Farmer Herders Crisis: CITAD Identify Causes, Proffer Solutions

By Jerry Emmanson.

Towards identifying issues underlying the growing conflicts in Nigeria, particularly the farmer-herders conflict, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) over the weekend organised a 2days workshop in Abuja tagged: “Understanding and Responding to Fake News Exacerbating Fears and Insecurity in the Country,” to assess the dangers of fake news and hate speech on national growth, security and development in Nigeria.

Participants at the workshop were youths from across the country, media, academia and civil society amongst others, which featured paper presentations from highly revered professionals and authorities from different spheres of life. In a communiqué jointly signed by Hamza Ibrahim (CITAD), Ibrahim Sulaiman (ALCIDA), Uza Doshima, Food Technology and Research, Yadoma Bukar Mandara and Usman Masara Kim, said fake news does not exist in a vacuum, it rather thrives in a gullible environment where human populations are less enlightened to access quality, objective, balanced and fair information.

“People who propagate hate speech have platforms they tend to use to manipulate public opinion and emotions for the purpose of mischief and/or selfish economic or political gains. The workshop in part of its resolution said: “Lack of transparency and sincerity on the part of government, which reflects in the operations of public/state owned media organizations, has greatly reduced public confidence in official sources of information.

Therefore, citizens are compelled to explore alternative sources of information, thereby falling victims of fake news media and agents. On the area of farmers-herders conflicts it stated that: “Existing legislations affecting pastoralism especially anti-open grazing laws have not holistically addressed the issue of farmer-herder clashes as they seldom reflect the sociocultural and environmental diversities of Nigeria.” It advised the government to consider the multiplicity of the sociocultural, geographical and other related landscape of the country, and design agric-related programmes to favour such.

“Communities should be allowed to explore specific livestock production options suitable to their sociocultural and/or environmental peculiarities rather than ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches that have over the years proved a failure in addressing the lingering crisis between farmers and herders.” Also in a presentation by Dr. Junaidu A. Maina on “Understanding the Crisis of Pastoralism in Nigeria,” he listed the major drivers of conflict between farmers and herders to be population growth, Livestock feed resource base, Encroachment of grazing reserves and Stock routes, Cattle Rustling, Breakdown of traditional conflict resolution mechanisms, weak criminal justice system allowed and one sided report by media etc. He maintained that adaptation of intensive/enclosed production system will create a structured modern cattle production system with a national spread.

“This will for sometime co-exist with pastoralism which will persist in some states. Just like the modern commercial poultry which co-exists with larger rural poultry,” he said. Mr Dapo Olorunyomi, online publisher of PremiumTimes in his address on “Fake news and the challenge of security in Nigeria,” said that there is a fundamental crisis in global journalism today and while a vigorous debate is currently apace we pretend that is not the case in Nigeria.

“Digital transition has complicated the whole crises and one of the challenge of news at the current moment is the fact that at no other time in history do we have such a deluge, such a tsunami of information to contend with. “Because of the speed and volumes through which information and news reaches us, the capacity to blur the boundaries of journalism and non-journalism has narrowed, and the capacity to disinform and misinform has also grown out of bounds.” He however, advised journalists to maintain balance and fairness in their reports as the twin concepts which are central to journalistic ethics.

CITAD Media Workshop: Hate Speech And Fake News Has Cause More Damage Than Good In Our Society

Text of the Communiqu issued at the end of two-day Stakeholders

Workshop on Hate Speech and Media in Nigeria held at Grand Pela Hotel and Suites, Abuja, July 10-11, 2018.
Preamble

For two days, academics, journalists, broadcasters and civil society activists with diverse backgrounds met to discuss issues relating to hate speech and assorted media genres and professionals.

Four papers were presented in addition to two different panels as well as a robust general house discussion on issues that arose as the workshop progressed.

The workshop observed as follows:

1) Hate speech could emanate readily from the various divides in the society ranging from ethnic, religious, social to economic differences of individuals and groups. This could even deepen with subdivisions into smaller units implying that it is difficult to predict its end.

2) Hate speech can provoke negative reactions almost instantaneously as it fuels ethnic, religious and some other conflicts in the society and this could degenerate to violence.

