The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ‘fake news’

  • Minister: opposition using fake news to de-market Buhari

    MINISTER of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has accused the opposition of using fake news to de-market the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    He said the opposition has resorted to the use of religious and ethnic disharmony to taint the Buhari administration’s achievements.

    The minister spoke in Abuja yesterday when he visited Authority Newspapers’ Corporate Headquarters to kick-start the media tour in furtherance of the campaign against fake news, which the Federal Government launched.

    He said: “With the Buhari Administration delivering on its promises to fight corruption, build the nation’s economy and tackle insecurity, the opposition has realised it will not make any impact if it takes on the administration on that turf. So, it has decided to take the easy route, which is to use fake news and hate speech to de-market the administration, pitch Christians against Muslims and one ethnic group against another.”

    Mohammed also accused the opposition of throwing caution to the wind in its attempt to divide the country.

    The minister stressed that in its bid, the opposition is using fake news to blame the killings in a certain part of the country on herdsmen and ignoring the bands of deadly militia groups that were being sponsored by unscrupulous people to kill innocent people and put the nation on edge.

    He cited the example of how the opposition is distorting the fact that the clashes between the farmers and herders were being aggravated by climate change, which has heightened the contest for scarce natural resources like water and land – as well as demographic pressure.

    The minister said the morbid fear the opposition harbours that when he is re-elected in 2019, Buhari will consolidate on the fight against corruption, has thrown the opposition camp into confusion.

    Mohammed added that this has led to the frenzy with which they fabricate and publish fake news to cast the government in bad light.

    “Many politicians know that the  only way to distract this government is to spread fake news and they are being very selfish and they have amassed so much wealth that they can continue to sponsor fake news at a very dangerous level for as long as they want.

    “Many of them have this morbid fear of the President being re-elected because they know that in his second term, the war against corruption will start yielding fruits. There are so many cases in court today and they are just praying and doing everything to distract the government so that their cases will be scuttled,” he stated.

    Mohammed added that for the first time in the history of Nigeria, there was a re-distribution of the nation’s wealth from a few to the generality of the public

    The administration’s Social Investment Programme, he said, is providing one meal a day for 8.5 million pupils across 23 states; the Conditional Cash Transfer is empowering 400,000 families with N5,000 every month, the Government Enterprises and Empowerment Programme is making available loans to artisans and craftsmen as well as market women.

    The N-Power Programme has provided employment for over 200,000 unemployed graduates, he said.

    The minister hailed the Authority Newspapers for being the first media outlet to write an editorial in support of the campaign against fake news, saying he chose to kick-start the media tour with the newspaper in appreciation of its efforts.

     

     

     

  • Insecurity, fake news and 2019 election

    SIR: The persistence of insecurity and political tensions in the country have become a matter of concern as the country heads to 2019 general election in few months’ time. From Boko Haram, kidnapping, cattle rustling, ethnic militias and killer herdsmen, Nigeria is swimming in the tide of uncertainties. Nigerians are living in fear. The wanton destruction of lives and property continue to take a dangerous dimension. In some Northern states, blood-thirsty bandits are having a field day, sacking villages and killing defenceless masses.

    These killings have defied lasting solution in spite of numerous operations launched by the president and chief of army staff. These includes Harbin Kunama in Zamfara State, strategically launched to contain the menace of cattle rustling and to secure the affected communities, Ayem Akpatuma (cat race) – Benue State to forestall strike from dangerous herdsmen; Operation Crocodile Smile (Southeast) to stem the tide of violent agitations by members of IPOB. Unfortunately, the presence of these security agencies has failed to restore lasting peace in the affected states. Instead, security continues to deteriorate on daily basis.

    The abysmal failure of the security agencies to bring to an end the continuing carnage in troubled states of Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Plateau, Zamfara and now Sokoto indicates that something is absolutely wrong with our security network.

    Of course, the insecurity predates Buhari administration. It has however, worsened under its watch. The questions begging for answers are: why has the spate of killings increased under this administration? Is there any correlation between the abject poverty, unemployment and the present general insecurity? Is the insecurity closely related to desperation by some politicians to be in power as we approach the 2019 elections?

    While the country continues to grapple with numerous security challenges, the purveyors of hate speech and fake news are not helping matters. They have become cog in the wheels of finding lasting peace to the insecurity bedevilling the country. Their actions continue to ignite or fuel more crises than solving them. The proliferation of fake news in our social media has become matter of great concern. Nowadays, social media have become an avenue of spreading false, unverified and fabricated news among Nigerians. One can just wake up and receive video clips of horrific killings in other countries but attributed to some ethnic or religion victims in Nigeria. Sadly, without verifying the sources, they are shared among friends or colleagues. By so doing, gullible minds are fed with wrong information. Even educated people have become victims of the fake news.

