speeches went on for so long.
He used the event to brief the gathering of recent developments within the press which they were championing as  regards the welfare of workers.
Elumoye admonished practitioners to do their jobs without any fear as very soon they will smile thus raising the level of positive performance expected from them  by the public.
Elumoye was political editor at Thisday Newspapers before his current vocation
In a related issue,The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists,Lagos State Chapter,Mr Jimoh Babatunde all stakeholders to adhere strictly to the ethics of the media profession while shunning religious and ethnic bigotry.
In his own presentations at the program,the Founder of Paedia Express Multimedia Group,Mr Abdulmumini Ireyi Adeku told the gathering that hate speeches will continue as long as the leadership do not see the need to address several cases of injustice in the polity as it is seen by the speakers as their only weapon after they had been long relegated to the background on account of their social status.
He took a swipe at the judiciary and the Nigerian Police ,saying even they have helped to increase the woes of Nigerians in time past.
Mr Adeku while taking a cursory look at Nigeria quickly summarized the nations Achilles heels as Boko Haram/ Sharia, Resource Control ,Biafra,June 12,Social Vices  like Armed Robbery, Prostitution, Human trafficking and kidnappings among others .
He urged officials of the N.B.C,CITAD among others to look for ways of engaging the vital targets of this problems in town hall meeting insisting that a regular interface with government officials and religious leaders will prevent hate speeches thus leading to crisis as we now witness in the North Eastern part of Nigeria today.
Mr Adeku also warned N.B.C to brace up to the new realities in broadcasting as a business entity  not given a license by the body to operate terrestrially can go on the web and satellite .
He cited the cases of Radio Biafra and Arise Satellite Television. Network……