Dead-on-Arrival Anti-Social Media Bill Still Kicking In Nigeria's Senate. By Caleb Jarikre.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Lovers of freedom, including social media activists and rights groups, cannot afford to let down guard on their stout opposition to the proposed anti-social media bill sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (APC Kebbi South), and clearly designed to censor and limit freedom of expression in Nigeria. 

To quell our agitation, and lull us into a false sense of security, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki has described the obnoxious bill as “dead-on-arrival.” But it would be a huge mistake to take his assurance as a settled deal, and go to sleep. Rather than being withdrawn, work has continued earnestly on the bill. While we wish it could just fade away like a bad dream, it has garnered support from serious stakeholders in the polity. 

At a public forum in Abuja, two weeks ago, to discuss the bill, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed threw his considerable weight behind the proposed law, saying that both corporate bodies and individuals needed to be safeguarded against misinformation and frivolous accusation.

He said, “The very use of the word, frivolous, it connotes unseriousness, ill-motivation and ( is) suggestive of bad faith which is not within the contemplation of the constitutional provision of freedom of expression.”

When an individual of immense gravity like Nigeria’s Chief Justice who is supposed to be an impartial arbiter, shows his open support for a proposed legislation that has generated controversy and anger, no one needs to be told on the side of civil society groups they should be vigilant and cautious. 

Certain power-brokers in this country meant business concerning the passage of this sinister bill. Lai Mohammed, the country’s Information minister, has never hidden his obsession to regulate the social media in whatever way he could. Aware of how APC, of which he was the propaganda wizard, deployed its use to abuse, castigate and demonize the former president, Goodluck Jonathan with impunity in their bid to capture power – without suffering retaliation from the latter – the ruling government is now afraid the tables would be turned against them with the social media tactics unleashed earlier by Lai Mohammed’s e-squads.

Indeed, no totalitarian, insecure ruler would be comfortable with the free-wheeling, mobile technology of social media which has empowered many who hitherto were voiceless. With your laptop or smart-phone, and internet data in place – provided that PCHN is generous with electricity supply or you have the scarce commodity of petrol in your Generator – you are good to go! Having done your research, investigation or inquisition, you can write, edit and press the “publish” button. To inform, advocate and entertain. With no one else but your conscience, personal integrity and value system acting as gate-keepers! 

To a professed “born-again democrat” like President Muhammed Buhari for which no evidence exists that he is weaned from his old dictatorial, draconian ways, the seemingly unrestrained terrain of social media is a claw in the throat. Though he has tried to distance himself from the anti-social media so that he would not be seen as attempting to resurrect the ghost of Decree 4, it’s foolishness to take his protestation of innocence beyond its face value. 

Through his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, the president had said in December 2015 that the principle of the bill was inconsistent with the democratic ideals of free speech enshrined in the constitution of the land. In his words, “The President won’t assent to any legislation that may be inconsistent with the constitution of Nigeria.” Gauging correctly the mood of the country, the president also acknowledged: “As a key component of democratic principles, Nigerians are so emotionally attached to free speech that they would defend it with all their might.”

At a high-profile social media confab, Social Media Week Lagos, last month, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, also spoke to social media activists in a seemingly harmless tone. “ As far as I am concerned, we are all on the same side. I strongly believe that there is a role of the social media platform in our governance. You’ve helped in the election, you’ve helped in improving governance. So I don’t think there is anybody who will want to ensure you don’t play that role,” he said.

But, understandably, concerns refuse to go away that the bill will introduce possible draconian punishment for writing or saying anything online that is interpreted by officialdom to be wrong or frivolous.

An internet activist, Gbenga Sesan, has described the bill as “vaguely worded, misguided legislation.”

Now the bill, officially titled, “An act to prohibit frivolous petitions; and other matters connected therewith” has been attacked and questioned by indignant activists as a way to severely punish anyone who dares to show dissent online against government. With its disproportionate and obtuse restrictions, if the bill is allowed to pass, anyone convicted under it faces jail time and fines of up to 2 million naira. ($10,000)

Have the social media platforms been proved to play influential role to drive change and transparency in our elections so far? Undoubtedly. It is also true that social media has helped to improve governance at every level. Administrators are kept on their toes, as they have to constantly watch over their back against whistleblowers blowing their cover.  Yet the political elite’s concerns are misplaced that the millions of people in Nigeria on social media will abuse those platforms in attacking government agencies and individual politicians. 

