MAKURDI OWL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

Democracy has been accepted by many as the best form of government suited to allowing people live in dignity and freedom. Its overriding Dobjective is to promote liberty and entrench freedom and to domesticate power for the benefit of the people. Democracy is an ideal and goal based on common values shared by peoples irrespective of their cultural, social and economic differences. It is a basic right of citizenship to be exercised under conditions of freedom, equality, transparency and responsibility. It seeks to promote the dignity and fundamental rights of the citizenship, achieve social justice, foster the economic and social development of the community and create a climate that is favourable for international peace. Democracy is built on basic elements such as protection of the rights of citizens, freedom of speech and so on. For democracy to thrive, citizens must be allowed to express their views. Free speech, freedom of speech or freedom of expression demands that individuals or communities be allowed to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship or legal sanction. As Isaiah Berlin said, free speech is an end in itself which does not exist for another end. It is a human right recognised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), international human rights laws and constitutions of states such as the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN). While the right has been amended to carry special duties and responsibilities and therefore not absolute as previously thought, it is still a cornerstone of a free society. This paper seeks, therefore, to explore the role of philosophy in promoting free speech for sustainable democratic governance. This paper is predicated on the fact that a people who live in fear will not produce what they are best capable of.

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