The media is a double-edged tool that is indispensable in the scheme of governance. Historical evidence abounds to show it can be deployed to serve unscrupulous ends, and create social discord. In today’s world, the media –particularly social media – has become the true essence of freedom of expression. It has democratized the way we access vital information. The question of curtailing this freedom, no matter how little, is one which threads the thin line between social accountability and thought policing.

There are 29.3 million social network users in Nigeria, many of whom have reacted to the proposed National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech bill, and the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation and other Related Offences bill.

These bills date back to 2015 when the Senate considered establishing regulations on the use of social media, but stopped on account of similar public outcry. Instead, the Cybercrimes law was enacted to criminalized a few online transactions. Since its enforcement, civil societies and human rights organizations believe journalists like Omoleye Sowore, and at least five bloggers have been victims of the law.

Below are some things to know about the bills

• History has something to say   

Nigeria’s media policy, created in 1987, has always provided that the national interest of Nigeria shall guide the definition of the news. Government control of media channels and content has existed in some form or another for decades. The outcry against the bills only reiterates how embedded social media is in the lives of Nigerians.

• Long overdue  

Social media has been used in the past to spread hate, fear and misinformation – from the Kaduna Declaration of June 2017 which called on all Igbos to exit the North, to the widespread rumors of the President’s death and replacement by a body double. These events have created an urgency for the legal regulation on the use of social media in order to safeguard the unity of the country. In countries such as Singapore, similar measures have been put in place and a politician has already been cautioned in the first use of the country’s ‘fake news’ law which came into effect in October.

Recommendations 

• Qualifying hate speech  

Regulating hate speech is necessary particularly at a time when intolerance and bias sentiments pose a threat to our nation-building, but who determines what amounts to hate speech? A major fear which has fanned the flames of public dissent is the open-ended framework of the proposed bill which is prone to arbitral interpretations.

A way to go about this is to create a multisector committee comprising of the government, – particularly the National Orientation Agency – the civil society, and private media businesses to identify what constitutes hate speech.

• Deliberative Democracy 

Today, just having a 3/4 majority of the National Assembly vote even with the support of a few politicians, is not enough when making laws and policies that concern such a large number of people. Political decisions are increasingly taking public opinion into account via inclusive processes like deliberative referendums and polls.

Taking a more consultative approach, such as organizing a town hall or a public hearing where youth and other stakeholders deliberate on the best way to safeguard freedom of expression while maintaining sanity and Nigeria’s image on social media can be a more effective way to creating a bill.

• Company focused 

Technology companies that provides social media platforms have not had the fair share of laws in Nigeria as more attention is been placed on citizens. However, elsewhere in the world, companies are being held to account for hateful content or falsehoods spread on their platforms. In the United States, Facebook has been embroiled in legislative investigations into its role in compromising elections through its lax advertisement policy.

Quicker and more effective results may be realized from the government redirecting the conversation towards technology companies. They should take responsibility for regulating their platforms and the content that is uploaded therein, as opposed to imposing fines and other penalties on citizens.

The government of Nigeria is keen on exploring alternative avenues to generating revenue. Evident in its unflinching resolve to increase existing tax rates, create new tax categories and service charges, and even ‘name and shame’ 19, 901 defaulters, is the fact that taxation is one major way the federal government of Nigeria intends to plug its revenue gap.

Despite reports and commendations about doubling tax revenues, Nigeria’s tax to GDP rations continues to hover around 6%, far below the 20% average in sub-Saharan Africa, and even the 15% prerequisite necessary to provide adequate public services.

Yet, Nigeria’s problem is not limited to low tax rates or an inadequate tax to GDP ratio. It is becoming increasingly clear that the way taxes are introduced and/or raised is a key success indicator raising tax revenue – equitably and without impeding growth in the sectors where they are introduced.

Avoiding double taxation, showcasing the infrastructures developed using already collected taxes, actual improvements to quality of life as a direct result of tax revenue, and adequate communication with the citizenry before proposing increased taxes are some of the key indices StateCraft Inc. finds will affect Nigeria’s proposition to raise taxes in 2020.

To this end, we have made the following recommendations:

• Learning phase 

Like any other policy, it is important for the government to only initiate tax increments when it has put in adequate efforts to give citizens proper information regarding the need, as well as the use to which new revenues will be put – for the benefit of all.

• Messaging phase  

Proper audience segmentation is important for effective communication – more so in taxation than for many other things. Research shows that a message about the impact of taxes on public services can lead to increased tax compliance among a group of citizens and while increasing avoidance amongst another group. Properly segmenting communication efforts – considering the government’s focus on the digital economy – will help to ensure that efforts to promote financial inclusion, digitisation and integration of informal sects will not be put at risk.

• Reward policy  

Having established proper tax communication frameworks, citizens should be incentivised, using proper and non-contradictory channels, to voluntarily comply with new taxes. A recent example of this done right is the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS).

The incentives do not necessarily have to be tax holidays or subsidies – which often come with problems of their own. Incentives can be in form of recognition of tax champions for specific citizen segments or rebates in recognition of the inadequacy of infrastructure and double taxation. Countries like Ethiopia and Indonesia have reaped rewards with the introduction of reward policies for tax.

• Phasing implementation   

In order to avoid the populace recoiling and simply revolting – as seen in 2007, when the last proposal to double VAT rates was shut down by a critical mass – the government must appropriately space the proposition to increase taxes and the implementation. It is during this period that the above recommendations will be conceived and communicated to increase the chances of compliance.

