CITAD Unveils Voter Education Manual

By Tijjani Ibrahim.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has unveiled a new voter education training manual for public scrutiny ahead of 2019 general elections.

Speaking to journalists, the Acting Executive Director of the centre, Ahmad Abdullahi Yakasai, said the programme, supported by Action Aid International, was organized to let participants make their inputs, suggestions or corrections  to improve the content of the manual before its final production.

He expressed hope that the sensitisation and voter education would be effective so as to record free, fair and credible polls in the next year general elections.

A participant, who represented the state director of National Orientation Agency (NOA), Malama Suwaiba Adamu Salihu, said the participants were invited based on their past experiences in attending previous similar events so as to make their inputs to enrich the quality of the voter education training manual.

Participants were drawn from six (6) local government areas of the state and each local government was represented by three communities.

We Have Enough Laws For Hate Speech, Stakeholders Tell FG

By Emmanuel Elebeke.

Federal government has been advised to reconsider its stands to pass a new law for hate speech in the country. This was the view of some participants at the inaugural Peace and Security Network Quarterly confab series held in Abuja on Monday. They argued that the country has enough laws to take care of any form of hate speech that may arise before, during and after the 2019 general elections as contained in the constitution, broadcasting code, Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria Act and the Press Council Code of ethics. They however, warned federal government against pushing for laws that would gag the press and free speech under the guise of 2019 general elections, insisting that the move to pass the new hate speech bill by through the National Assembly was unnecessary. Speaking at the event, the President, Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, Mr. Dotun Oladipo, who accused the government of having a plan to gaga the press, warned government to stop playing around by bringing in new law but should apply the existing laws to check the menace of hate speech. ‘‘Let us not play around because election is coming. We have laws already that can take care of hate speech. Bringing in new laws will not be necessary. This government is out to gag the media. It is difficult to draw the line between hate speech and free speech.’’ On how to address the trend, Oladipo called on the national Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Federal Ministry of Information to contend with the promoters of hate speech on the social media rather than encourage formulation of new laws. He also accused the police of not doing its jobs of tracing drivers of hate speech on social through their social media accounts but rather resort to arresting people who will give them money. He further accused some media practitioners of not leveraging the advantage of social media in seeking for credible stories instead promote unverifiable stories. The director of Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Yunus Zakari Yahu, identified lack of transparency in governance; perception of marginalization; poverty and inability of government to address previous conflicts and bring them to closure as some of the root causes of hate speech. He noted that hate speech is not something that happened out of context, but has to be triggered by an action. ‘‘Over the last couple of months, we have seen increase in the volume of hate speech, particularly in the social media and electronic media as well. We think that the prevalence of hate speech can lead to violence as it has led to violence in other countries. As it has capacity to lead to violence. ‘‘If people act to prevent it, it can be prevented. The reason we are here is to get all stakeholders to understand the dangers hate speech portends for the country, especially as we move closer to the 2019 elections so that those who can work in peace can do so to reduce the volume of hate speech. We are also here to help sensitise the public on the danger of hate speech.’’ On what CITAD is doing to check hate speech, he said: ‘‘We have a couple of initiatives to inform citizens to demand accountability from government. Government on its side should make information free to the people, enforcement of FOI Act; fight poverty, government has to be impartial in addressing issues in the country. ‘‘We also recognise that there are existing media regulations which can be used to address hate speech, the Advertisers Practitioners Act, National Broadcasting code, the Press Council code of ethics. With, these, regulators should be able to sanction all media houses that violate the codes.’’ Earlier in his address, the PSN Manager, Adeolu Adewumi said the the forum was organised to for stakeholders to brainstorm on the correlation between free speech and hate speech and proffer solution to hate speech. ‘‘The essence of having these confab series is to ensure that we engage with hate speech and its implications, hate speech and its implications for elections and electoral security and hate speech and religious tolerance, so that whatever the government and international community with say will be a common narrative towards addressing hate speech. ‘‘We have come to understand that there is a tin line between hate speech and free speech, where hate speech ends, free speech begins vice versa. ‘‘We have to interrogate that properly. We begin to engage the collaboration of government with international partners to have a common narrative towards the 2019 elections. That is why we are starting very early, because we know the election is one year away and we believe that starting early and remaining proactive would add value to the electoral process, and ensuring that the right speeches are made by the political actors, individuals.’’ In his keynote speech entitled: Towards 2019 Elections: Hate Speech and |Implications for Ethnic Relations, the guest speaker and former United nations Under-Secretary for Political Affairs and former mediator in Rwanda and Myanmar crisis, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari said 2019 general elections are threatened because the media space had been hijacked by the drivers of hate speech, saying that concerted action must be taken by government and CSOs to adopt a national law which will check the excesses of hate speech. He charged the media to demonstrate absolute patriotism in the discharge of their duties, insisting that the run off to 2019 elections must be handled with extremee care. he also called for a review of media code of ethics to curtail the increase of hate speech on the media. ”We must not allow ethics and selfish interest to collide with the overall interest of Nigeria. What is more threatening is not the traditional media but the social media. There is need for the ministry of interior to step up sensitization on hate speech. CSOs must also double their efforts in advocacy to the grass roots.” On her side, the President, Nigeria Guild of Editors, Funke Egbemode said the media should not be blamed for the increase in hate speech but insisted that government must be prepared to do its bit by being fair to all and providing good governance. She also insisted that security agencies must be prepared to discharge their duties without bias to the citizens. ‘‘We need to do what must be done. You cannot blame everybody sitting next to us for what is happening in the other house. We need to do what needs to be done,’’ she said. On the role of INEC, the chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the business of INEC is to conduct elections and not to police cyber space. He also stated that INEC is not averse to use of social media to advance and reach out to young people but warned that a line should be drawn between hate speech and free speech, especially in the use of social media. ‘‘We are making use of social media to engage people on the ongoing registration exercise. Social media releasing result is the issue but releasing unofficial results. ‘‘The most important thing is that the government have to be dynamic in the use of social media to be able to guide against gate speech. For us in INEC, social media has helped us to draw people out for registration. The use of social media is quite positive in some ways but can be dangerous in other ways. ‘’There has to be a balance between hate speech and free speech. The recent judgements on hate speech in European should be a guide to us as to the limit free of every speech. We need to critically examine theses and come up with guidelines on how to deal with hate speech,’’ he added.

