Radio Biafra’s “Hate”
Messages Can Instigate Civil
War II, Rwandan Genocide In
Nigeria
The emergence of Radio
Biafra’s account on Twitter has drawn attention to
their broadcasts that,
subsequently, generated public
concern. The Naij.com columnist ‘Yomi Kazeem draws
parallels between Nigeria and
Rwanda’s history; Rwandan
genocide, he reminds, also
stemmed from seemingly
‘harmless’ radio messages of hate and secession
propaganda. This article
expresses the
author’s opinion only. The
views and opinions expressed
here do not necessarily represent those of Naij.com or its editors. In 1994, the
Rwandan genocide
resulted in the loss of around
20% of the total population of
the country. Widely condemned
for its brutality, the genocide targeted the Tutsi population
of Rwanda for a fierce 100-day
period of violence that
reshaped the country’s history.
One of the main causes of the
violence which led to the death of hundreds of thousands was
the establishment of Radio
Télévision Libre des Mille
Collines [RTLMC; French for “One
Thousand Hills Free Radio and
Television,” as Rwanda is often described as “the land of a
thousand hills”] in 1993.
Projecting hate speech and
propaganda against the Tutsis,
the radio station played a
critical role in contributing to the tensions and incited a
significant amount of hostility.
In 2003, the executives of
RTLMC were sentenced to
prison by a UN tribunal for their
role in the genocide. All of the above highlights just
how devastating the effects of
hate speech (and media) can
be, and, with the recent
emergence of Radio Biafra on
social media, it seems critical for Nigerians to revisit that sad
part of Rwanda’s history. Radio
Biafra is led by a group of
people who seemingly think
that despite the events of the
Civil War, calling for secession of the South-East is still an
achievable target. Their calls,
however, are laced with hate
speech and exhortations for
‘war,’ with one of the main
proponents reportedly comparing himself to Adolf
Hitler. Predictably, it has come
become a raging subject on
social media platforms, with
many South-Easterners, whom
Radio Biafra claims to represent, denouncing the
station and its messages.
However, and unsurprisingly,
there are some who have
endorsed the messages of
Biafra Radio – and therein lies the danger. The media has
always played a
powerful role in influencing
thoughts and actions, and with
the emergence of social media
as a tool of mass engagement, hate speech can catch on much
quicker. That makes media like
Biafra Radio even more
dangerous. In a country like
Nigeria, which has a turbulent
history of ethnic-driven violence as well as riots, and
still struggles with tribal
sentiments even within
homogeneous groups, the
prospect of a tool that
generates more tension is menacing. If the world needed
an
example of how race- and
tribe-driven sentiments can
cause real damage even in the
new age, the shooting of nine black people in a historic
church in Charleston, South
Carolina, by a young white man
who apparently believed in
“white supremacist ideals” was
a timely reminder that there will always be situations where
people believe fully in such
philosophies and will go to
extra, and dangerous, lengths
just to make a statement. NAIJ.COM News - Nigeria
news | Today's Breaking
news & headlines. naij.com

Cotonou is not far from Nigeria..

Let them not start what thyey cannot finish.

What a crazy set of people involve in pulling down naija, can we stand the war if any war start

op,
Hopefully you talking war so easily will carry your own gun and enter bush when time comes.

All these children that open their mouth shouting war, you probably think those that are killed in war aren't as smart as you. Time will tell.

okk

I still dont know why the security agencies of this have not yet clamped down on the guys behind radio biafra... Or is it until he gathers enough followers which will make him difficult to arrest... Look at boko haram, if say we dey proactive, we for no get to this stage.

NO RADIO BIAFRA IS FOR BIAFRA. WANA KNOW WHAT GENOCIDE IS? GO ASK THE NIGGER-AREA'S GOVT WHO MASSACRED HEBREWS IN NORTH THE ASABA GENOCIDE 3MILLION CHILDREN STARVED TO DEATH. THEIR BLOOD AWAIT YOUR ANSWER

What a crazy set of people involve in pulling down naija, can we stand the war if any war start

isaacfreeman99:
Radio Biafra’s “Hate”
Messages Can Instigate Civil
War II, Rwandan Genocide In
Nigeria
The emergence of Radio
Biafra’s account on Twitter has drawn attention to
their broadcasts that,
subsequently, generated public
concern.

^^ And why have you been so silent about the massacre being carried out by Boko Haram.
Has almajiri dullardism blocked your reasoning process also?

Who Care, if this war start it will be mainly be fourgth on the soil of those who are have being caling for war.I Just Need to sit back and watch all the collateriall damage on Cnn

omoelesa:
Who Care, if this war start it will be mainly be fourgth on the soil of those who are have being caling for war.I Just Need to sit back and watch all the collateriall damage on Cnn

How old are u? cos u sound like someone who hasn't experienced conflicts b4!! if u have, u would have understood d tenets of Conflict Escalation!! So don't think that if Naija experiences Civil War, u will b watching d movie!!

Blah Blah Blah. What about Boko Haram? Una no dey tire?