It cannot be denied that social media has given millions of Nigerians unprecedented freedom of expression that government finds difficult to control. Government in Nigeria should not be afraid, but rather should aim to be transparent in their dealings, which will fall squarely in line with the country’s current fight against corruption. It’s only those who have things to hide that should be afraid of being exposed. Instead of feeling insecure and frustrated that they are placed under undue scrutiny, those in government at any level or branch should learn to sublimate their frustration under the assumption that as leaders, they should take not only the applause, but the barbs as well.  They have the power and the glory. Do they want to take our voice as well? No way!

Seriously, any discussion on the bill should cease forthwith as it has a sinister and diversionary agenda. As a country with different ethnic nations striving to work with a united purpose, we cannot pretend that we have divergent values and beliefs, along religious and cultural lines. By the way, who is going to define what is frivolous? If I dare raise my voice to question that the presidency appears to have selective memory as nothing has been heard from Buhari since the horrendous Agatu killings by Fulani herdsmen, would that be termed frivolous? If I take my pen to criticize El’Rufai. Governor of Kaduna, for having the reckless audacity to persecute Christians in his misguided attempt to give a one-year renewable licence for anyone to preach the gospel anywhere in his state, an undeniable affront and contravention of the holy command of Jesus Christ – it is unimaginable abomination to take permission from any man, governor or king, in order to preach the gospel – would I be convicted for frivolous accusation?

 If I raised a question why soldiers should humiliate and brutalize arm-less and defenceless aged women in Eku, Delta State for protesting the alleged stealing and seizure of their community land, would I be charged for frivolity in my petition?  If I take my pen today to write a blistering tirade against Babatunde (Superman) Fashola’s inability to fix the country’s electricity problem within six months – a feat that does not require an expertise in rocket science – knowing the lack of electricity supply is breeding laziness and poverty, killing innovation and destroying the spirit of enterprise, would I be convicted for frivolous writing online?

Frankly, enough said, but I’m getting in touch respectfully with my capable Senator Ovie Omo-Agege (Delta Central) to distance himself from this mischievous bill, or we will wait for him during the next election. It’s that serious!

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.

Tough Love From Speaker Ryan For Donald Trump. By Caleb Jarikre.

Paul Ryan.

Paul Ryan, speaker of the house, charged GOP candidates to stop campaigning on the politics of fear and divisiveness. In a speech that is out to annihilate the core of Trump’s message, Speaker Ryan warned that the presidential race is tearing America apart.

The 30-minute speech billed as the “State of American politics” given in a flag-draped Ways and Means Committee room in the Longworth House Office Building, is heart-felt, arguably inspiring, but undeniably tinged with self-recrimination and remorse. It may prove to be very decisive in a political season where people who subscribe to Trumpism think it is wrong to admit or apologize for where you went wrong. 

Clearly, Speaker Ryan’s attempt to inject some civility and rationality back in the race is a political intervention no one should sneer at who is serious about repairing the political system that is broken down.

“We shouldn’t accept ugliness as the norm,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “It did not used to be this bad and it does not have to be this way.” He spoke to an audience mostly made up of congressional interns, saying, “Instead of playing to your anxieties, we can appeal to your aspirations. Instead of playing the identity politics of our base versus their base, we unite people around ideas and principles. And instead of being timid, we go bold. We don’t just resort to scaring you, we dare to inspire you.”

This is challenging and unsparing for a message targeted at Republican politicians running for the White House in a campaign marked by profanity and unrelenting bully tactics.

He continued, “We are slipping into being a divisive country. We are speaking to each other in echo chambers where we only talk to people who agree with us and we think there is something wrong with people who don’t agree with us. We question and impugn motives instead of test the original thesis.”

Ryan owned up to not always taking his own advice. Candidly, he recalled how he once termed American society as a place made up of “makers” and “takers” with reference to the divide between those who subside on government assistance and those who create jobs.

“As I spent more time listening, and really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized I was wrong,” Speaker Ryan said. “ ‘Takers’ wasn’t how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap, just trying to take care of her family. Most people don’t want to be dependent. And to label a whole group of Americans that way was wrong. I shouldn’t castigate a large group of Americans to make a point.”

For denouncing the political environment while sparing the person they think created it, top-ranking Democrats on Capitol Hill were not prepared to give Ryan’s speech an easy pass.

“Speaker Ryan is speechifying on the deck of the Titanic, running a do-nothing Congress while supporting Donald Trump, a racist demagogue, for president. Speaker Ryan’s words will ring hollow until he backs them up with action and withdraws his support from Donald Trump,” Adam Jentleson, spokesman for Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, said in a written statement.

