The right to speech is one of the powerful weapons of the citizens, words are powerful, words are creative, and words are reformative. Words can either make or destroy. In a situation where that potential is taken away from us, we become reduced to nothing.
One of the things that blinded my eyes and made me love democracy initially was the deceit that it is "A government for the people, to the people, and by the people." I felt like in this kind of government, the citizens would also have some form of power and also be able to express themselves when and where the need arises.
Funny enough that was also captured in the constitution as part of our rights but unfortunately, that is an invalid write-up on the page of a book.
There is no right that is mostly abused like the freedom of speech, publicly it looks as if you can speak your mind and go free, but if you try it, you may never want to speak again because of what will follow.
The government knows how powerful the right to speech is, and that is why they scare us to exercise that right, they are aware that if we know what we can do with such right, they won't do certain things that they are doing and walk away with it.
The more we try to speak, the more the government suppress us. Look at what happened in Nigeria recently, the case of the protest. The people got tired of the hardship in the nation and decided to protest but what did they get in return? Some died, some got injured and some are still in jail to this day.
The government has no regard for our voices, they do everything possible to prevent us from speaking, and if at all we insist to talk, they have ways of dealing with us.
This is why most people are careful, no one would love to rise and speak and endanger his or her life and in the end, the matter would still remain unsolved.
From all the things happening around us, it's obvious that our right to speech has been taken from us. What sense does it make to tell someone to speak openly, then after speaking you lash him or her in the secret? That's not different from saying, "Don't exercise that right."
Yes, the people are scared of what would follow if they do take action to speak but it doesn't mean that it's just fear that is keeping them from enjoying their right to speech. There is no such right in the first place. If there was, people wouldn't be threatened or punished for speaking out
Who won't be scared to use a right that has a threat attached to it? That threat is clearly saying "You don't have this right, so, don't use it."
Well, we are not supposed to stay quiet because of the threat ideally, but if you would ask counsel from me, I'll tell you to speak but with wisdom. And if you know that your speech will put you into trouble that you may not be able to come out of, then walk away quietly.
I am saying this because I have seen people who tried to play the hero, rising to talk but ended up being in trouble, and the issues they stood to address remained unsolved. In fact, those they did such brave things for also turned their backs on them.
Nothing is worth dying for anymore in this world, don't put yourself in trouble for anything. I am not against anyone exercising their rights but do it wisely.
Our rights are already tempered, and we didn't act when we were supposed to do so, in fact, we sold a lot of our rights out for cheap things. We can't just get them back overnight, it will take time, trying to force the right into existence will only complicate things.
