How to kill Hate-Speech Bill, by Osoba

By Musa Odoshimokhe

Former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba on Tuesday urged the media to expose the dangers in the Hate Speech Bill to ensure it does not become law.

He spoke when he chaired the presentation of two books “The Gatekeepers” and “160 Years of Nigerian Journalism” published by Posterity Media, in Lagos.

Osoba said: “The challenge before all of you (the media) is to use your writings, columns and editorial to expose the ills in the bill.

“You must make a presentation to the committee (during the public hearing). Those of you in Abuja should appear before the committee to make your position clear.”

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Osoba said the social media space has been abused by those who claim to be journalists but are untrained.

He said: “I must admit that we are embarrassed by the social media. They are not trained in the profession. They don’t subscribe to our code of conduct and we must rise to defend the profession.”

The book reviewer, The Nation Associate Editor Olukorede Yishau said Nigerian journalists were rarely celebrated.

He added that “The Gatekeepers”, which documents the contributions of notable journalists, was a call to duty.