Adebola released a speech on “Building Prosperity”.

Trends across the world have brought to light the fact that it takes more than establishing a coalition of states such as the European or African Union to have true unity.  

Within Africa, recent events – from xenophobic attacks in South Africa to the conflict in Sudan, the migration and refugee crises in Libya, and the seemingly unending conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo – already raise serious questions about unity within individual countries and by extension, within the continent.  

In view of this prevalence, it is our conclusion that unity can be established within or outside of a union. To successfully achieve this, however, policies that promote unity need to be implemented across borders.  

StateCraft Inc. hereby recommends the following policies to African leaders and change makers as solutions to the festering problem of discordance, while promoting social harmony. 

• Reforming the educational system 

Many of the youths instigating violence across Africa have little knowledge of the long-held relationship between African countries and how far African countries have been instrumental in the growth and development of one another.  It has become imperative to reform the educational system to include teaching the shared history of decolonization and nationalist movements in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. 

• A holistic approach to tourism 

Contrary to what obtains today where a few cities represent ‘African travel’ -especially in the minds of foreigners- thereby control the narrative on the sights and sounds an entire continent has to offer, we recommend integrated cross-continental tours that would emphasize the similarities in places within Africa. Consider a tour that highlights the similarities between Soweto, Mombasa, or Fes and Lagos or Douala for example. 

• Peace games 

Across Africa, annual games can be organized that bring people from different countries together. This team would not be structured like the regular teams that represent a country. Instead, each team would be a mix of different African countries and named after African heroes who are known for promoting peace and unity (Nelson Mandela, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Wangari Maathai, Julius Nyerere, among others). 

• Initiating citizen engagement 

Continental unity cannot be realised except citizens have learned to coexist together in the smallest units of society. After all, whatever we would celebrate at the continental level is an outcome of interpersonal relations among citizens at communal levels. It is for this reason that we recommend creating programmes that emphasize the role individuals can play in promoting unity.  

Did You Know? 

For the 59th anniversary of Nigeria’s Independence,  StateCraft Inc. went beyond the celebrations to chronicle the landmark events of each October 1st as it relates to Nigeria from 1960 till date. These stories, as told by Nigerians in this video below bring us new insights into the past 58 years.

Watch the video below:

Fun Fact: If like us, you’ve wondered why air travel within Africa is so expensive, you’re in luck. We went digging and found that it’s linked to the non-implementation of this Yamoussoukro Decision.

You may already be acquainted with Africa’s latest trade-related agreement, the AfCFTA. Fully described as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA aims to increase intra-African trade. Negotiations started here in 2015 for increasing regional trade participation in Africa, crystalising into an agreement reputed to be an economic game-changer for Africa with the potential to create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc covering 1.3 billion people.

This StateCraft Inc. video explains the mandate of the AfCFTA

So far, only 54 of Africa’s 55 countries have signed the agreement (Eritrea continues to drag her feet about signing).

While the ratification of the AfCFTA by all African countries would make for great optics as far as presenting a united front to the rest of the world, we are certain that this lofty agreement has a lot more to benefit from being actually implemented by those 54 that have signed.

The African experience in this regard thus far has been that lofty ideas and treaties fail by way of non-implementation in the absence of the political will to see things through. We thought long and hard about this conundrum and came to the conclusion that it is worthwhile to hope we were the missing link. You know, Africa never really had a company dedicated nation-building in its service before StateCraft Inc.
In this vein, we have come up with a number of recommendations, that if taken seriously, will more than double the AfCFTA’s chances of being more successful than trade pacts made in Africa in the past.

Strike a balance between free trade and allowing the local industries to thrive
Some countries have delayed ratifying the agreement because they face the problem of having more goods imported into their country and little to benefit from the large market. This is more so in the countries where local manufacturing is still fledgeling. Rather than see the ratification of AfCFTA as an added problem, it is imperative for these countries to consider how to boost local manufacturing in order to be better positioned to enjoy the spoils of the AfCFTA.

AU support of individual countries to achieve the set goal of boosting intra-Africa trade by 2022
We must remember that all African countries are not equal, there is a tendency for the agreement to benefit the more prosperous countries at the expense of the less prosperous countries. To ensure balance, the Union needs to come up with a strategy that meets the need of each of these countries.

Price control and regulation
To preserve a healthy and fair market with standards for goods and services, price control and regulation need to be implemented. Incorporating price regulation into the fabric of the African market is a necessity if we are to avoid the impact of agents who will attempt create economic rents by buying goods in low-price countries and selling in other AU countries at a higher price.

Healthy Competition
As countries work towards maximising the benefits of the AfCFTA, competition is to be expected and this can lead to conflict if not carefully managed. In dealing with this, African businesses need to recognise that the AfCFTA is not a competition between African states but an opportunity for Africa to compete with the rest of the world. If properly implemented,  a by-product of the AfCFTA is the establishment of undistorted and open competition within the continent while making African goods available in different parts of the world.

Communication
A rule of thumb in communication in the 21st century is to “think global and act local” – in this case, it is of course “think regional, act national”. Mass customisations for mass markets. Products and services will need to be customised to suit regional needs while still managing to connect with local audiences as required.
Another tangent to communication is the need for States to cascade communication down within nations, in order to get the buy-in of the majority before market disruptions are made by way of policies.