CITAD Promises To Engage Youth in Peace-Building

By Eseohe Ebhota.

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has said it will continue to work with youths especially in areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

This remark was made by the head of the Abuja office and programme officer, CITAD Mr. Ahmad Muhammad Danyaro during his courtesy visit to Media Trust’s office in Abuja.

While mentioning some of the youth programmes the centre has engaged youths in, Danyaro promised that they would do more to ensure that everyone benefits from them, especially the youths.

He said “In the next few weeks, CITAD will roll out many projects in Abuja which includes Children mobile digital Literacy workshop and Child message collection, Summer Digital Institute for Girls. This is to promote digital inclusion among women and also the establishment of Peace clubs in secondary schools and Tertiary Institutions in Abuja among others”.

He also urged youth to shun hate speeches and embrace peace-building. He added “As part of CITAD’s long years of peace engagement, we partner with Peace and security Network which is the network for sharing information and networking space for donors, locals and International governmental peace building actors in Nigeria”.

Danyaro also congratulated Media Trust on its 20th anniversary in journalism.

Veteran Journalist Seeks End To Early Girl Marriage

Ibrahim M. Baba -Bauchi, a veteran journalist in Bauchi State, has stressed the need to address problem of early marriage and lack of educational opportunities among girl child in Nigeria.

He stated this at the weekend ay while presenting a paper entitled “Women Participation in Governance and Decision Making Process” during the commemoration of this year International Women’s Day celebration organsed by Department of Mass Communication, Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi in collaboration with Centre for a Information Technology and Drvelopment (CITAD) for female students of the institution.

Ibrahim Baba, who expressed worry over gender inequality and women participation in governance in Nigeria, said “The old practice of early marriage and lack of educational opportunities for the girl child should be redressed so as to cope with the changing trends in the world today”.

“This problem is better imagined than witnessed in the rural areas where culture and tradition has its own effect on the participation of women in governance. Sometimes, stringent measures that our political parties put in place for a person to qualify to run for elective position also serve as a deterrent. Other issues identified are the traditional institutions and cultural practices that are used to deprive women the opportunity to participate in governing issues right at the community level most of the policies and decisions are made.

Speaking earlier, Ahmad Abubakar the Head of Department of Mass Communication of ATAP, who was represented by a lecturer in the department, Nazif Pali, lamented that women in Nigeria are relegated to the background without given opportunity to prove their potential.

He assured that the institution will continue to champion issues that will improve women potential as well as encourage them to participate in governance process.

He thereby charged the female students of the institution to always demonstrate hard work and passion in their study in order to have a brighter future.

