Before the Bill against Self Expression in Social Media is Passed

1. They promised us unemployment benefits during elections. They took it to the legislature and struck it out.

2. They promised us that the price of fuel in the international market will be hiked and stabilized for more revenue, and reduced locally But they won't even sit down at their posh residence in Aso Villa to do anything about it. Neither are they concerned about the fuel scarcity that has crippled the nation for almost a month now. 

3. They promised us that they will boost our economy and put money in our pockets through job creation and employment. Now their governors are threatening that they either cut down the meager N18,000 minimum wage or they retrench. 

4. They promised to end insurgency within three months. Yet they won't come out to tell us that our soldiers are being massacred in their hundreds. Haven't they moved the army headquarters to the Notheast? What is happening now? 

5. They promoted a campaign of calumny against the previous government with the Chibok girls. Now no Chibok girl has been found and yet those who made camps in the open have packed up and left. We can now see that they were not concerned about Chibok, let alone their girls. They had one thing in mind and that has been achieved. 

6. They used Sahara Reporters to get to power, now that Sahara Reporters tells them the same truth they told others, they call it "a threat to our democracy."

As if these are not enough, they want to gag Nigerians. They are afraid of being told the same "truth" they told their predecessors. They are now pursuing an Anti-Social media bill in the Senate. They want it so badly they are fast-tracking it. 

Can someone tell me how this bill will help to fight the corruption they promised to exterminate? I know, some people will shout the name, Dasuki! If you just did, then permit me to tell you that you have fallen victim to the same propaganda that PDP and its cohorts used. What can we say for sure about the Dasuki case? All the stuff we read, in the social media, about his confessions have also been refuted in the social and print media. What this government is doing portends a greater omen for this country and its people. They leak stories about Dasuki to keep us busy, fighting and defending a defenseless subject. Is Dasuki the only corrupt Nigerian? What about those who have been compensated with ministerial appointments. Are we so forgetful that we don't remember that out of the 16 years PDP purportedly destroyed our country that OBJ was in in-charge of 8? In fact, he started it. Today, he has been washed in the cleansing stream of support for APC. He has been told: "Go home and sin no more." In saner climes, if this government has any seriousness about prosecuting their corrupt predecessors, they should have started with the Oga patapata, the chief cornerstone of PDP's "evil reign" of 16 years. So my dear Nigerians, Dasuki is a wanton distraction. Do not be deceived. If you are in doubt, remove Dasuki and tell me any other campaign promise that has been achieved in six months.

My concern here is the social media bill, a pet project of this administration. This kind of thought is recompense for a generation that preferred NEPA bills over educational certificates. Before the bill is passed, I hope it won't be retrogressive like the infamous Decree 4, let me tell the President what he needs. 

Sir, what you need most is to find a very viable information dissemination medium. Rumors and gossip thrive where people hardly hear anything from their leaders. You have a lot of press secretaries, create an Aso Rock spokesperson who will be holding periodic press conferences where he or she will be giving out official information. They may not be exactly true, but at least the people can know for sure what version of the story the government has given. Let's take the Dasuki case for example. It may be done by EFCC or DSS, since I believe Aso a Rock isn't involved here, one person should come out and separate facts from fiction. I am also aware that it is possible that people in government leaked information about the confessions; the billions purportedly given to Bafarawa for spiritual prayers, to Dokpesi and yet his staff didn't receive salaries for long, and others; it is done in other climes too. Afterwards, the government will come out with an official side. You don't need another Decree 4, sir. The world has moved over 30 years beyond that. If you doubt my take on the need for a government spokesperson's weekly press conference, can I ask whether anyone knows this government's official stance on the Remita N25 billion daily allowance? It seems to have become silenced or did I miss the news?

One thing that I keep wondering is whether the promoters this bill considered the financial implication of its implementation. This will require the American NSA type of surveillance hardware and software to tap phones and read people's messages without their knowledge. Or are they just promoting this bill in order to deal with select perceived enemies which means they will just select a few people and be watching their FB posts? What of BBM chats? In the UAE at one time, they blocked such chats in their country because the government could not monitor it since the Canadian company that owns Blackberrry refused to grant them access to their database. What of WhatsApp and other mediums of chatting? How are they going to monitor that? Methinks that this bill should contain such in order to remove ambiguities.

If you as me again, sir, in this generation, this bill is retrogressive. You can grant interviews to the local press once in a while rather than speak to foreigners alone. At least GEJ, had a sham of a Meet the Press which ran for sometime on NTA. You can borrow that, make sure you get loyal journalists like your predecessor did. And then voila! After all, the previous Oga was even interviewed by D'Banj. Please, avoid such absurdities.

Before I go, sir, may I advise that what you need is not a bill to monitor your critics, but a means of checking your so-called supporters. My study of people in power shows that their failure or success depends on the people they listen to. Remember that those who are around you owe their positions to you, as such, they may not tell you all the truths. To them, those positions are more important to them than losing your trust. Hence, they will tell you from half-truths to outright lies. But your critics have nothing at stake. If you listen to them more, even those who speak out of hatred, you will sure find areas of weakness in your government and can make amends from there. I have said my own.