Pornography ban over economic hardship? Nigerians drag Reps for misplaced priorities

If you ask the average Nigerian about their biggest problems right now, you’ll likely hear about the rising cost of food, insecurity, job losses, or the never-ending increase in tariffs. But according to the House of Representatives, banning pornographic contents should be a top priority; Nigerians did not hold back their disappointment at the lawmakers.

Last Tuesday, the House called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to direct all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to websites hosting pornographic content. The motion, sponsored by Dalhatu Tafoki, the representative for Faskari/Kankara/Sabuwa Federal Constituency, argues that cyber pornography is a growing global problem, one that Nigeria has failed to address.

Tafoki and his colleagues believe that banning porn will help protect Nigeria’s religious and moral values while preventing issues like marital deception, promiscuity, and unrealistic sexual expectations.

But outside the walls of the National Assembly, many Nigerians are puzzled by this move amid ongoing economic challenges which they expect lawmakers to address effectively. Social media has been flooded with reactions, and the general sentiment is clear: this is not the priority right now.

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Sunday Osuyak, sharing his views on facebook summed up the frustration with a scathing remark: “If you list five major problems that affect our nation… pornography is not one of them! We have been wasting our resources paying these guys for posing as lawmakers. Religious country indeed.”

Stanley Okpala echoed the same sentiment, pointing out that lawmakers seem to have no urgency when it comes to tackling real issues: “Nigerian legislators will always prioritise bills that won’t favor the country’s development and deliver it swiftly. But, we’re still facing economic hardship, insecurity, price hikes of basic amenities, etc. But they can’t pass a bill to curb all these issues.”

For many, the most infuriating part isn’t just the bill itself but the fact that lawmakers seem oblivious to the financial struggles ordinary Nigerians face. Oge Eze didn’t hold back: “Are they not aware that all these network providers are hiking data prices? Can’t they address that? Even DStv and the rest are charging us huge amounts. What do they have to say about that?”

Popular online personality Martina Vincent Otse, known as Verydarkman (VDM), also joined the conversation, blasting the House for focusing on the wrong issues. In his view, this isn’t about morals, it’s a distraction from Nigeria’s real problems. He questioned why lawmakers were more interested in controlling what Nigerians watch in private rather than tackling the skyrocketing cost of living.

At this point, many Nigerians aren’t even surprised. Over the years, there’s been a pattern of lawmakers championing bills that have little to do with improving everyday life. Meanwhile, the cost of rice has doubled, fuel prices are unpredictable, and businesses are struggling under harsh economic conditions.

Many Nigerians feel that their lawmakers are out of touch with the daily struggles faced by the average citizen. A growing number of citizens are desperate for a change, they want government to focus its attention on solutions that can provide tangible improvements to their lives of Nigerians—issues like job creation, security, and cost of living—before venturing into areas like internet censorship.

The Green Chamber, however, argued that that countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle-east have enacted legislations that ban pornography in their domains. The House expressed concerns that the immediate effects of viewing pornographic contents include: causing deception in marriage which may later on, affect family life; and promoting adultery, prostitution and many unreal expectations that can result in dangerous promiscuous behaviour.

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The House has asked the NCC to apply the full rigours of the Nigerian Communications Act and the National Information Technology Development Act to sanction defaulting Internet Service Providers.