Abubakar commended CITAD for partnering with the institution in conducting series of activities for its female students.

Online Harassment Shouldn’t Deter Women From Internet

By Richard P. Ngbokai

Miss Maryam Ado Haruna is the programme assistant on gender and internet advocacy with the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in Kano State. The Centre did a study recently on why women participation on internet space is low in Kano. Maryam spoke on this and what women should do.

The Centre recently did a study on internet presence for women. What does it entail?

When we say gender violence against women, initially we are aware of cybercrime. It is just like the existing violence against women, domestic violence or any other form of violence against women that is being transferred, or the internet is being used as a means of carrying out   such violence against women that’s what we refer to as online violence against women.

There are various ways these could be carried out, take photos for instance, a woman’s photo could be used against her or her photo is used to tarnish her image online, it is violence. 

Another common trend is the use of compromise picture; maybe I have a boyfriend and I send him some of my pictures even some of my nude photos. I may do it with my consent but they are not meant for the internet but because of a dispute, he may decide to use that picture online to create mischief against me. There are many of these.

What triggered the research on women and their internet presence in Kano?

What led to this research was that women are left behind economically and are politically marginalized, and even in the use of internet. We did the research to find out why these women are not using the internet. Then one of the things we realized was this gender violence online. Most women don’t want to use internet because of fear that they may be harassed or intimidated online.

Don’t you think staying off the internet is better protection for women?

No I don’t believe that because the internet has come to stay. If you look at countries that progressed, the major tool for the progress is the internet, thus whenever you try to stop yourself from using the internet then you are left behind because everything now is going online.

In fact, internet is an issue of human rights. In the universal declaration and other conventions which attempt a protection of human rights, internet gives access to those rights. Take freedom of expression being one of the most important rights we have in a democracy for instance, if you try not to use the internet you cannot enjoy that right fully because on the internet your voice could be heard.

This is similar in enhancing access to education. There are a lot of opportunities online like scholarships. People in the south enjoy government’s empowerment and scholarship programmes more than we here in the north because they are ahead of us in using the internet. Scholarships, CBN loan schemes, N-power and lot more are online but because we don’t use the internet we are not aware of them.

What safety tips are there for women to be secured online?

People should understand that gender-based violence against women online is violence. There are tools but the first is the woman herself because she decides what she posts online and what not to post. There are things a woman can do to attract the violence, so she has to be decent.

Women should know that their passwords are very important as they give access to their accounts. Hackers use these to get access to your Facebook or email accounts. So your password should be strong containing alphabets and numbers. Don’t just download from any link because some links are scams. Be conscious of privacy settings on the social media platforms: married women should not give too much personal information because they can be used to get them.

2019: Centre Urges Nigerians to Obtain Voter’s Cards

By Richard P. Ngbokai, Kano 

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) in partnership with other development partners in Kano state have staged a voter sensitization rally on Friday, urging Nigerians of voting age to obtain their voter’s cards so as to be able to exercise their franchise come 2019 general elections.

The centre had earlier decried voter apathy in the last local government elections across the state, blaming the poor turnout at the voting points partly on inability of some voters to trace their permanent voter’s cards since after the 2015 general elections.

 CITAD and its partners emphasised the need for everybody from 18years and above who has not obtained the card before to visit the nearest INEC office to register and obtain his or her voter’s card before the electoral body closes registration.

Addressing the press shortly after the procession, CITAD’s Research and Communications Officer, Hamza Ibrahim warned against double registration, stressing that the chance provided by the INEC is for those who have just attended the age of 18.

“For those who have relocated from their places of registration, or their voter’s card got missing or damaged INEC has made a provision for an incident form for that person to fill so that another card should be issued to that person. He or she doesn’t necessarily need to go and register again. We don’t encourage people to secure this voters card twice’’ Hamza said, stressing that obtaining more than one voters card is a punishable offence before the law.

Voters Registration: INEC Equipment Obsolete

The Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission cannot afford to register Nigerians, attributing same to ineffectiveness of the commission’s equipment.

Mohammed Chiroma Hassan, Assistant program officer spoke with DAILY POST shortly after its rally in Bauchi to mobilise people to register and obtain their permanent voters card ahead of 2019 election.

“To be candid, come 2019, people would not come out enmass to vote like before because of government’s failure to perform well in spite of the people’s expectations in bringing in new government,” Said Hassan.

According to Hassan, CITAD was informed to stage the rally to mobilise people to obtain PVC to vote candidates of their choice, come 2019.

