Hate Speech : Emir of Kano Cautions Media Chiefs on Ethics

Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano

Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said that accommodating hate speech and inflammatory comments by on FM radio stations in the state was a recipe for disaster at the time Kano was in dire need of lasting peace.

Speaking at a meeting with Chief Executives of respective FM radio stations in Kano at his palace on Thursday, Sanusi said the attitude of giving access to political jobbers to engage in negative and destructive spin can ignite tension and cause chaos in a volatile city like Kano, adding that as responsible heads of their stations they had an abiding obligation to nip the trend in the bud.
According to him, there were rules and regulations guiding the practice of the journalism profession which the practitioners of the pen must strive to uphold.

He stressed that it was the sole responsibility of the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC) to monitor the activities and operations of Radio Stations everywhere in the country for the excesses of masters of negative spin to be checked.

Citing the example of the recent murder of Bridget, the 74-year-old Southern woman hacked to death by an angry mob for allegedly blaspheming the holy Prophet of Islam to buttress his point, the monarch said the issue was blown out of proportion and highly politicized by those who hide under the right to freedom of expression to settle their scores.
He however stated that it was the highest act of professional irresponsibility for the FM stations to give an unimpeded access to politicians to spit venom on peoples reputation simply because Nigeria was in the grip of a democratic rule and that a lot of water has passed under the bridge as far as the issue of slander and defamation was concerned.

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