3) Media related challenges that fuel conflict range from media’s disregard for diversity, undue commercialization, poor knowledge of relevant laws, history and culture as well as current affairs, ownership influence to provincialisation of education of relevant academics.

4) Paucity of logistics and undue internal pressure constitute another set of problems to good performance of the media.

5) Broadcast media in Nigeria, especially those owned by state governments, often run foul of cautionary measures especially during elections, thus presenting rather bad examples to their counterparts in the private sector.

6) Media genres of the print and broadcast are hardly different again with the inception of the internet as the conventional media ceaselessly seek to extend their operations and influence to the realms of social media.

7) The Cybercrime Advisory Council provided for by the Cybercrime Act of 2015 is rather exclusive particularly of the youths in spite of the reckoning enjoyed by the youths with the UN in relation to Internet issues as manifest in the annual rituals of the Internet Governance Forum, IGF.

The workshop subsequently recommended as follows:

1) Different ethnic groups should seek to tolerate their respective cultural differences to enable all to cohabit peacefully.

2) It is important that civil society groups begin to recognize the need to popularize the knowledge of the concept of hate speech for the benefit of the members of the general public.

3) Professionalism in the mainstream media is important hence the need for training and retraining of media personnel as, for instance, may be initiated by CITAD in conjunction with other stakeholders.

4) It is important to accord proper attention to the welfare of media personnel so that their work could be more factual and evidence based

5) The Nigerian Press Organisation, NPO, and other similar bodies that used to have reasonable influence on media organizations need to liberalise to accommodate emerging players like members of Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP, and Online Publishers of Nigeria, OPAN.

6) Develop a voluntary code of conduct for bloggers and encourage widespread dissemination

7) Government should consider the repealing of the Cybercrime Act of 2015 to reform the Cybercrime Advisory Council to accommodate youths in line with the vision of the UN.

8) Journalism training institutions need to introduce courses on conflict sensitive reporting, and universities and other tertiary institutions offering journalism training should introduce the course right from 100 level.

9) The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) should be made autonomous and independent agency

10) Media organizations and bodies should punish and sanction their staff and members who engage in promoting hate speech.

11) Public awareness need to be enhanced to educate people on getting and sharing information on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhastApp, Instagram, etc.

12) Civil society organizations should monitor hate speech and put pressure on media regulatory agencies to punish media houses that allow hate speech in their contents.

13) Journalists should prioritize write-ups that promote national unity, cohesion and tolerance and must not give room for hate speech

Signed:

i. Hamza Ibrahim-Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD).

ii. Dr. Tunde Musbahu Akanni-Lagos State University (LASU)

iii. Chinedu Christopher Gbulie-Women’s Right Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA)

iv. Onyekachi Eke-Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC)

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES FROM THE WORKSHOP.

CITAD Laments North East’s Low Adult Literacy Rate

By Balarabe Alkassim, Bauchi.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has lamented the low adult literacy rate in the north east region.

CITAD North East Social Accountability in Education Cluster team made the disclosure ‎when it paid an advocacy visit to Bauchi State House of Assembly committee on Education.

Speaking, the team leader, Isah Garba said the north east region has the least education statistics in the country with Yobe and Borno states having the lowest rates with 31.9 percent and 35.1 percent respectively.

“The corresponding figures for female adult literacy are 14.9 and 18.0 percent respectively for the two states. The performance of the states in both NECO and WAEC has been the lowest of the country.

“A survey showed that percentage of children between 6 and 16 who have never attended school has high prevalence in Borno (72 percent), Yobe (58 percent) and Bauchi (52 percent). Only 20 percent of all school age girls get to attend school,” he said.

In his response, the chairman Bauchi state House of Assembly committee on education Honourable Yusuf Inuwa Dadiye promised that the committee would look at the recommendations for necessary action.

Fake News Fuels Killings in Nigeria

By Richard P. Ngbokai.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has expressed concern over the proliferation of fake news platforms on the internet, saying that the information purveyed on such platforms are fueling killings across the country.

Addressing a press conference in Kano, the centre’s Project Coordinator on hate speech, Malam Hamza Ibrahim blamed the social unrest characterizing the polity on careless handling of fake news and bogus news releases, as well as images emanating from social media.

