Official! Freedom of Speech no longer exists in Nigeria

Although the Nigerian Constitution is full of provisions that guarantee Freedom of Speech of all Nigerians, the present government led by Muhammadu Buhari has not hidden its desire to go the length to silence any voice against it.

Just recently, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) queried Channels TV for alleged violation of Nigeria’s broadcasting code during its breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, on Tuesday.

What was Channels TV’s offence?

NBC claimed the programme which hosted the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, contained “inciting, divisive and unfair comments”.

Meanwhile, on the programme, Governor Ortom only expressed his displeasure about the growing insecurity in the country and accused President Muhammadu Buhari of an agenda to “fulanise” the country”.

But, as Nigerians would say, no be so we see am?

Here’s a detail of what Governor Ortom said.

“Mr President is pushing me to think that what they say about him, that he has a hidden agenda in this country is true because it is very clear that he wants to fulanise but he is not the first Fulani president.

“Shagari was a Fulani President, Yar’ Adua was a Fulani President and they were the best in the history. But President Buhari is the worst president when it comes to issues of security and keeping his promises.

“Go back to 2015, what did he say, human rights issues, he talked about press freedom, about the economy, corruption, security. Tell me one that Mr President has achieved.

“He has achieved some level of development in other sectors but these prominent things that are concerns to Nigerians and we are all worried about, tell me when Mr President has come out to address them. Is it corruption, we are worse in the history of this country.”

These are the obvious truths that the governor said, which are within his rights.

What happened next?

As anyone who has been observing trends would have predicted, the NBC in a notice signed by its director general, Balarabe Ilelah,  accused Channels TV of not “thoroughly interrogating” the comments made by Governor Ortom.

“Consequently, Channels Television is required to explain why appropriate sanctions should not be applied for these infractions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code. Your response should reach the Commission within 24 hours of the receipt of this letter,” the notice read.