Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday warned individuals and groups against the danger of hate speeches, saying such tendencies have the potential of causing genocide.
According to him, while no narrative is superior enough to displace the nation’s corporate existence, agitations are largely self-serving rather than altruistic.
The acting president gave the warning at a national security seminar on unity in diversity, security and development, organised by the Department of State Service (DSS) in Abuja.
“The witnesses of the horrors of war will not wish it on their worst enemies. Even recalling it may bring back the trauma of that period. The mental and physical scars of war are sometimes so deep that rational thought of something is impugned. But always, hate speech precedes genocide, the greatest tragedy in human history” he said.
Identifying six false narratives causing disunity in Nigeria, Osinbajo noted that the situation is even worse with the social media, a platform that facilitates instant communication of any type of news, most of which are false, divisive and dangerous.
“We must do something about it, we must control it and we must insist that it is not acceptable. Public discourse of any type that is already on the social media, we cannot allow the promotion of it”, he added.
The acting president continued: “I want to advise that we must not repeat the errors of the past. I must also commend the Institute of Security Studies for providing this important platform for reflection on the subject of the corporate existence of Nigeria in its diversity.
“It is easy to take for granted the work that the distinguished faculty here does, but we must remind ourselves that often, the difference between tragedies of human conflict, hate and disunity aid what is said and done or not said and done by those charged with thinking and planning of societies in crucial times”.
