A Clinical Psychologist, Adedotun Ajiboye, has advised Nigerians to watch their speech because it has the power to make or mar a person.
Ajiboye, who works at the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, gave this advice on Friday in Abuja.
Ajiboye, who was speaking in commemoration of the 2019 World Speech Day, said speech was very powerful and influential, adding that it can create, break, mar, cure or make up something.
He said speech could be positive that is a soft answer or negative which is regarded as hate speech.
The psychologist said positive speech could bring about cure to psychological or emotional problems but a grievous speech can lead to trauma. He noted that more difficult issues in homes, families, communities, or nations could be resolved through soft speech.
According to Ajiboye, strong resistances give way to soft speech but hate speech can compound a nation’s problem or lead to ethnic unrest and hostility. The ‘World Speech Day’ is marked annually on March 15th to celebrate speeches and speech making through live speaking events across the world.