“Amidst recurring loss of lives and properties in many parts of Nigeria, another serious danger is brewing with wildfire effect; this danger is the circulation of fake press statements that are widely circulated online.  An example of this is the purported release by a non-existent group ‘Fulani National Movement (FUNAM)’ justifying the recent massacre in Plateau state on the basis of some missing cows.

“We have over the last one year monitored how the use of fake news and fake images especially on the social media impacted on mutual co-existence and respect among people of different religious and tribal backgrounds. It is sad that many people are falling into the traps of these publications whose aim is to divide the country along ethnic and religious lines.

He therefore urged the public to scrutinize any news content accessed online to verify its source credibility before they could form any opinion base on the story.

Kungiyar CITAD Ta Ce Jita-jita Na Rura Wutar Fitina A Najeriya

Wata kungiyar dake bada shawara akan yada sahihan labaru a cikin jama’a ta ce jita jita ce makamashin rura wutar rikici a cikin al’umma.Da yake magana akan rikicin manoma da makiyaya, shugaban kungiyar Zakari Yau ya ce watsi da labaran jita jita shi zai taimaka wajen samun zaman lafiya saboda a yanar gizo wasu kan aika sakonni ko hotunan karya domin tada fitina.

Mallam Zakari Yau yace, idan an dubi yanar gizo za’a ga ana yada jita jita. Akan kuma dauko hotunan rikicin da aka yi a wasu wuraren ko kuma da ya faru da dadewa a sake sasu kamar yanzu suka faru. Wanda bai sani ba zai dauka ya yi amfani dasu, mutane kuma su yi kokarin daukan fansa. Ya ce suna gargadin mutane kada su dauki wani mataki akan abun da suka gani a yanar gizo ba tare da tantancewa ba.

Tsohon shugaban Miyetti Allah Dodo Oroji na Abuja ya amince da nazarin Zakari Yau. Yana cewa bala’i ake son kawowa kasar inda ake kawo hoto daga wata kasa a ce abun dake faruwa cikin kasar ke nan. Duk wanda aka kashe masa danuwa ko aka lalata masa dukiya zai dauki fansa. Idan aka taba Bafillatani zai kai kara kotu ya nemi hakkinsa. Saboda haka bai kamata mutane suna daukan doka a hannunsu ba.

Haka shi ma shugaban kananan kabilun kudancin Kaduna Mark Amani ya goyi bayan kaucewa yada jita jita. Ya yi ga kira kamfanonin waya da su dinga daukan mataki akan duk wani labarin bogi da wani ke yadawa domin tabbatar da zaman lafiya.

An Hori Yan Jarida Kan Rahotonnin Da Zasu iya Haifar DaTashin Hankali

Cibiyar Fasahar Sadarwa Da Ci Gaban Jama’a wato Centre For Information Technology and Debelopment (CITAD) ta jinjina wa hukumar gudanarwa na kafar sadarwar Premium Times a bisa daukan matakin gaggawa kan dan rahotoninsu da ya wallafa labarin karya marar tushe a jihar Filato. Jami’in CITAD a jihar Bauchi Mohammed Chiroma Hassan shine ya bayya hakan a jiya Talata sa’ilin da yake bayani wa ‘yan jarida dangane da illar yada rahotonin karya da kalaman batanci da wasu kafafen sadarwa ke yi, inda cibiyar ta bayyana cewar da bukatar ‘yan jarida su hada hanu domin dakile irin wannan lamarin da ke kawo wa kasar nan ci baya. Mohammed Chiroma Hassan ya ce; “Guje wa yada kalaman batanci da karerayi hadi da hotunan da suke hargiza jama’a abu ne wanda ya hau kan ‘yan jarida da al’umma domin kawar da su. “Yada labaran karya a cikin al’umma musamman wanda kafafen sadarwa suke yi na matukar jefa wa jama’an kasa firgici da tashin hankali, don haka da bukatar a hada hanu waje guda domin kawar da irin wannan dabi’ar,”