He noted that without the PVC, all that Nigerians need to bring any developmental change will not be possible.

CSOs Embark on Voters’ Sensitisation in Bauchi

By Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) operating in Bauchi state on Saturday embarked on a campaign rally to sensitise the residents of the state on the need to register, votes and protect their votes.

The sensitisation exercise which was organised by One Voice Nigeria in collaboration with Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) was participated in by 15 CSOs, representatives of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Physically Challenged Association in Bauchi state.

The rally which was held in Bauchi metropolis started from Ahmadu Bello way to Kobi street and Wunti roundabout with the CSO’s carrying placards that read, Register, Select, Vote, Protect, My Voice, My Vote, One Voice Nigeria among others.

Speaking with Journalists, Secretary General of Bauchi State Network of Civil Society Organisations (BASNEC), Comrade Sadiq Yusuf, called on the residents to follow due process and register with relevant authorities to enable them cast their votes during the forthcoming general election.

He informed them that it’s their constitutional right to be register and come out enmasse to vote for the candidate of their choice during the election, noting “we have the right to make our choice during the election by voting for people who have integrity to deliver to citizens of Nigeria and we can only do that if we obtain voters card and exercise our franchise during the polls,” he said.

Also speaking, the Senior Programmer Office of CITAD, Isa Garba said the aim of the exercise was to sensitise the public on the need to register, vote on election day, protect their votes as well as how to report their grievances in a positive ways to relevant authorities.

He said, “we want to educate the general public on when and where to register and get voters cars as well as how to resolve problems of loss of voters’ cards and relocation issues.”

In his address, the acting Public Affairs Office of INEC in Bauchi state, Is’haq Hamza said the continuous voters’ registration was in compliance with section (10) of the electoral act 2010 as amended as it becomes imperative to continue with the registration of eligible voters.

According to him “Section 13 of the Electoral Act also provides for transfer of voters registration for those that have relocated to other places from where they register to their present location to enable them exercise their franchise.

Hamza called on any citizen who is yet to register to use the opportunity and register as well as ensure that their OVCs are securely kept to enable them vote during the election.

“Mata Ne a Baya a Fannin Kimiyya Da Fasaha”

A ranar 11 ga watan Fabrairun kowacce shekara ne ake bikin ranar wayar da kai game da gudunmawar mata ga harkar kimiyya da fasaha a duniya.

Majalisar Dinkin Duniya, ta ce ita da hukumominta sun lura cewa a shekara 25 da ta wuce, an samu wawakeken gibi a tsakanin mata da maza a harkar kimiyya da fasaha a duniya.

Babban abin takaicin ma, a cewar Majalisar, shi ne matan, koma-baya suka kara samu a harkar, a maimakon ci gaba.

To a kan haka BBC, ta tattauna da wata jami’a a cibiyar fasahar sadarwa da bunkasa al’umma wato CITAD, Maryam Ado Haruna, wadda ta ce gaskiya an bar mata a baya a wannan bangare, kuma hakan baya rasa nasaba da wasu dalilai da suka hada da al’ada, musamman a arewacin Najeriya, inda ake ganin ire-iren wannan karatu na kimiyya da fasaha na ‘ya’ya maza ne kawai.

Maryam Ado, ta ce dalili na biyu kuwa shi ne koma bayan da mata suka samu a harkar ilimi, tun da sau da dama a wasu wurare ba a bari mata suyi zurfin ilimi ake aurar da su.

Dalili na uku kuwa inji jami’ar shi ne, rashin wadanda ‘ya’ya matan za su gani suyi koyi da su a wannan fanni.

Yadda Tunkiya ta rikita masana kimiyya

Addinin Musulunci bai hana binciken kimiyya ba — Hayat Al-Sindi

Maryam Ado, ta ce bisa la’akari da wannan koma baya da mata suka samu a bangaren kimiyya da fasaha, cibiyarsu na kokari wajen wayar da kan mata da kuma iyaye a kan su rinka barin ‘ya’yansu mata na shiga a dama dasu a bangaren kimiyya da fasaha.

Jami’ar ta ce, yakamata a rinka wayar da kan mutane game da rawar da mata za su taka a fannin kimiyya da fasaha, domin hakan zai matukar taimakawa a samu ci gaba a kowacce al’umma.

Kano LG Polls: CSOs Fault Process, Say Multiple, Underage Voting Rampant

By Nasir Ibrahim

Two election monitors in Saturday’s local government polls in Kano, Centre for Information Technology And Development (CITAD) and Action Aid International Nigeria, have faulted the entire process.

