The reason according to the Minister is to further deter people who are willingly violating the provision and stipulated guidelines to cause destabilization in the country.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed explained this, on Friday as a guest on a TVC live program, “This Morning” monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
It should be recalled that the minister in 2019 makes known the approval of President Muhammad Buhari for the increase of the fine which was later stipulated in the amended Broadcasting code.
In the words of the Minister;
“what motivated the amendment was that when the fine was N500,000, we saw the provision being violated at will because the amount was very easy to pay”
The Minister stated further that some desperate people who know that the broadcast content contains hate speech will insist that the broadcast stations should air it while they bear the cost.
He said further that those who criticized the increment should remember that hate speech had destroyed many countries.
He recalled that Rwanda lost about 800,000 lives to hate speech while Bosnia and Cambodia equally lost thousands of lives to hate speech as well.
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The Minister also made it know that Nigeria is not the only country that often applies sanctions on hate speech adding that some countries have more stringent measures on hate speech.