Social media bill: I’m ashamed of northern political leaders — Gimba Kakanda

It is no longer news that governors of Nigeria’s northern states want the Muhammadu Buhari administration to regulate social media.

Their reason? An unregulated social media could break Nigeria into pieces.

They are also not happy with the way Nigerian youth used social media platforms to organise EndSARS protests against police brutality.

The protests were so successful that the Nigerian government disbanded the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit that had allegedly degenerated into an agent of extortion, illegal arrests and extra-judicial killings.

So, you would think sensible leaders would applaud EndSARS protesters for using social media for good.

Well, until you speak with the governors who met in Kaduna on Monday.

“Northern political and traditional leaders were hosted by Northern Governors’ Forum in Kaduna yesterday,” activist Gimba Kakanda wrote in a Facebook post.

“And their biggest fears in the region (where) lives are lost daily to terrorism, kidnapping and banditry, are EndSARS and social media.

“I’ve never been this ashamed of our leaders,” he said.