•••Democracy And Freedom of Speech
By Gabriel Atumeyi
As the Kogi state body politics heats up once again as stakeholders and citizens anticipates going to the polls to determine who wields executive power for the next four years and determine the direction of the state’s forces of our relatively little corner of our beloved country, there has been a clash of temperaments and interests which seems to have torpedoed or is torpedoing beyond acceptable minimum threshold of political truths or rhetorics.
Democracy is but a means to an end, the end of good governance, and the means comes with established standards, criteria and metrics that leads to acceptable goals and ends, which includes most essentially freedom of speech and expression among others such as the rights and freedom of assembly and association. And thus even in vigorous political debates there are acceptable parlance and grammar of politics.
And even the much insulted and Eminent Dr Tom Ohikere among others has shown himself a fine gentleman statesman, given the decorum associate with his use of language that has marked his political antecedent and trajectory, particularly being one of the founding fathers of the APC in Kogi state and currently the chairman of the coalition of Kogi state patriots. As a man i have meet and worked with i am no doubt convinced that his political convictions are borne of love for his home state of Kogi being a scion of a great political family in Kogi Central and with marriage and familiar ties that transcends the three senatorial districts of the state. The mud slinging intended to suppress the judicious perspectives of such a caliber of man will surely not go far as they are the orchestrated handiwork of his political detractors bent on hoodwinking the unsuspecting public. His views on power rotation to Kogi West in particular in that regard is for nothing but fairness and equality. We should not forget that he was key to the media campaign of GYB and worked tirelessly for his victory in 2015 and 2019. So those who are leading the charge don’t even know him or can even piece together the character of the said man. Ohikere is a highly responsible citizen, a father of many graduates, an employer of labour and a man who leads a group of highly acclaimed media workers. So he has earned more than many others the right to his opinion and to express himself without fear or favor and to be listened to keenly and even heeded. For them to them to even say Dr Ohikere is no longer relevant in politics is preposterous. Here is a man who is currently the M.D of the APC NewsOnline Television and was the Chairman of Good Governance for Tinubu/ Shettima campaign at the just concluded general election.
While Kogi state has a long and impressive history of intellectual engagement, recents times have witness a decline culture as the former commisioner of information succinctly puts it, ” The persistent use of intemperate language affects the quality of political discourses and also creates tension. The use of indecorous language in the politics of the state can escalate into serious conflicts with social, political and economic ramifications.
The above position seems to be in harmony with the maxim of the ancient Greek philosophy Diogene who said, ” The most beautiful thing in the world is the freedom of speech.” Freedom of speech is no doubt beautiful because truth especially in a democratic/political setting is not a simple thing as a result of varied interests and perspectives, thus only through systematic analyses and factual arguments can they be established and even then what is the truth today may not be the truth tomorrow. Hence the public and political followership through freedom of speech by hearing opposing and contradicting sides choose which is best suited with their disposition and reasoning strength. But as Winston Churchill once affirmed, “Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.” For one of America’s greatest statesman Benjamin Franklin, there is no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech. And for George Washington, “If the freedom of speech be taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. Similarly for french philosopher, Michel de Montaigne, ” he who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that is reasoning is week”.
That is to say freedom of speech is not possible except in an atmosphere of civility and recognition of rights and political actors should know that they are accountable for their use of words as they are accountable for their actions and as leaders of the people they should hold themselves to a higher standard.
Kogi state politics use to parade such vibrant intellectual gentlemen and democratic mavericks as Sunday Awoniyi, Stephen Achema, A. T Ahmed, Ahmadu Ali, Silas Daniya, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, Muhammed Ohiare, Otaru Salisu Orize among many more who have conducted themselves with great political dexterity and sportsmanship even in defeat and possesses uncommon ability to connect and humbly explain to the common man the priorities of the moment. Always seeking to expand the scope of public debate and possible solutions to social issues.
So diversity of opinion is essentially in a democracy. According to the British philosopher and political economist, J. S Mill who in his seminal work denounced the ‘tyranny of the majority’, he went further to assert that the individual is the only salvation for society. The implication of the above is that while the majority may form a quorum and govern, it doesn’t mean it should trample on the rights and free expression of the individual, as even history and experience has shown that the masses may be wrong and deluded sometimes particularly under the allure of sophistry, pecuniary inducements and other momentary indulgences. Hence in democracies, voters go to the polls periodically to review their political choices and decisions in the light of contemporary realities and new evidences.
If freedom of speech and diversity of opinion be undeniable within political parties, then it will be inevitable on the broader national political level. If Kogi state is to be open for business, for innovation, for innovative ideas that can drive social change, progress and development then it must honour freedom of speech and diversity of opinion as the fundamental device for the aggregation of ideas and for gauging the true public mood. What is required is for this diverse opinions to be coalesced into broad conceptual and ideological outlook and positions for easy reconciliation of interests and resolution of conflicts.
So all those fervently and rabidly attacking people for expressing dissenting opinions from the mainstream perspectives do not understand the basic tenets of democracy and are nothing but ethnic jingoist and bigots whose views will not withstand the assault of superior reasoning and logic. While politics is an arena of competing ideas, reconciliation emerges from negotiations, so without freedom of speech and the freedom to hold individual opinion that differ from the once held by the majority it is not democracy. For a fringe opinion today could be the rave of tomorrow. And as a progressive and forward looking state, and more especially as a progressive and forward looking political party, the APC in Kogi state should create an environment of amity, fraternity and the free exchange of ideas necessary for political maturity, economic innovativeness and sustainable popular acceptability.
Does who seek to overthrow free speech and open political debates are the greatest enemies of democracy and set up the stage for a fascist regime with all the violations of human and property rights associated with it. While the past eight years in Kogi state has been controversial inspite of the modest achievements of the outgoing Bello administration as some stakeholders alleges marginalisation and arm twisting such tales do not augur well for the state and for a party which mounted the rostrum on the change mantra. While the resurgence of the power rotation and power shift movement in recent times have heightened the stakes, there are internal and democratically acceptable ways of diffusing such situation through negotiation and respect for dissenting opinions. Politics is a game of give and take and the strength and coherence of a political party depends on how well it is able to carry everyone along. Suppressing and subduing key stakeholders is a recipe for disaster.
I hope that governor Yahaya Bello and the alleged winner of the APC gubernatorial primary, Usman Ododo will realize that Kogi state unlike any other state in the Nigerian federation is comprised of tribes that are naturally gifted with intelligence and hunger for education, direction and participation in deciding their future especially in light of the chequered history of governance in the state since the return of democracy in 1999.
Given the political permutations, the 2023 Governorship election will be a game of wit and dr Ohikere i ardently believe possesses the network, both national and locally and other necessary instrumentalities to be a deciding factor when the curtain comes down. He has great leverage with the national media establishment and has maintain a robust relationship with the Kogi state chapter of the NUJ. So the man and myth is still a relevant player in politics, especially politics in Kogi state and will do an extraordinary job leading the onslaught of the media components of the Kogi state APC gubernatorial campaign machinery.
Gabriel Atumeyi is a public affairs analyst and the secretary of the APC BroomPlatform he writes from Abuja.
