The Cost Of Free Speech: When Silence Is Far Safer

In most countries, freedom of speech is one of the fundamental human rights that is entrenched in the constitution. Taking my country, Nigeria, as a case study. Nigeria’s constitution clearly states that every citizen, regardless of status, age, tribe, or religion, has the right to express their takes on matters. This means that as long as you are a bonafied citizen of Nigeria, you cannot be denied this right; you are protected by the constitution. Nigeria operates a rigid constitution. Simply put, the fundamental human rights and every other thing thy has to do with the country are clearly written with permanent ink (or close to) in the constitutional book. With these rights in place, citizens enjoy their stay in the country. Now, the big question is that can our rights be taken from us? Can we be stopped from expressing our opinions?

To start with, there are many reasosn why our freedom of speech can be taken from us. Just because it is written in the constitution that we have the freedom to express our opinions doesn’t mean we can go on rambling on every matter, causing damage to fellow citizens and the country at large. There are limits to how far the law can protect you. This is called the limitation of human rights. In this context, limitation of freedom of speech. However, as long as you don’t trespass and cross these limits, you’ll be under the shed of the law, receiving protection from its wings (or at least that’s how it is meant to be.)

As I mentioned above, freedom of speech has limitations. One of the reasons why your right to express opinions can be taken from you is in cases of defamation. Just because you have the freedom of speech doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want. One line you don’t want to cross is defamation of individuals, especially high-ranking citizens. You cannot taint people’s reputations without solid evidence. Verydarkman, a Nigerian self-acclaimed leader of the youth, is a public figure who has gotten himself into ugly situations because he just wouldn’t stop rambling his mouth. I don’t even follow him on any social media platforms, but I keep seeing his videos, courtesy of Nigerian bloggers.

A few months ago, Verydarkman got arrested and detained for a period of time because he his unbridled comments too far. It was not his first time, but that day, he was fated to face the consequences. He got out of prison, looking like a haggard baboon, one would think he’d stop defaming people and blabbing around, but the reverse is the case. Every day, I keep getting videos of how he keeps talking about different people. Another public figure who also crossed the line and got his rights taken way from him is Dammy Krane, a Nigerian singer. Before he got thrown into prison, he falsely accused Davido of killing his best friend. He said this countless times on his page. For this, he got arrested and thrown into prison. With this, it is evident that the freedom of speech can be taken from you if you cross the line.

Moving on, another reason why your freedom of speech can be taken from you is if your speech contains offensive words or threats. For instance, if someone used the social media to threaten the life of the president, a high-ranking citizen or anyone at all, they may face harsh consequences. n my country, one topic that spites heated arguments and fights is tribal differences. Some people deliberately share false information to lead people astray or turn people from different tribes against each other. For example, a person might head to social media to curate lies about the Igbo tribe planning to execute the leader of the Yoruba tribe. Sunch speech can stir up the country, and that is why if apprehended, such person will face harsh consequences.

However, in some countries, freedom of speech can be taken away for trivial and unjust reasons. In my country, citizens (especially middle and low class citizens) would rather suffer in silence than express their opinions. You express your opinions and the next thing, you see yourself in the back of a police van, that’s if you’re lucky. If you’re not, you could be shot before you even have the chance to blink. In my opinion, staying silent because we are scared of the repercussions of our words counts as infringement of our rights, but that’s the best way. Our lives matter more.

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Thanks for reading.