At this stage, frankly speaking, denouncing Mr. Trump and withdrawing support for his controversial candidacy should not be such a hard thing for Speaker Ryan to do. Mitt Romney is resolute in his fight to prevent Donald Trump from getting the Republican nomination, and has thrown his considerable weight behind Ted Cruz. Jeb Bush has denounced Trump without reservation, and endorsed Ted Cruz.

Despite his threat that his not getting the nomination would provoke unimaginable riots – this is a strange first, for me, where an American presidential candidate would actually promote violence, like a despot or warlord in a Third world country – the sky is cloudy and ominous for The Donald.

Khloe Kardashian Tried To Get Pregnant For Lamar Odom To Fix Their Marriage. By Caleb Jarikre.

Khloe Kardashian.

Khloe Kardashian, on Wednesday, March 23 episode of Kocktails with Khloe, admitted that she had wanted desperately to have a baby to fix her marriage with Lamar Odom, the basketball star.

She said: "I do want to have a baby in life. I tried IVF and all that. But I'm also, right now in my life, I don't just want to have a baby. I still want to have my family."

She explained what she found out when she went through IVF in order to get pregnant.

"At the time, I was like, 'Oh, I've got to have a baby!' " She said. "That's all I wanted at the time, and I thought it would maybe fix the situation  with Lamar, so I'm also happy it didn't happen because I was young. I was 27, and I thought, 'A baby will fix this, and it's not going to fix that."

Was she misguided and desperate in her thoughts to have a baby to save her marriage? Does it feel right that she's happy now she never had a baby? Well, friends, let's hold out a prayer for this beautiful and talented young woman who's not afraid to let it all hang out.

 

Be Patient with Buhari - Tinubu pleads. By Felix N.Jarikre.

Senator Bola Tinubu.

National leader of the All progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu,  reassures Nigerians that the change agenda under President Muhammadu Buhari has not derailed.

According to Senator Tinubu, the process of change requires time, coming especially after “the conscience of our nation has been under attack for many years. We were handed a way of governance in which anything goes and too much went – as if gone with the wind. Our present was squandered and future mortgaged.”

He spoke at the 40^th Convocation ceremony of the Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto , on March 19,2016, where he was awarded the Doctor of Business Administration honoris causa.

 Pleading for patience and support for the APC administration, Tinubu said, “The truth today is that Nigeria has the greatest opportunity to get it right with a leader like Muhammadu Buhari. There is much to fix. President Buhari is committed to fixing them. But he needs your support and patience.

“He cannot do it alone. We must stand beside him or else we may be knocked down or not stand at all. Thus, let us be resolved to see reform and change that will make Nigeria rise as the nation it should be.

“It is easy for those who are greedy to think that change is easy. Change is not about the comfort of today, but success of tomorrow. Nigeria was in the rollercoaster of losing hope. Then our party brought cure. Don’t let anybody deceive you, the cure is here.”

He added further, “I am honoured to be at the historic seat  of the Caliphate, a place where history, culture, religion and tradition merge to form the architecture of one of the world’s most impressive and venerable civilizations.

“The man after whom the institution is named was a foremost Islamic scholar. An extraordinary leader who understood the deep yearnings and needs of the people. He provided visionary yet practical leadership, and taught us all that we must be ready to personally sacrifice to advance and secure those things in which we truly believe.

“Nigeria has begun the process of turning to its better self. The government of President Buhari is cleaning out the rot of years of galloping corruption and avarice. This government is also moving to pursue policies that will spark development and bring prosperity to long oppressed Nigerians.

“Be reminded that this will be a battle. No battle is easy. We must be firm in our resolve to reform the nation. We must have the courage to stand firm in the times of difficulty, having faith that the rightfulness of our cause will see us through to the success of our collective efforts and yearnings.”

My Take: If flowery rhetoric could excavate the hopes of Nigerians for consistent, positive change, this one would do it. But when people say “talk is cheap” , Tinubu’s speech will be held as a prime example. Critics say that President Buhari has not been able to divest himself of the perception that his drive is about a naked lust for power, and not a resolve to put Nigeria on the path of accelerated progress. In elections conducted under Buhari so far, from Kogi to Bayelsa to Rivers states, what we have witnessed is a descent unto lawlessness, impunity and  “inconclusiveness.”