They said the process was flawed since it permitted open, multiple, and underage voting.

A statement issued by media coordinator, Election Monitoring Team of CITAD, Hamza Idris, also noted that election officials and materials were in several instances not delivered to polling units on time, ”an action that discouraged voters and led to a boycott of polling units.”

“Underage voting has been witnessed in some places. Insufficient provision of ballot papers in many polling units. At a particular polling unit, there were over 600 registered voters but only 200 ballot papers were issued to it even though there was a considerable turnout of voters in some polling units.

“In most of the local governments within and outside Kano metropolis, voting began between 3:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.,” the statement said.

The statement added that a number of newly registered voters could not find their names on the voters register presented by KANSIEC as it is yet to be updated, and voting did not take place in some polling units as the electorate waited endlessly.

They cited a particular case in Karaye local government where this occurred.

The statement said conducting free, credible and fair elections not only helps democracy but consolidates it, especially at local government levels.

“People living with disability were discouraged from voting in certain polling units having to join long queues.

“Provisions should be made to allow people with special needs to easily vote in elections, such as dedicating a particular section or queue for them, providing a shade under which albinos can wait,” the statement observed.

It also recommended adequate and concrete plans to ensure prompt delivery of election materials to all polling units.

“Voters register should be continuously updated to allow emerging voters find their names and cast their votes. Underage voting should not be condoned by election officials and security agents,” the groups advised.

Two election monitors in Saturday’s local government polls in Kano, Centre for Information Technology And Development (CITAD) and Action Aid International Nigeria, have faulted the entire process.

They said the process was flawed since it permitted open, multiple, and underage voting.

A statement issued by media coordinator, Election Monitoring Team of CITAD, Hamza Idris, also noted that election officials and materials were in several instances not delivered to polling units on time, ”an action that discouraged voters and led to a boycott of polling units.”

“Underage voting has been witnessed in some places. Insufficient provision of ballot papers in many polling units. At a particular polling unit, there were over 600 registered voters but only 200 ballot papers were issued to it even though there was a considerable turnout of voters in some polling units.

“In most of the local governments within and outside Kano metropolis, voting began between 3:30 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.,” the statement said.

The statement added that a number of newly registered voters could not find their names on the voters register presented by KANSIEC as it is yet to be updated, and voting did not take place in some polling units as the electorate waited endlessly.

They cited a particular case in Karaye local government where this occurred.

The statement said conducting free, credible and fair elections not only helps democracy but consolidates it, especially at local government levels.

“People living with disability were discouraged from voting in certain polling units having to join long queues.

“Provisions should be made to allow people with special needs to easily vote in elections, such as dedicating a particular section or queue for them, providing a shade under which albinos can wait,” the statement observed.

It also recommended adequate and concrete plans to ensure prompt delivery of election materials to all polling units.

“Voters register should be continuously updated to allow emerging voters find their names and cast their votes. Underage voting should not be condoned by election officials and security agents,” the groups advised.

Centre Calls for Criminalization of On-Line Violence

By Richard P. Ngbokai.

A Kano based advocacy organization, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has called for the criminalization of gender based violence perpetrated against women on the Internet.

The programme assistant on gender and the Internet advocacy CITAD, Maryam Ado Haruna who made the call in a press briefing said cybercrime Act was not enough to curb the spate of violence against women online, emphasizing that gender based violence online should be made a punishable offence.

She lamented the manner in which some women lost their marriages as a result of mischief perpetrated against them on social media.

She advocated for synergy between the service providers and the security agencies in order to mitigate the rising cases of character assassination being perpetrated on-line.

“The issue of gender based violence online in the north is very common. From the instances we have gathered, there is direct correlation between online violence and physical abuse of women in the sense that any violence done online carries physical effect on the target. There are instances of broken relationships because of this mischief being perpetrated online, children were taken away  from schools, marriages terminated and many more,” she said.

Citing example of how this crime is being perpetrated on-line, Maryam said “there was an instance from one of our respondents whose photo was manipulated through photoshop by a male friend. She took a photo in a hijab, but the man go and cut her face and attached it to a nude body and post it on the internet and it went viral anybody that see that picture would believe it was her body.

She identified Facebook, Twitter, Instagram as major platforms gender based violence is being committed frequently against women.

CITAD Facilitates Political Office Aspirants and Electorates Public Discussion

By Hamza Ibrahim.

