Nigeria Village Square

Freedom Of Speech And Opinion

Posted by Michael Femi Ewetuga on December 19, 2005   |

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The freedom to express one’s opinion is said to be an inalienable right, that is a right that that should not be taken away from anyone. In order to ensure that people are free to express themselves most civilized countries have that right entrenched in their constitution. But like all rights it is not absolute, it has its limit and that limit is not left to the whims and caprices of any individual.

It is a thing of joy that we can express our views even though we do not agree with each other and we ought not to agree with each other all the time.

Those who believe in one Nigeria are entitled to that belief, those who advocate for it’s break up have freedom of expression except that under the law that would be illegal. It is just like advising Nigerians to go steal from the people who steal public funds, that would be a good thing in some people’s opinion since all they would be doing is getting back what rightly belong to them but the law says that is not an excuse and the people who perpetuate this would be charged with theft and you can be sure would be convicted since it is legal to take the law into your hands.

If someone in exercising his freedom of speech expresses an opinion, some expressing their own freedom have every right to disagree with the opinion of that person and that would be legal.

Okonkwo has the right to express his opinion to have a separate nation out of Nigeria. Some of us disagree with him and the law of course would punish such a step should one be taking to actualize that dream since that would be against the law.

Taslim has the right to opine that Obasanjo’s government is the best thing to happen to Nigeria. Some of us disagree with him but he has the right to say that and that of course is not against the law.

Abati is a fine writer that more often than not raises some nice points that are germane to the Nigerian question. I respect him as an individual and have been reading his columns in the papers and listening to him on patitos gang but that doesn’t mean that I agree with all his points. Some I do agree with.

Even the legal big wigs in Nigeria, Prof. Sagay and Gani Fawehinmi disagree as to whether or not Alams immunity extends beyond the shores of Nigeria.

There are always two sides to a coin. There’s a Yoruba adage that says we can not all sleep and have our heads in the same direction. That would be sad indeed.

The fact that we do not agree with each other does not mean we should abuse each other or believe that we are better than the next person. People have reasons for their opinions and even though some might think that their reasons are stupid or childish they still have the right to their opinion.

I believe in one Nigeria and as such share that opinion with people such as Taslim Anibaba, I love Nigeria, Uche, Ajia and maybe Palamedes, at least from their contributions on this board. People like Okonkwo and others appear to disagree with us. Which is fine so far as it remains an opinion.

I however belief it is wrong for Mr. Anibaba, some of whose opinion I respect to state thus in his contribution to Mr. Balogun’s article:

“ Those Who Matter In Nigeria, The Real Stakeholders Are Talking And Encouraging Mr. President So It Is Not Important What Some Janitors And Cab Drivers Somewhere Far From Nigeria And Who Apparently Do Not Even Know The Country's Constitution Say”

No one has monopoly of wisdom. To me these words are what is making our leaders unpopular.

It is sad that those who spent years in school graduated and could not secure a job in Nigeria as a result of which they had to leave that country. Some of these people are lawyers, doctors, engineer and the like. Some of these people were not given the positions that they are qualified to occupy in their host countries and thus have to do what it takes to write the qualifying examinations in their various fields.

I know a friend of mine that I graduated with from OAU, we also went to the law school together. He is in UK now and is into computer business. Does that disqualify him from being a stakeholder and does that mean he doesn’t matter when it comes to Nigeria? It is his country and being a trained lawyer would it be right to say he doesn’t know what the constitution says because he doesn’t support the modus operandi of this administration? There’s also a colleague of mine who now lives in Chicago. He used to be a cab driver before he qualified as an IT Auditor. Does the same thing apply to him? Another colleague of mine is in UK now and he’s into the health profession. Is he disqualified too? There’s another friend of mine in Dallas Texas who, thank God was an engineer in Nigeria and is in that profession here in the USA. Does that disqualify him? Dr. Balogun that Mr. Anibaba agreed with his article is living abroad. Is he disqualified too? I used have my Law Office on Lewis Street right across from the sandgrouse market and it was demolished due to lack of respect by Nigerian police. I have brothers and sisters, nieces and of course my kids still living in Nigeria. I am a qualified lawyer in Nigeria but presently doing security job in the USA, does that make me any less a stakeholder in Nigeria? I spent 2 semesters studying the constitution amongst other subjects. Does that mean I don’t know the constitution?

In America, some people agree with President Bush that terrorists should be hunted and brought to justice; some do not agree with the way he’s going about it. The president himself refers to their most precious document as piece of paper. Someone reminded him that he’s President Bush not king Bush. Does that make his opponents less Americans than he is?

Like I told Mr. Taslim in one of his earlier articles, it is wrong to cast a sweeping aspersion on a class. Everyone, whether we agree with their views or not who are Nigerians and even those who are not Nigerians are stakeholders as far as that country is concerned, and no one opinion is superior to the other but that of the majority. Majority can be wrong too sometimes.

Some of the people who are opposed to Obasanjo today do so on principled ground. When he was in prison people like Wole Shoyinka, Gani Fawehinmi, Femi Falana and others were at the fore front of his release. This are people I LOVE NIGERIA referred to derogatorily.

When an opinion is expressed here, let’s have the grace of letting people comment and let’s have the maturity of ignoring those who resort to insult rather than reason to attack our views. Once you start talking like them they have succeeded in bringing you to their level of immaturity.

MICHAEL EWETUGA