A practitioner, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, has attacked Prof. Umar Labdo Mohammed of the Maitama Sule University, for saying that Benue belongs to Fulani by conquest.
Uwazurike, who was a delegate to the 2014 National Conference, said Mohammed should seek more education.
The lawyer described the professor’s claim as insult and libel to the Tiv nation, wondering what Mohammed is actually professing.
In an interview with Punch, Uwazurike maintained that the law of defamation is clear, adding that it was wrong for the professor to come on air to say “nonsense.”
He said, “I think he has freedom of speech but his right to speak stops right when it becomes an insult and a libel. You can libel a whole group and you can also libel an individual.
“The law of defamation is very clear , you don ’t talk nonsense. If you want to speak rubbish in your bedroom whether you are a professor or not , it is your right.
“If you are teaching students in your class nonsense, it is your right . But if you want the rest of the country to take you seriously, then you must be serious.
“That man is a professor but I don ’t know what he is professing. I read the whole interview and I knew I would be ashamed if that man should say he was my teacher.
“As Fela Kuti said , ‘Teacher , don’t teach me nonsense’. If you are surrounded by intelligent and people who have common sense, then you will benefit from them a lot. But remember that common sense is different from education.
“Whenever I see that someone is saying rubbish, I tune out because I know they will contaminate me. I have a lot of professors who are my friends and are very intelligent and speak in measured tones. They don’t speak like rabid people; people who have no control.”
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