How Digital Economy Can Thrive In Nigeria– CSOs

The Federal Government has been called to be conscious of attempts to restrict or regulate social media, by bringing in obnoxious laws and policies that will have a direct impact on the enjoyment of freedom of expression of Nigerians.

The call was made by two human rights organizations, the Centre for Information Technology and Development and Avocats Sans Frontières France, also known as Lawyers Without Borders on Tuesday.

The duo said passing obnoxious laws would be counterproductive and antithetical to turning the country upside down.

The organizations expressed concern that the government on one hand recognized the need for digital technology to transform the economy but also wanted to control how citizens were able to assess and deploy digital means independently.

They issued the warning in Abuja during the inaugural meeting and training of the Digital Rights Expert Group under the eRIGHTS project in Nigeria implemented y ASF in partnership with CITAD and Spacelegislation, funded by the Europrestrict.

At the event, the Country Director, of ASF France Nigeria, Angela Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, stressed the need for the government not to put in place arbitrary that will breach the enjoyment of human rights in Nigeria.

Uzoma-Iwuchukwu said rather, the government should work with the different dopers and technological platforms to ensure that there is regulation within those organizations in line with international standards.

She warned that attempts to restrict or regulate social media, by bringing in obnoxious laws and policies will have a direct impact on the enjoyment of freedom of expression of Nigerians, stressing the need for the National Assembly not to pass obnoxious bills.

“This is because freedom of expression is guaranteed in the Nigerian constitution, and also in the region and other international human rights instruments that Nigeria is a signatory of”, she added.

The Executive Director of CITAD, Y.Z Ya’u, said for several years, Nigeria has witnessed obnoxious bills being introduced in the censor digital space.

While warning the National Assembly against wasting precious time and resources legislating on social media, Ya’u stressed the need for the government to create a safe space for everybody to utilize the digital space to transform Nigeria’s digital economy.

He said, “Three years ago, the country announced the National Digital policy that requires ambitious digital economy documents. The ambition is that the government will use that document to transform Nigeria into a striving economy based on digital technology. And that requires massive development of infrastructure, massive digital skills acquisition but even much more allowed Nigerians to effectively utilize digital toolbeingevices and spaces.

“But on the other hand, over the last couple of years, we have also seen a progressive attempt to shrink the digital space in Nigeria. We have seen obnoxious bills being introduced in the National Assembly, including the one on fake news on the internet, and so forth.

“Recently one has resurfaced again in the National Assembly. So what we have seen is that on the one hand, the government has recognized the potential of digital,l technology to transform the economy. The potentiality has also recognized the potential of this technology to enhance citizen independence, the urgency for transforming these conditions, and that while it wants to capture the economic potentials, it also wants to control how citizens can as and deploy digital means independently of government.

“So that’s the paradox we are and I think that it’s very important that we recognize that government itself is a hostage of its policy and you cannot have that ambitious Digital Agenda while you are not allowing for free and safe utilization of the digital space. You can only transform the economic government of all Nigerians and be safe in utilizing the digital space that you are creating.

“And I think that for me, this is really what we ne?d to focus on. What do we do to make them recognize this effort or to promote the digital allows free and safe Nigeria?
“I think that for me, it was down to one thing. Instead of our National Assembly wasting a lot of precious time and resources legislating on social media, what they need to do is take the digital rights and freedom bill that has been on the agenda for many years that will make internet safe for everybody, especially, women who are victim of online harassment and remove ambiguities in the cyber crimes was created to ensure that we fight cybercrime, but if you look at the statistics, or the highest number of people who are being detained and arrested using the cybercrime are journalists and activists rather than the criminals who have been swindling people of money. So, it’s not an effective tool for fighting cybercrime rather, is the tool that is being used to harass detained journalists.

“So for us as campaigners, and also government agencies that are interested in promoting the effective utilization of digRightsechnology, I think we should focus on creating a safe space for everybody to utilize the digital space so that Nito Nigeria can be greater.

The Programme Manager of Civil Society, Human Rights and Youth, (European Union Delegation), Wynyfred Achu-Egbuson, said the body was concerned with assisting Nigeriato to have an enabling environment for the enjoyment of digital rights.

According to her, the recent change in government and appointment of the Minister for Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani presents a unique opportunity for civil society to engage with the government towards ensuring that Nigeria’s digital space supports the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and prevents any form of infringement on the human rights of Nigerians.
PUNCH