As local governments election draw nearer in Kano state, the Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has brokered a public discussion between electorates in different Kano communities and their aspiring political figures. The discussion which took place across ActionAid International Nigeria supported project, “Strengthening Citizens Engagement in Electoral Process (SCEEP)” communities brought aspiring chairmen and councilors into face to face deliberation with electorates. February 10th 2018 is set for the local governments election in Kano state, and the electorates need to be reminded on voting in people who will deliver and alleviate their sufferings, hence the need for bringing voters and contestants together. SCEEP project has previously developed “Community Development Charters” for 18 communities across the state, and the charters have carefully highlighted demands, problems, challenges etc of the respective communities, and for the first time, some participants and the aspirants admitted they are talking to themselves not on personal matters but community issues ahead of election, “this is going to be a yardstick upon which we will decide whether or not to vote someone”, emphasized a participant.

Earlier speaking, representative of the Executive Director of CITAD, Malam Ahmad Abdullahi Yakasai summed up the objective of the interactive session to be “a forum where voters see and hear from people who seek their votes in the coming election, so that they decide voting for them and holding them accountable afterwards”. Coordinator of SCEEP project, Malam Isyaku Garba gave an overview of the project and CITAD activities in general urging the participants to prioritize contents of the “Community Development Charters” in their demands from the elective posts contestants.
Three chairmanship aspirants from All Progressive Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Green Party of Nigeria (GPN) and numerous councillorship aspirants attended and interacted with the participating male and female voters from Rano local government area of Kano state. Religious and traditional leaders, youths and women groups, students, traders etc were also present. The aspirants spoke and responded to questions and comments after which they were all given copies of the “Community Development Charters” developed by SCEEP project of CITAD, all of them commended the charters describing it as an ease to the tasks ahead of them.

 

Centre Seeks Law to Prevent Online Harassment of Women

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), has called on the Federal Government to introduce internet safety and security in the nation’s computer studies curriculum.

Hajiya Maryam Ado-Haruna, the CITAD Programme Assistant, Gender and Internet Advocacy, made the call on Thursday while briefing newsmen in Kano on the outcome of its research on Gender-Based Violence Online.

She also called for the introduction of privacy and personal data protection law in the country.

The official further canvassed for effective implementation of the “Do Not Disturb” policy of the Nigerian Communication Commission which requires service providers to stop sending unsolicited messages by third parties.

On the research, she said: “Gender Based Violence Online (GBVO) is an act of cyber crime carried out against a woman because she is a woman; the crime is primarily carried out to injure her feelings, damage her reputation or tarnish her image.”

According to her, from the data generated, it is clear that gender-based violence online is one of the cross-cutting issues affecting women’s full use of the internet.

“The results of the studies have shown that women in northern Nigeria are being subjected to various forms of online violence such as harassment, intimidation and threat which tends to discourage them from using internet.

“In our campaign over the radio and other medium of mass communication, we advised women about decency and moral conduct online in order not to directly invite GBVO to themselves.”

Ado-Haruna urged women to understand and mitigate the risks they might face in the course of accessing the internet.

She said women must know and understand the privacy and personal applications to secure their online addresses and protect themselves from online harassment.

Text of a Press Conference on Gender-Based Violence Online Research Carried Out

By Maryam Ado Haruna.

Distinguished members of the press, I welcome you all to our press conference on the outcomes of our researches on Gender Based Violence Online.
In 2017, Center for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), with support from Internews and Association for Progressive Communication, undertook some researches to find out factors inhibiting women’s participation online especially in the northern Nigeria. The findings of the study have proven that one of the most pressing factors that discourage internet use by women was the fear of the internet. In particular, there were references to sexual harassment and other negative experiences that women are subjected to online.

The main objectives of the researches are:
• To examine the level of women’s awareness on the term GBVO.
• To identify instances of GBVO in northern Nigeria.
• To find out the impact of GBVO women’s participation online.
• To identify the most commonly used platforms for GBVO.
• To find out whether women in northern Nigeria are conversant with internet safety and security tools.

Let me make a clarification here. Sometimes, people confuse gender based violence online with cybercrime. GBVO is an act of cybercrime carried out against a woman because she is a woman; this is primarily carried out to injure her feelings, damage her reputation or tarnish her image. In Nigeria and particularly northern Nigeria, much honour and dignity is being attached to a woman in such a way that an injury to her image affects her greatly if compared with how it affects a man. A typical example is in the case of Rahama Sadau, where people accused her of immorality and irresponsibleness, leaving the man they featured together in the video behind.

