Mr Femi Falana, a Nigerian Senior Advocate and human rights activist, warned on Friday that Nigeria and some other African countries are currently leaning toward repression and criminalization of freedom of expression.
He went on to say that, although claiming to be civilian presidents, coup generals and benefactors continue to recycle themselves in power, and that Nigeria is still run as if it were ruled by a military dictatorship.
Falana, who spoke at the Media Foundation for West Africa’s fifth annual West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards, stressed that society must strive to safeguard press freedom, broaden its bounds, and ensure that it is respected.
The conference’s theme was ‘Misinformation, Digital Media Regulation, and Journalism in Africa,’ and it was held in Accra, Ghana.
Falana added, “In the last 22 years of post-military rule, former military rulers, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, have been presidents for 14 years, during which they have continued the military culture of oppression. Even though they claim to be civilian presidents, that country is ruled as if we are under a military dictatorship.”
He claimed that the government in West Africa seeks to regulate and censor social media in the name of combating fake news, but that the government, which says lies on a regular basis and distributes propaganda to fool the people, then accuses the media of propagating fake news.
While praising the MFWA for its participation to the sub-effort region’s to decriminalize press freedom, Falana stated that freedom of expression must be decriminalized, as it has been in Ghana and Liberia.
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