In ji CITAD. Jami’in Cibiyar fasahar sadarwa da ci gaban, ya kuma bayyana cewar wajibi ne a tashi tsaye domin nusar da jama’a illolin da kafafen sadarwar zamani ke haifarwa a kasar nan, inda ya bayar da misali da tashin hankalin da aka samu a Jos kwanakin nan, “Abun da ya jawo hankalinmu kan hakan, shine yadda wasu ‘yan jaridu ke yada kalaman batanci da labarai marasa sahihanci da nagarta, ku dubi yadda rahoton karya ya jawo tashin hankali a jihar Filato,” In ji shi. Chiroma ya bayyana cewar akwai hanyoyin sadarwar zamani da ake iya bi domin tantance sahihancin hoto ko labarin da ka iya kawo rudani a tsakanin jama’a, “Dukkanin kafafen sadarwar nan, akwai yadda ake tura musu bayani kan labari kaza ko hoto kaza baida sahihanci, za su dauki matakin sharewa cikin kasa da awa 24, muna kokarin koyar da jama’a hanyoyin da za su bi wajen yin hakan,” in ji Muhammad Hassan.

Ya kara da cewa; “Labarin kwanan nan da jaridar Premium Times ta wallafa; shi wannan labarin da dan rahotonsu ya basu labarin karya ne ya shirya, bai yi hira da kowa ba ya harhada labarinsa wai kisan da aka samu a jihar Filato na zuwa ne a sakamakon kashe-kashen shano da aka yi; alhali wannan da ya yi amfani da sunansa wai Mr. Chiroma na kungiyar Miyetti Allah, ya ce wai kisan an yi ne a matsayin ramuwar gayya, alhali karya ne muraran. “Ita gidan jaridar ta Premium Times ta binciko labarin inda ta fahimci dan rahotonta ya sharara karya, don haka ta dauki matakin baiwa jama’a hakuri da kuma hukunta wakilinnata. A dunkule muna jinjinawa matakin da gidan jaridar ta dauka, muna kuma kira ga sauran gidajen jaridu su dauki irin wannan matakin idan hakan ta faru domin kawo karshen shigar wa jama’a da rahotonin karya da kuma kage wanda ka iya haifar da tashin-tashina a cikin al’umma,” In ji CITAID.

Cibiyar ta kuma shaida cewar kafafen sadarwar zamani suna da karfin da suke isar da sako wa jama’a cikin kankanin lokaci; inda cibiyar ta bayyana cewar wannan damarce take baiwa kafafen sadarwar zamani damar yada shirme da karerayi domin cimma muradin wasu marasa kishin kasa. Ya ce, ya kamata jama’a suke yarda da sahihancin labara kadai in suka gani a jarida mai nagarta ba wai kafafen da ka iya kawo tashin hankali kai tsaye ba. Muhammad Ciroma ya bayyana cewar sun fito da hanyoyin da suke bi wajen rage kaifin makamancin wannan lamarin, inda ke bayani da cewa, “Abubuwan da muke yi wajen dakile irin wadannan labaran karyan suna da yawa, mukan bibiyi irin kamalan bantanci da ake yi a yanar gizo-zizo da kuma gidajen jaridu, domin muna da jami’an da suke sanya ido kan irin wannan.

A kowace karshen wata muka zauna mu tattaro labaran mu fadakar da ‘yan jaridan da kuma gwamnati, hade da al’umma, su al’umma muna nusar da su yadda za su yi wajen yakar irin wannan labaran batancin,” In ji Ciroma. Cibiyar ta kuma yi amfani da taron manema labaru wajen yin kira ga ‘yan jarida da a kowani lokaci suke bin ka’idojin da dokokin aikinsu, hadi da cire son zuciya wajen bayar da rahoton abun da suke son yadawa, sun nemi gwamnatin kuma ta tashi tsaye wajen kawo karshen kalaman bantanci hadi da rahotonin da za su haifar da kiyayya a tsakanin al’umma.

CITAD bata kuma tsaya haka nan ba; ta nemi jama’a da suke kaurace wa dukkanin wani rahoton da basu gamsu da sahihancinsa ba, kana suke amfani da hakan wajen kauda kansu kan kowace irin labarin da suke gani da ka iya kawo tashin hankali a tsakanin al’umma domin ci gaban kasar Nijeriya da jama’an kasa.

Killings: CITAD Decries Use of Social Media To Fuel Ethnic-Religious Crisis

A non-governmental organization, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has cautioned against fueling ethnic-religious conflict and killings through the use of social media.

