If you were ever in doubt, the events of the past few days have shown that Desmond Elliot has earned his cap as a great actor.
The member representing Surulere Constituency 1 in the Lagos House of Assembly came out to give a thoroughly melodramatic speech on Thursday; debunking ‘rumours’ that he, with lawmakers, were working on a bill to regulate social media.
Barely 24 hours later, video evidence came forth showcasing the politician actually attacking the use of social media; demanding for its regulation. His insistence was on it being a tool used by ‘children’ to attack their elderly leaders. According to him, a social media clampdown was a priority.
“In the next five years, Nigerian is gone if we don’t start now,” he said.
Similarly, Minister of Culture and Information, Lai Mohammed, has opined that social media will destroy us if it is not regulated. He has called for a way social media would be shut down at will.
As much as such bants can come off as a joke and humorous, we should take it seriously- very seriously. This is an attempt by the government to restrict our free speech- our fundamental human right.
The anger and fervency in which they are pushing this narrative should not be met with complaceny. Or else we would be taking retrogressive steps back into dictatorship.
Toluwanimi Onakoya is a spirited writer, creative and videographer. Her biggest drive is to connect with people and depict tales using various forms of media.
Toluwanimi is available on Instagram and Twitter @nimi_onaks
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