Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State has called on politicians and various arms of government in Nigeria not to gag the social media.
According to him, social media played critical roles in governance.
Mimiko made the appeal, yesterday while delivering a keynote address at the Africa Business Conference, 2016, organized by the Lagos Business School,
He said a vibrant social media was one of the things needed to drive and sustain development in Africa, a continent he said must fast-track her industrialization to address looming challenges.
“Although politicians are at the receiving end of caustic attacks on the social media, we must resist the attempt to gag the social media. Already, the social media has opened up a plethora of opportunities for the younger generation, who have embraced it whole heartedly, using social media to have their voice heard and their products seen globally.
“We must not hinder such opportunities through bills as the Social Media Bill, we risk alienating a significant part of our population by stifling their rights to express their views and challenge conventional wisdom. Rather, our focus should be on supporting the vibrant social media now evident in Nigeria and empower the youth to use the social media in the most effective and responsible manner,” he said.
Speaking further, the governor stressed on the need for African countries to pursue industrialization vigorously, especially in the face of declining and crashing prices of primary produce and commodities.
He added, “Africa is already being described as the world’s youngest continent in terms of the average of its population. By 2030, it is predicted that Africa will have the lowest dependency ration of any region – in other words, the largest ratio of working-age population to the total (UNDESA, 2015).
“By 2040, Africa will have more than 1.4 billion people of working age – far surpassing China and India (UNDESA, 2015). this position has been corroborated by the United Nations World Population Prospects that by 2035, the number of Africans reaching working age (15-64) will exceed that of the rest of the world combined.”
Comments