Addressing a press conference at NUJ Secretariat in Bauchi on Tuesday, Mohammed Chiroma Hassan, the programme officer of CITAD, lamented that the circulation of fake news has been behind series of violence recorded in the country.

He said, “It’s unfortunate that communication issue has been stocking the fire of violence in the country. This is the circulation of fake news, especially in the social media which in a recent report by BBC shown, has been fueling ethno-religious conflict and killings in the country.

“Amid recurring loss of lives and properties in many parts of Nigeria, another serious or rather unnoticed danger is brewing itself with a wildfire effect. This danger is nothing but circulation of fake press statements /releases that are widely circulated online. An example of this is the purported release by a non-existent group, ‘Fulani National Movement (FUNAM)’ claiming to justify reprisal killings because the cows of herders had been killed. We have researched into the so called movement and it is clear that someone with an interest in stocking the fire of violence is behind the fake association,” he said.

Chiroma Hassan stated: “Sentiment and selfish agenda have given people the momentum to become information givers while recklessness has encouraged same people to use technology for bad, yes for bad because they manufacture lies and disseminate on websites, groups and pages on Facebook. The effect of these fake updates is that when people read them, they become emotional and sometimes react violently.

“Any careful reader might have noticed various press statements on Jos crisis in circulation. They carry strange names of signatories and associations of certain people, making provocative remarks on the crisis and setting conditions. Rather calm the situation, the statement aggravates it by reinforcing the desire for vengeance.”

The programme officer noted that emerging websites such as http:247ureporters, www.bloggers.com, www.branfit.com.ng and many more, tag themselves as online newspapers whose ultimate goal is to bring collision of one ethnic or religious group against one another through uploads of violence sparking informations.

He called on the federal government to address the key drivers of hate speech in the country and commended the management and editorial board of Premium Times Newspaper for taking action against the reporter who fabricated an interview with a member of Miyetti Allah, justifying the Plateau killings as reprisal.

FUNAM is Non-Existence Body-CITAD Declares

By Ishola Michael- Bauchi.

FULANI National Movement (FUNAM), purported to be a Fulani interest movement has been described as a non-existence body which was just created by someone with an interest in stocking the fire of violence in the country.

This declaration was made by the Programmes Officer of Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Bauchi Office, Mohammed Chiroma Hassan while addressing Journalists Tuesday at the NUJ Press Center on the ills of fake news and hate speeches being circulated by different platforms that do not have definite and traceable fixed addresses.

Chiroma Hassan declared that research carried out by CITAD revealed that sentiment and selfish agenda has given people the momentum to become information givers while recklessness has encouraged same people to use technology for bad by manufacturing lies and disseminate same on websites, groups and pages on Facebook to make readers emotional and sometimes even react violently.

While analysing the recent Jos crisis, CITAD observed that various press statements on the crisis in circulation carried strange names of signatories and associations of certain people making provocative remarks and making demands which rather than calm the situation down are aggravating it by reinforcing the desire for vengeance in different parties involved.

It added that condoning this unfortunate act will obviously mean that peace, stability and mediation efforts will go nowhere since they are sabotaged or challenged by crisis advocates.

CITAD therefore draw the attention of all and sundry particularly stakeholders and specifically the governments at all levels to rise against fake news and hate speeches by deeply tracing the source of websites that promote violence of any kind and bring them to book as well as subject press statements\releases to various forms of scrutiny in order to validate the authenticity of unions\associations and personalities that issue the information.

It also called for strong vetting of contents of statements to ensure there are no claims or statements that will put people into negative action or promote provocative utterances from groups, unions, personalities or bodies, enhancing the sensitisation of people on the circulation of contaminated information and above all take down websites that are seen to be fuelling crisis among people of different religious and tribal backgrounds and then prosecute such medium that are found wanting.

CITAD concluded that governments at all levels should address key drivers of hate speech in the country by improving transparency in governance, impartiality in the anti-corruption agenda, sticking to the rule of law and elevate the level of consultations with citizens on key issues and addressing existing conflicts by bringing them to closure.

CITAD Flays Use Of Social Media To Fuel Ethnic/Religious Crisis

By Patience Ogbodo Iwuagwu.

