Hate speech does not manifest only during election periods, but these times can often exacerbate existing cleavages and exploit prejudices.
In Nigeria it is a crime to engage in hate speech in the course of campaigns!
Section 97 of Electoral Act states, “A candidate, person or association that engages in campaigning or broadcasting based on religious, tribal or sectional reason to promote or oppose a particular political party or the election of a particular candidate, commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction to (a) a maximum fine of N1m or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both and (b) in the case of a political party, to a maximum of N10m.’’
On May 1, 2018, when the Wilson Center, Africa Programme hosted an event entitled, “Hate Speech and the Challenges of Post-Election Peacebuilding in Nigeria.” Mr Vasu Mohan, Technical Lead for Elections, Conflict, and Security and Regional Director for Asia-Pacific at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems outlined the broader issue of hate speech in all societies and the key challenges ahead for combatting it. This typically involves mobilizing a particular group against another and crafting intentional campaigns meant to divide. Hate spin often includes the use of hate speech, which vilifies a particular group. Dr Olusola Isola, Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding Scholar at the Wilson Center and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies at the University of Ibadan presented his research undertaken during his time at the Wilson Center, a paper which examined Nigeria as a case study in hate speech during elections. He said the high concentration of political power and the winner-takes-all mentality around elections contribute to the use of hate speech. In Nigeria, the states depend on the central government for fiscal survival. Electoral conflict can become intractable for presidential contests especially, as resources are concentrated at the central government. He noted that the dynamics of the civil war in the late 1960s continue to impact the relations between the northern and southern states. This already challenging context is complicated by the high rate of unemployment and poverty in much of the country.
Election periods therefore provide an opportunity for groups to vent frustrations. Both physical and online campaign advertisements play into these divisions and frustrations; however, in the last two elections, social media has played a larger role. In international human rights, hate speech is a term used to describe broad discourse that is extremely negative and constitutes a threat to social peace. According to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, hate speech covers all forms of expressions that spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance.
The United Nations Rabat Plan of Action provides key guidance to States on the distinction between freedom of expression and incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence which is prohibited under criminal law. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, described hate speech thus, “Addressing hate speech does not mean limiting or prohibiting freedom of speech. It means keeping hate speech from escalating into something more dangerous, particularly incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, which is prohibited under international law.”
However, in Nigeria, in the words of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, hate speech is equated with terrorism. The foregoing implies that each country knows what constitutes hate speech and decides the penalty to be meted to the offender. Human rights lawyer Femi Falana however, states that Nigeria has enough laws to deal with hate speech but the political will to arrest and prosecute those who contravene the law is lacking. He also cites various criminal codes that apply to offences such as criminal defamation, inciting statements, breach of peace, criminal intimidation, and publication of statements, rumours or reports which may disturb public peace. Like Dr Olusola Isola, found out in his research, election periods used to see heightened application of hate speech in desperate bid to win elections. Ahead of the 2023 general election the symptom of it is already glaring and of concern to many Nigerians. Over the weekend in Kaduna the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, asked his fellow Northerners to vote for him in the 2023 general elections. According to Atiku, Northerners need to vote for him rather than a Yoruba or Igbo candidate because he was a Pan-Nigerian of a northern extraction that had built bridges across the country. He made the remarks while responding to a question posed to him by the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, during an Interactive Session with Arewa Joint Committee held in Kaduna State.
“What the average Northerner needs is somebody who’s from the north who also understands that part of the country and has been able to build bridges across the country,” Atiku said. “This is what the Northerner needs, it doesn’t need a Yoruba or Igbo candidate, I stand before you as a Pan-Nigerian of northern origin.”
Less than 24hours after Atiku urged northerners to vote for one of their own, the presidential candidate of APC Bola Ahmed Tinubu did the same thing in Ekiti State as captured by The Peoples Gazette thus, “Yorubas must deliver 95% of their votes to me; reject Atiku, Obi: Tinubu.” According to the newspaper, the former Lagos governor urged the people to ignore his rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party because “you don’t know them.” “Another election is coming by February. Will you be ready? Shine your eyes. Don’t forget your PVC,” Tinubu told the crowd at the inauguration of new Ekiti governor Abiodun Oyebanji in Ado Ekiti, the state capital. “They’re coming; One will say he is Atiku (Abubakar). One will call himself Peter Obi. You don’t know them,” he said. “The only person you know is Bola Ahmed Tinubu and you must deliver 95 percent of your votes.” The newspaper observed that “Mr Tinubu’s latest ethnically laced campaign comes a day after the PDP flag bearer Atiku Abubakar said northerners should support a northerner like him and not a Yoruba (Mr Tinubu) or Igbo (Mr Obi) candidate.”
Also, what Atiku and Tinubu said in Kaduna and Ekiti respectively were no different from what the presidential candidate of the APC Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu said as a presidential aspirant a few months ago. He said at the time that it is the Yoruba’s turn to produce the President of Nigeria come 2023. Tinubu said this at the Presidential Lodge in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, while addressing the APC delegates ahead of the party’s presidential primary. Tinubu, who said it was the Yoruba’s turn, also noted that it was his time to become the president. In his words, “This time, it’s Yoruba turn and in Yorubaland, it’s my tenure.”
Tinubu’s message has also been reinforced by Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who recently urged the Yoruba people to see the aspiration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as their priority to enable him actualise his dream of becoming Nigeria’s president in 2023. According to him, “Let me use this opportunity to make this rallying call on all true sons and daughters of the Yoruba race and pronounce that in the unifying spirit of the Ojude Oba celebration, it is my firm hope and belief that the Yoruba race will unite as one behind the momentous candidature of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a proud son of the race and one of the most formidable and experienced politicians to have ever emerged from Africa. Yoruba lo’ kan! Asiwaju lo’ kan!” It was not without reason that he called on “all true sons and daughters of the Yoruba race,” to support Tinubu. It was a subtle way of calling those Yorubas who oppose Tinubu candidacy “illegitimate sons and daughters of Yoruba race.”
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