 The deception and lies with which APC has conducted governance is not only baffling, but unprecedented. The language of violence, abuse and condescension which APC introduced into our politics in a desperate bid to unseat Goodluck Jonathan has not left us. We witnessed that recently with Rotimi Amaechi, Federal Minister of Transport, without a shred of evidence, calling Governor Nyesom Wike an ambitious thief who collected loans from banks on behalf of Rivers State to put into his private pockets.

On the economy, the less said the better, as the teeth of poor Nigerians are set on edge. On foreign affairs, with all the president’s endless junketing to foreign lands, to hear that Buhari has neglected the secularity of our constitution to join the Saudi-led controversial Islamic Military Coalition Against Terrorism has left many Nigerians perplexed and angry.  Christians who voiced their displeasure are insensitively called  “religious bigots” by the president. Yet this is a move the president shouldn’t have unilaterally made without being subject to a public debate, and consent by NASS.

On the war against corruption, the selectivity and vindictiveness with which the president has pursued it with known and perceived political adversaries as targets has left many impartial Nigerians thoroughly dissatisfied.

Nigerians are told to sacrifice, but the ruling government has not departed from its wasteful habits, as evidenced by the bloated 2016 budget, with every pore leaking with corruption.

The people are patient, ready to cooperate and stand with Buhari. But is the Buhari-led government ready to reciprocate this gesture? Or will Nigerians continually be taken for granted?

And the implied threat in Tinubu’s words that “we must stand beside him (Buhari) or else we may be knocked or not stand at all” is definitely arrogant, delusional and asinine. The idea that we don’t have a choice concerning Buhari’s behaviour in power is stupid and should be deflated. 

If Buhari choose to be lawless, we can resist, and withdraw our cooperation. We cannot go back to 1984!

He calls them God! by Felix N. Jarikre.

“Education, government, business, the media, and in many cases, religion, have moved through progressive stages of secularization from Christianity to atheism. As a result, God is not merely ignored but rather is resented, opposed and vilified at every opportunity. With unimaginable arrogance, our society has declared Jesus Christ to be persona non grata in the culture.” – Dave Breeze, author, 7 men who rule the world from the grave.

I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? – John 10: 30-36.

The fool says in his heart “There is no God.” This is not original to me; a verse in the Psalms say so. He is called a fool because by saying there is no God, he not only negated, but obliterated himself. This fool in his arrogance makes his existence questionable and untenable.

The other day I came across a meme on the internet that went something like this: “ I believe in creationism. I am a creationist. Man created God.” This is supposed to be a clever-by-half mockery and a quick put-down of creationists who believe there is an Intelligent Designer/God behind all creation. 

I had to laugh to chase away the sudden flash of anger that went through me. What would one not endure in a world where stupidity or reprobate attitude is celebrated? Then another thought came to me. How long are you going to endure evolutionists and atheists flaunting their ignorance before your face without countering with the truth you have learned? 

Though I acknowledged to myself that telling the truth is not about winning a debate, but demonstrating the power of God Almighty.

Yet at a time when Islamic terrorism is stoking its agenda to over-run the nations through mass deception and shock tactics of terror with Christians as targets for beheading and drowning in the Middle East and parts of Africa; at a time when the seduction of secularism and atheism has almost neutralized Western civilization; and the Christian church is calcified in the pacifist mode of turn-the-other-cheek, and has yet to develop an adequate response to robustly counter-act Islamic terrorism due to her ignorance and complacency; at a time when the lie is sneakily being pushed in Africa that Christianity is a White man’s religion, we must have the courage to articulate and speak the truth, and nothing but the truth, to any ear that is willing to hear.

Man is God! Jesus Christ, in his earthly ministry, had never been ashamed to reveal his filial identification with the Maker of the Universe, whom He called “Father.” That makes Jesus the Son. He said: “I and my Father are one.” When the Jews – who  had no conception of God as the “Father”  in their religion – heard what Jesus said, they were incensed, and took up stones to stone him to death. They accused Jesus of blasphemy, a serious crime.  How dare him, being a mere man, make himself God? They were not angry for the good works He was doing; healing the sick, raising the dead, making the lame to walk, giving sight to the blind, feeding the hungry multitude with a few bread and fishes that were supernaturally multiplied etc. No, they might be jealous, but the good works they could tolerate. They wanted to kill Jesus because he said categorically there was no difference or division between Him and God. Equality with God was not something He grasped, but given. For defence, Jesus quickly threw their own law back in the face: “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken...” 

I submit to you in passing that the hatred, winds of deception, envy, persecutions, and bestial violence directed by Satan and his cohorts against Christians is to prevent them from discovering that Man is God!  (To be continued)

Felix N.Jarikre.