A non-governmental organisation, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has cautioned against fuelling ethnic religious conflict and killings through the use of social media.

Addressing a press conference at NUJ Secretariat in Bauchi, Mohammed Chiroma Hassan, Programme Officer of CITAD, lamented that the circulation of fake news was behind the series of violence recorded in the country.

He said, “It’s unfortunate that communication issue has been stoking the fire of violence in the country. This is the circulation of fake news, especially in the social media has been fuelling ethno-religious conflicts and killings in the country.

“Amidst recurring loss of life and property in many parts of Nigeria, another serious or rather unnoticed danger is brewing with a wildfire effect; this danger is nothing but circulation of fake press statements/releases that are widely circulated online. An example of this is the purported release by a non-existent group ‘Fulani National Movement (FUNAM)’ claiming to justify reprisal killings because the cows of herders have been killed. We have researched into the so-called movement and it is clear that someone with an interest in stoking the fire of violence is behind the fake association,” he said.

Hassan stated: “Sentiment and selfish agenda has given people the momentum to become information givers while recklessness has encouraged some people to use technology for bad, yes for bad because they manufacture lies and disseminate on websites, groups and pages on Facebook, the effect of these fake updates is that when people read them, they become emotional and sometimes react violently.

NGO Advises Online Media to Move Against Hate Speeches

By News Agency of Nigeria.

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.

Fake News on Social Media Caused Ethno-Religious War

By Bashir Muhammad, Kano.

Project Coordinator, Hate Speech, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Malam Hamza Ibrahim, has declared that the proliferation of fake news on Social Media Platform was responsible for the ethno-religious conflicts rocking the country.

Speaking in Kano yesterday, Ibrahim said “sentiments and selfish agenda have given people the momentum to become information givers, while recklessness has encouraged some people to use technology for evil machinations as they manufacture and concoct lies and disseminate on websites, groups and pages of Facebook.”

Ibrahim said “the repercussions of fake updates was that when people read them they become emotional and sometimes react violently,” adding that “various press statements on the crisis in Jos carried strange names of signatories and associations of certain people making provocative remarks on the crisis and setting conditions or making demands.”

He said another portion of the danger “are emerging websites that tag themselves as online newspapers whose ultimate goal is to bring into collision one ethnic or religious group against the other through uploading violence sparking pieces.”

“We have over the last one year monitored how the use of fake images and news especially in the Social Media impacted negatively on mutual coexistence and respect between people of different religious and tribal backgrounds. it is sad that many people are falling into the traps of such publications whose aim is to divide the country.

“Concrete action ought to be taken to curtail it. There are undoubtedly millions of Nigerians on different social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, because these sites and web pages make it easy for people to posts contents.

“We want use this medium to draw the attention of all and sundry on this unfortunate practice and strongly add that stakeholders and especially the government at different levels and the media need to ruse against it.”

Fake News Fueling Ethno-Religious Conflict, Killings In Nigeria

 By Solase Base. 

A nongovernmental organization,  Centre For Information Technology and Development  (CITAD) on Monday  raised alarm over increasing online news platform circulating fake news, images and calling on government to take appropriate action to check the trend.

CITAD said the circulation of fake news and pictures especially on the social media is a contributory factor fueling ethno-religious conflict and killings around the country.

Hate Speech Project Coordinator of the NGO, Hamza Ibrahim stated this on Monday at a news conference held in Kano.

Hamza Ibrahim said the new trend of fake news observed recently is the circulation fake press statements/ releases that are widely circulated online citing example of a non-existing group ,Fulani National Movement (FUNAM) justifying the killing in Plateau state  as a reprisal attack to killing of Cows of Herders which investigation has shown that such organization does not exist at all.

“Sentiment and selfish agenda has given people the momentum to become information –givers while recklessness has encouraged same people to use technology for bad, manufacture lies and disseminate on websites, groups, and pages on Facebook,” said Hamza Ibrahim.

“The effect of these fake news updates is that when people read them they become emotional and sometimes react violently. Any careful reader might have noticed various press statements on Jos crisis in circulation, they carry strange names of signatories and associations of certain people making provocative remarks on the crisis and setting conditions or making demands. Rather than calm the situation down, the statements aggravate it by reinforcing the desire for vengeance in different parties involved.”

