Malam Hamza Ibrahim, the spokesperson of CITAD gave the advice on Wednesday at a media briefing organised by the association in Kano.

A Kano based Non Governmental Organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development, has advised Online Newspapers to regulate their sites against hate speeches.
Malam Hamza Ibrahim, the spokesperson of CITAD gave the advice on Wednesday at a media briefing organised by the association in Kano.
According to Ibrahim, the organisation has tracked 175 hate speeches on the social media for the month of June which were used at various platforms.
He said that about 28 per cent of the recorded speeches were religious based while 36 per cent were tribal based and 1.7 percent was politically motivated.
He said: “The languages used for the hate speeches in May as we monitored were English and pidgin.”
The CITAD spokesman however, appealed to traditional and religious leaders at different capacities to create avenues of sentisitising and cautioning people against hate speeches.
Ibrahim described hate speeches as “anti peace and anti development’ which people must avoid.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that CITAD in partnership with MacArthur Foundation had been monitoring and countering hate speeches on media platforms since 2014.

A Kano based Non Governmental Organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development, has advised Online Newspapers to regulate their sites against hate speeches.

Malam Hamza Ibrahim, the spokesperson of CITAD gave the advice on Wednesday at a media briefing organised by the association in Kano.

According to Ibrahim, the organisation has tracked 175 hate speeches on the social media for the month of June which were used at various platforms.

He said that about 28 per cent of the recorded speeches were religious based while 36 per cent were tribal based and 1.7 percent was politically motivated.

The CITAD spokesman however, appealed to traditional and religious leaders at different capacities to create avenues of sentisitising and cautioning people against hate speeches.

Ibrahim described hate speeches as “anti peace and anti development’ which people must avoid.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that CITAD in partnership with MacArthur Foundation had been monitoring and countering hate speeches on media platforms since 2014.

By Richard P. Ngbokai, Kano 

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in collaboration with MacArthur foundation has called on religious and traditional rulers in the country to intensify efforts in sensitizing people against hate speech and other hateful conduct against fellow Nigerians be it on the basis of religion or ethnicity.

The curbing-hate-speech project coordinator, CITAD, Malam Hamza Ibrahim made the call today in Kano during a press briefing about the outcome of their monthly survey of hateful conduct of Nigerians against one another on the cyberspace.

He said 175 hate speeches were recorded in May, with over twenty-eight (28%) percent of such speeches being faith based in which either Muslims were attacking Christians or Christians targeting Muslims.

He urged the leaders to preach tolerance to their followers saying “hate speech brews violence and enmity of varying degree among people.”

He emphasized the need for the country to take necessary action towards addressing the menace of hate speech.

“Hateful conduct of whatever kind is not helpful to a country with over 250 ethnic groups and different religious followers who ought to give peace and mutual respect a chance by respecting each others’ beliefs, values and views” Ibrahim said

While condemning the statement credited to the member representing Igabi west constituency in the Kaduna state House of Assmbly, Yusuf Zailani against Senator Shehu Sani, the centre urged politicians to exercise some sense of responsibility in their bids for public offices saying some of their utterances are capable of tearing the country apart.

Yusuf Zailani has reportedly placed a bounty of N5m for anybody that could bring him Senator Shehu Sani’s hair.

By Bashir Mohammed. Kano

Programme Officer, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Hajiya Harira Abdulrahaman Wakili, has described open National Assembly as a veritable key to entrenching probity, accountability and transparency in democratic governance.
Speaking at a one day sensitisation forum organised for students held at the CITAD conference hall in Kano yesterday, Wakili said the objective of organising the forum was to keep them posted on the responsibility bestowed on the shoulders of legislators having been part of an indispensable organ of government.
According to her, it was the constitutional right for every citizen to be kept informed on the workings of the legislature in a democratic dispensation pointing out that the issue of absolute accountability is paramount for genuine democratic system in the country.
She said, “You are constitutionally bound to enquire what is happening at the National Assembly. Ask your legislator to furnish you with credible information about his stewardship. What is important is accountability.
“In a situation where your legislator fails to live up to expectation, inform CITAD and we are definitely going to take measures to put him or her on the right track. We are in a democratic era and no one should be kept in the dark as students, this is your right and auspicious time to buckle-up,” she added.
While expressing CITAD’s unalloyed commitment to sustaining the sensitisation forum from time to time, the programme assistant maintained that without a vibrant and cohesive National Assembly, reaping the dividends of democracy would only remain a far cry.