Securitising

The country director of Amnesty International (AI) Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, says the federal government is “highly sensitive to criticism” and only focuses on appearances. Ojigho stated this on Thursday while addressing the topic “Is Freedom of Speech in Danger in Nigeria?” during a virtual conversation, tagged ‘Thursday Talks’. The virtual conversation, which is a monthly programme focused on engaging thought leaders, was moderated by Adeboye Adegoke, senior programme manager at Paradigm Initiative. The AI country director described the government’s ban on Twitter and its proposed amendment to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) code as attempts to gag criticism. “What we are seeing is a government that is highly sensitive to criticism and, as such, seeks to work more on the public re...