He said there is a rise of new wave of online news platform  which are set up to promote violent conflict in the country , noting that another variant of fake news is when Journalists sit down and invent interviews and attribute statements to known or unknown persons.

Hamza Ibrahim advocated measures to curtails the menace that include tracing the source of the websites that promote violence of any kind and bring them to book , subject press releases/statements to various forms of scrutiny in order to validate the authenticity and not promote provocative utterances.

“Taking down websites that are seen to be fuelling crisis amongst people of different religious and tribal backgrounds. Also prosecuting mediums that are found wanting,” said Ibrahim.

He commended media outlets that have consistently shot their doors to hate speech and fake news.

He urged Nigerians not to allow themselves to be use as it is clear that politicians profit from the use of hate speech but ultimately it is the citizens and the country that are the losers in this.

CITAD Records 221 Hate,Dangerous Speeches In March

By Solace Base.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) appealed to people and users of social media platform to develop the idea of reporting hate and Dangerous speeches so as to reduce the prevalence and forestall crisis it may lead to.

CITAD Assistant program officer, Sunusi Shazalli Sulaiman made the call on Thursday at the monthly briefing of the centre on monitoring and countering Hate and Dangerous Speeches for the month of March.

He said the data analysis indicates that 221 hate and dangerous speeches were recorded with ethnicity and religious speeches dominating the activity for the month.

Sunusi Shazalli Sulaiman said males involve in hate and dangerous speeches during the period were 92.3% and 2.7% were females while 0.5% did not reveal their identity.

He advised the social user platforms to always report such, as the offenders can be blocked from creating havoc.

He called for media support to educate the populace on the dangers associated with hate and dangerous speeches which can lead to violence.

Solacebase reports that CITAD monthly monitor and counter Hate and Dangerous Speeches but could not disseminate this for some months this year as its website was attacked by hackers.

CITAD Holds Debate On Insurgency In Adamawa

By Hammangabdo Yola.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has organized an advocacy debate among students of tertiary institutions as strategy to end insurgency in Adamawa state. The executive director of CITAD, Mr Yunus Zakari, while declaring the maiden debate open in Yola, said the debate was organized to provide the youths a platform to discuss and proffer solutions to the insurgency crisis in the North-East region. The participating institutions were: Moddibo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State University, Mubi, and Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, in collaboration with the  North East Regional Initiative (NERI). Zakari said similar discussion would be organized for students in Borno and Yobe states, adding that there is plan to extend it to students in neigbouring countries of Chad, Cameroon and Niger. He said the presentations and suggestions by the students would be made available to relevant stakeholders, including policy makers. Earlier,Adamawa Programme Manager of NERI, Mr Machill Maxwell, said NERI has been supporting interventions in areas ravaged by insurgency and such positive mobilization of the youths was one of such supports “This is one of our soft activities where people are encouraged to sit together and talk and come up with ideas on how  to find solutions to the crisis that has bedeviled the North East.

NEYIF, CITAD Hold Social Accountability Meeting in Yobe

 

By Musa M. Buba Damaturu.

A one-day stakeholders’ meeting organised by non-governmental organisation, North East Youth Initiatives for Development (NEYIF), in collaboration with the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has ended in Damaturu with a call on the government to enact law for wider sensitisation of public on budgetary processes in Yobe state.

NEYIF’s Executive Director, Dauda Mohammed Gombe, said “the meeting is aimed at engaging stakeholders in promoting social accountability in the education sector in the Northeastern Nigeria.”

“Yobe is one of the backward states educationally in the country and recently has engaged on developmental projects, with the establishment of Bureau for Public Procurement in order to get value of money spent,” he said.

Gombe lamented the establishment of the Bureau for Public Procurement had reduced almost 50 percentage of their responsibilities, and called for capacity building of the newly appointed procurement officers that had less knowledge on budgetary process.

Earlier, the Senior Programme Officer of the CITAD, Isa Garba, said for the public procurement board to “work effectively and efficiently, there is need to bring stakeholders in a round table for transparency and accountability to be able to key in observations or proffer solution to challenges being faced.”

Our correspondent reports that the meeting drew participants from civil society organisations, media and stakeholders.