Before starting this article, I already had a broad idea of what freedom of speech and right to privacy mean but I made a few mistakes in interpreting them. First of all, when I thought about freedom of speech, I imagined it gave us the right to speak freely without any repercussions which means that if you take away this freedom, a person won't be able to utter any word; voluntarily mute.
But after doing some research on it, 8 found out the true interpretation of freedom of speech and according to Cornell Law School, "it is the right to speak, write, and share ideas and opinions without facing punishment from the government". While according to NOLO, "right to privacy is the right not to have one's personal matters disclosed or publicized; the right to be left alone".
From the definition, it's very obvious that the major thing restricting freedom of speech is government interference, so basically, when my freedom of speech is taken away from me, I can still speak to everyone around me but I can't say things that will get me on the government's radar because they will persecute me for it. But come to think of it, isn't such things already happening in Nigeria? Do we even have freedom of speech in Nigeria?
An incident happened last year (or probably the year before that) that involved a young man and the then first lady of Nigeria, Aisha Buhari. So, what happened? This young man ended up in the custody of the DSS simply because he called the first lady fat! It's actually funny because it was obvious that she added some weight (I mean a lot) but she took offense when someone pointed it out. That's a lot more that went on with that story but I won't go into details, who knows I may end up getting a visit from DSS.
But that's the reality of things in Nigeria. If you criticize the Government or say things they don't like, they are going to take action against you and similar incidents like the one that happened to that young man also occurred during the previous government's tenure. I hope you can see where I'm going with this. With that being said, I will gladly give up my freedom of speech in exchange for the right to privacy. Why?
Simply because freedom of speech is dysfunctional in Nigeria. Why pick something I know isn't taken seriously over here? At least with the right to privacy, I will be safe from people invading my personal space or distributing my data without my permission. Not having a right to privacy means anybody can use your data for anything they like. Anybody who gets hold of your personal information can let's say use it to apply for a loan or use you as a guarantor without any repercussions.
Banks can sell your information to shady individuals and corporations without you being able to do anything about it. I know these things are already happening on the low but the difference is that they know it's wrong and they can get sued but if those rights are not there, they can even sell your information right in front of you and you can't do anything about it. So, I would rather give up my freedom of speech since it's basically useless in Nigeria.
In fact, I don't even have much to say about the Government in the first place and would rather keep my thoughts to myself. There's a reason why people like Reno Omokri stay in foreign countries and criticize the Government from there. I'm not an activist and would rather not bring attention to myself, I prefer a private life and value my privacy to a great extent, so it's quite right that I pick the right to privacy over freedom of speech.
Thanks for reading
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