AS a young man, I quite often heard the Latin phrase: “Vox populi, vox dei”, meaning: “The voice of the people is the voice of God”. Democracy, whatever the brand, is supposed to uphold this.
But the Nigerian people might be too busy to speak; too hungry to talk. Under such circumstances, they need to remain silent. But who better to speak for the people than the National Assembly? That is why parliamentarians are assembled: to speak for their otherwise preoccupied constituents.
In any case, if a country of 220 million people were to allow the people speak, there will be a cacophony. The Tower of Babel would be a child’s play. So, for order and democracy, good governance and maintenance of discipline, if the people must speak, it should be through the mouths of their elected or selected parliamentarians in the National Assembly. After all, the people drink champagne through the throat of their leaders.
This must be the reason, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, introduced his profoundly thoughtful Counter Subversion Bill and other related draft legislation on July 23, 2024.
Trust Nigerians not to listen to simple instructions such as speaking only through parliamentarians. So, the Speaker’s bill, understandably, had to in effect, suspend sections of the Constitution such as the right to assembly, free speech and movement.
Equally, given the fact that governance is such a tasking job that requires the full concentration of the leaders, the Taju bill seeks to stop politicians in power from being distracted or even insulted. So the bill provides that Nigerians should be jailed up to two years or pay a fine of N4 million for any action considered to demean or embarrass a public official.
Does this sound familiar? Maybe not to the Gen Zee generation. But to mine, it was a law we lived with under the military. It was called Decree 4 of 1984 under which if a story, even if true in all material particular, embarrassed a public official, the culprit went to jail for one year. It was a decree promulgated by General Muhammadu Buhari, as he then was. So, for that law and, the Taju bill, the truth is not an amour.
I have to state now that the Speaker is not well advised on the bill and that the law he wishes to push through is in aid of fascism. If I were to say so after the bill becomes law, I may write my columns in the next two years from jail as this comment might be deemed to embarrass the man who is Number Four in the country’s political hierarchy.
The Speaker also seeks a three-year jail term or a N5 million fine for “disrespecting” constituted authorities. This obviously will be quite good to shut the wide mouths of those whose stock in trade is to be disrespectful to our revered leaders or, even make disrespectful skits. They need to be taught that governance is not a joke.
The Speaker is not selfish, so the category of those to be protected under this section are not just our leaders at local government, state and federal levels, but also the leadership of “a community, religion, lawful group”. This means that wherever you are, be careful not to insult leaders at any level, otherwise you may be headed for the jail house.
Nigerians, since colonial times, have been known for protests. Even after independence, the protests continued, especially by students, youths and human rights groups. We have witnessed protests against continued colonial rule, the Anglo-Nigeria Defence Pact, increases in school fees, the IMF Structural Adjustment Programme, fuel price hikes, military misrule, police brutality and, this month, against hunger. All these, under the bill, would become criminal activities.
Clause 3 of the Tajudeen bill, reads: “A person who engages in illegal road traffic functions, illegal roadblocks, imposition of illegal curfews, conducting illegal processions, checkpoints, and other similar acts, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N2,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of five years or both.”
Pro-democracy activists like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu are lucky this type of law did not exist during the fight against military dictatorship and for the actualisation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Otherwise they would have cooled their heels behind bars.
Many Nigerians are fond of using symbols that promote other countries rather than Nigeria. For instance, they wear T-shirts like: ‘I Love New York’. Some hoteliers hoist the flags of various countries and protesters even carry the flags of other countries. All these unpatriotic acts which tend to show loyalty to other countries or promote them, would under this bill, earn 10 years imprisonment or a fine of N5 million.
Some Nigerians always complain about marginalisation. Some even advocate leaving the federation. With this bill, any such agitation has to be done in jail. It states that any statement or action for separatist agitation, attracts a fine of N10,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 25 years or both.
The bill also specifies a fine of N5m, a 10-year prison sentence, or both for anyone found guilty of destroying national symbols, refusing to recite the national anthem and pledge.
Splits occur amongst Nigerians and their groups. Under this bill, anyone who forcefully takes over any place of worship, town hall, school, premises, public or private place, arena, or a similar place, for whatever reason, can be fined N5m, or imprisoned for 10 years or both.
Many civil society organisations are known to receive foreign donations. The bill seeks to criminalise this. It states that a “person who receives financial or political support from a foreign organisation, group or country that is not compatible with the interest, development, security and progress of Nigeria, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N15m or imprisonment for a term of 20 years or both.”
If you are a non-conformist with a propensity to disregard, disobey, or disrespect constituted authority, rules, regulations, order or contravene the law wilfully, under this bill, you are on conviction to spend three years imprisonment at the first instance, and seven years for a subsequent offence or to a fine of N5m or both.
I am not sure if Speaker Abbas read the bill he presented or reflected on it. Otherwise, he would not have included many of the clauses, some of which, quite honestly, are not just absurd but are incomprehensible in a sane society.
He has now announced the withdrawal of the bill. But whether this is a true realisation of the satanic nature of his bill, or a tactical withdrawal is left to be seen. Meanwhile, We Move!