GBVO acts include any of the following:
• Unwanted/unsolicited messages;
• Exposure to indecent materials;
• Explicit solicitation from other people (e.g of a picture);
• Posting of pornographic materials;
• Disclosure of our private life by someone online;
• Unauthorized exposure of one’s compromised or naked pictures by someone including boyfriend, husband, ex-boy or ex-husband;
• Threat of exposure by someone;
• Physical attack arising from online contact or conversation;
• Lack of privacy;
• Exposure to the public;
• identity theft;
• Identity impersonation.
• Account hacking etc.

The major findings include of our researches include:
• 41.4% respondents said they have experienced such harassments, 48.9% others said they have never experienced such, 9.7% more said they are not sure whether they have personally experienced online harassment or not. 80.5% of the respondents also said they know women that have experienced GBVO
• A lot of women from our FGD explained that they have experienced account hacking (mostly email and Facebook account) and identity theft, image destruction through photoshop, sexting and spreading of false information with their photos.
• 75% believed GBVO discourages internet, 15% disagreed while 10% were not sure. Most respondents in our FGD believed that it discouragers Internet use by women.
• Among the impact GBVO has made on the respondents, 36% dislike using the internet, 43% use the internet with fear, while 21% went offline completely. Some respondents in the FGD said that their parents/husband stopped them from using the internet, some others said the stopped using the internet themselves.
• 54.1% respondents believed that their harassers were males, 26.4% said they were females, while 19.5% were not sure of their harassers’ gender. The respondents in the FGD reported that most perpetrators were males, though they gave some instance of female perpetrators too.
• 49.5% were harassed online because they were females, 21.5% respondents did not agree that they were harassed because they were females, while 29.1% (27) others said they were not sure.
• Facebook (70%) is the most common platform for GBVO, the others include: WhatsApp (16%), Instagram (8%), Twitter (5%) and Viber (1%). The findings were similar with that gotten from the FGD.

We also undertook a pre and post radio programme surveys to examine the understanding of women on the term GBVO and internet safety and security tools. The data was used to feed our campaign over the radio and also to evaluate the success of the campaign.

The major findings of the pre radio survey were:
• Findings have shown that the 89% of respondents believe that the internet is important to them.
• They use the internet either for educational purposes, researches, communication or for information, though some have mentioned that pornographic materials and harassment make the internet less important to them.
• Results have also shown that most of the respondents (more than 80%) do not know the meaning of internet safety and security, nor do they know the privacy protection tools in which they can use to protect themselves from GBVO.
• The respondents also expressed that they have confidence in the use of the internet and are also confidential that the privacy protection tools can protect them from GBVO.

The post programme survey had shown increase in the understanding of GBVO with significant difference.. The results have also shown that the women in Kano state have become more aware of the importance of the internet to them and to the society at large. They have also become more confident in the use of both the internet and the online protection tools. Findings have also revealed that most respondents fear for the internet has been reduced with a significance percentage.

CITAD’s Campaign
From the data that was generated, it is clear that gender-based violence online is one of the cross-cutting issues affecting women’s participation on the internet. The results of the studies have shown that women in northern Nigeria are being subjected to various forms of online violence such as harassments, intimidations and threats, which tend to discourage the use of the internet by the women. This has especially holdback women’s participation online in the northern Nigeria where the culture, tradition, attitude and religion (to some extent) in their originality affect their internet use. Thus we embarked on a campaign with support from Internews and APC.

Our campaign therefore involved an interactive radio programme on Freedom Radio 99.5FM which centers on the following:

We tried to make the public to realize the importance of the internet to women and for them to accept it as a right that women should have access to the internet. Secondly, we tried to enhanced the capacity of people especially women on how to use the internet safely. In addition, we held a stakeholders’ meeting which brought government, civil society activists, women and religious leaders to deliberate on the research outcomes on Gender Based Violence Online undertaken by CITAD. Finally, we tried to raise awareness about internet as a right and factors that hinder the effective use of the internet by women.

In our campaign over the radio and other mediums, we advised women of decency and moral conduct online in order not to directly invite GBVO themselves. But we are advocating for a safe internet which women can use freely without any fear. Of course, GBVO is an infringement to the rights of women since it has made a lot of women to stop using the internet or has posed fear in their mind while they use the internet.
CITAD also organized a two day training of trainers on addressing GBVO for 20 women from various states. We taught them the tools they can use to protect themselves online. We are expecting them to step down the training to at least 20 other women in their communities/organisations. We also organized a validation meeting on the researches we have conducted.

