Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has called on Nigerians to move against the Senate Hate Speech Bill which plans to make hate speech punishable by death. Soyinka made this known on Thursday in Lagos at the maiden edition of the Ripples Nigeria Dialogue.
The move by the Senate stipulates death penalty for offenders but Soyinka said the move is merely to silence criticism from Nigerians.“Nigerians should not be afraid to kick against it, there is no way they will cut off any body’s head,” Soyinka added.
He also called for the dismissal of Defence Minister Alhaji Dan Ali over poor handling of security issues in the country. According to him, that Lake Chad is shrinking is not an excuse for such acts of terrorism.
Soyinka noted that Nigeria is not the first country to experience natural disasters, thus not an excuse to take guns to destabilize other peace loving people in their communities.