Call for Action
1. CITAD is calling on the government to introduce internet safety and security in the curriculum of Computer Studies at secondary schools
2. Introduction of protection of privacy and personal data protection law in the country
3. Ensuring the effective implementation of the “Do Not Disturb” policy of the Nigerian Communications Commission which requires service providers to stop the sending of unsolicited messages by third parties.

Role for All
Addressing GBVO is a collective responsibility (including governments, cooperate bodies and individuals). Specifically we need:

1. For Women:
• Before going online, women must ensure they are well-prepared to understand and mitigate the risks they might face in the course of accessing the internet. Such preparation might include knowing and understanding the privacy and personal security online that they can use to protect themselves from harassers online.
• Reading “Terms and Conditions” before agreeing to use or register with any type of application of platform is very essential in protecting oneself.
• Women should keep their personal information private on the internet especially on social media. Such information like mobile phone number should be kept hidden on platforms like Facebook where everyone could possibly have access to it.
• Displaying improper pictures of videos of oneself can easily attract harassers to a woman.

2. For Law Makers:
• Laws punishing online harassers should be reinforced (The 2014 Cybercrime Act is not enough).
• The acts (GBVO) should be clearly stated as unacceptable and punishable by law.
• Police can follow up the complaints made by victims through the links provided by the service providers and make a thorough investigation. Harassers should then be punished accordingly.
• Thus, police and service providers should work together in identifying and prosecuting perpetrators of online gender based violence.

3. For Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
• Service providers should allow users to submit complaints about a particular website or platforms either through a telephone hotline or an online form.
• Actions should be taken instantly on any reported online violence so as to limit online gender based violence.

4. For NGOs and CBOs
• NGOs/CBOs should engage themselves in campaigning against GBVO. They should also formulate training for women on how they could safely use the internet by educating them on online privacy and protection tools.
• Enlighten those who perpetrate GBVO or who are likely to do so on the consequence of their actions
• Remove the psychological reasons which tempt to make people harass women online by campaigning to alter attitudes in society so that the views (GBVO) are seen as unacceptable.

5. For Journalists/Media Organisations
• Awareness creation to make people understand GBVO through daily and other programmes.
• Setting an agenda for the society on GBVO until it is recognized as harmful and therefore provoke action to address it.

Vacancy! Vacancy!! Vacancy!!!

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position:                      Driver

Responsible to:        Logistics Advisor

Location:                     Abuja

Line Management: None

Overall Purpose

The successful candidate will use ActionAid Nigeria (AAN)/ Centre for Information Development and Technology (CITAD) vehicles to facilitate movement of staff, equipment and to maintain vehicles and equipment according to AAN /CITAD policies and procedure. In addition, the person will be required to give informed assessment of the vehicle whenever required.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide administrative support for CITAD Community programme

• Ensure prompt delivery of mails and other messages in CITAD Office
• Movement of Staff, Partners and visiting consultants while adhering to all road safety rules and regulations both at Local and Federal levels.
• Comply with AAN/CITAD Health and Safety regulations

• Keep vehicle clean and free of trash

• Keep CEO informed of needed equipment repairs

Maintain and update a file on the following:
1. Vehicle License
2. Vehicle registration papers
3. Daily checklist for vehicle
4. Vehicle Insurance Papers
5. Driver’s license appropriate for vehicle
6. Log book

• Be updated on the procedure for fire drills and other related emergencies

• Promptness in keeping appointments and adhering to agreed schedules.
• All other responsibilities as given by the CEO

Key Relationships

Internal:   All Staff

External:  Partners, Donors & other stakeholders

Persons Specifications

Attributes/Skills  Essential Desirable
Education/Qualifications
  •  GCE O’level with at least 4 credits
Higher level of education is an advantage
Experience
  • A minimum of 3 years work experience
Experience in an international development agency
Skill Abilities • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with fluency in written, spoken English and Gbagyi.
(compulsory)
• Good knowledge of FRSC rules and guidelines
  • Good knowledge of Nigeria road networks
  • Ability to communicate fluently in Hausa is an advantage
Personal Qualities
  • A person of integrity
  • Creative and takes initiative.
  • Ability to work effectively in a diverse team environment
  • Willing to work additional hours at crucial times.
  • Self motivated person able to work without close supervision
  • Effectively promotes AAN/CITAD mission, values and objectives
  • Proven Leadership Qualities

Driver Signed: _____________________________

 

CITAD CEO Signed: _________________________