    The federal government recently launched a war against fake news. This is a good initiative and should be vigorously pursued. There is the need for aggressive campaign to halt the menace as insecurity, hate speech and fake news may make or mar the success of the forthcoming 2019 election.

     

    • Ibrahim Mustapha,

    Pambegua, Kaduna State.

  • Beware of fake news, Minister tells Nigerians in Diaspora

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has urged Nigerians in the Diaspora not to believe everything they read on the social media about happenings in the country, saying most of what emanates from the social media is fake news.

    The minister who was addressing the staff of the Nigerian Embassy to the United States in Washington, DC, at the weekend, said they should rely on credible sources for news from home.

    He said the federal government recently launched the National Campaign against Fake News in order to stem the spread of false and misleading information, which is capable of threatening the peace and security of the country.

    The minister, who was in the US to interact with past and current senior US government officials and stakeholders in the US policy on Africa, under the auspices of the think tank Atlantic Council, said the picture being painted in some circles of an ethno-religious crisis in the country was far from the truth.

    According to him, ‘’Despite such crises as the farmers-herders clashes and communal conflicts, Nigerians – for the most part – are living together harmoniously. Nigeria is not at war.’’

    He said the tempo of the killings arising from the farmers-herders crisis was going down, and that the government was committed to ending the incessant clashes once and for all.

  • Fed Govt launches national campaign against fake news

    The Federal Government yesterday launched National Campaign Against Fake News, advising Nigerians to be vigilant.

    It said the essence of the campaign is to sensitise all Nigerians to the dangers posed by fake news to the peace and security, and indeed the corporate existence of Nigeria by the phenomenon.

    But the Minister of Information and Culture, Alh. Lai Mohammed, said the campaign would not lead to press gag or media censorship.

    He said the modality to be used for the campaign includes information dissemination tools, the traditional and social media, as well as the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to get the word out there about the dangers of fake news.

    Mohammed, who unveiled the campaign at a press conference in Abuja, said the global epidemic of Fake News was already having far-reaching repercussions across the world.

    He said: “There is an epidemic sweeping the world. If left unchecked, it could be worse than all the plagues that the world has recorded put together. It is a clear and present danger to global peace and security. It is a threat to democracy. It is the epidemic of Fake News. Mixed with hate speech, it is a disaster waiting to happen.

    “For the media, the epidemic is even worse. This is because fake news, in most cases designed to misinform, undermines confidence in the media. And once the people lose confidence in the media, the

    society is in trouble.

    “Let’s be straight. Fakes News is not new. It is said to be as old as the printing press. What has made it an issue of concern is the means and speed at which it is now spread around the world, and that

    means is the social media.

    “Anyone with a phone and internet access can author and make fake news go viral in minutes. With the number of mobile phone users in the world expected to pass the 5 billion mark by 2019, you can see the kind of crisis we face.

    Mohammed explained why the government decided to launch the campaign now in the country.

    “ For those who may not know, we have been calling national attention to the issue of fake news, misinformation and hate speech since 2017.

    “We even organized a special National Council on Information on the issue of fake news, misinformation and hate speech in Jos in July 2017. And at a conference for media handlers of state governors, in Abuja in 2017, we warned that fake news and misinformation could pose a threat to the 2019 general elections.

    “Unfortunately, instead of abating, the fake news issue, which became a global phenomenon in the wake of the 2016 US election, has grown worse, hence our decision to launch this National Campaign Against Fake News.

    “The essence of this campaign is to sensitize all Nigerians to the dangers posed to the peace and security, and indeed the corporate existence of Nigeria by the phenomenon, and the fact that each and every Nigerian has a role to play in curtailing the spread of fake news.

    “The timing is also not unconnected to the role of fake news in aggravating the various crises in the country as well as the need to check this phenomenon ahead of the 2019 elections.

    On the modality of the campaign, Mohammed said:  “We will use all the information dissemination tools at our disposal, work with both the traditional and social media, as well as the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to get the word out there about the dangers that fake news poses to our peace and security, our democracy and our corporate existence.

    “We are also appealing to the media to lead the campaign. They should remember what authors Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel said in their book – THE ELEMENTS OF JOURNALISM – that journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.

    “At this juncture, let me thank the media organizations that are collaborating with us to sponsor this campaign. They are the NTA, FRCN, Vanguard, The Nation and Leadership. We have no doubt that the entire Nigerian media will join us in this campaign.”

    He said Nigeria was not immune from fake news including those capable of aggravating farmers-herders clashes.

    He cited a front page publication last Thursday, by a national newspaper which claimed that a Court ordered the National Assembly to begin impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari as fake news.

    He said by the Certified True copy of the order, the Presiding Judge of the Federal High Court in Osogbo only ruled that “the applicants are hereby granted leave to issue and bring an Application for the order of Mandamus to compel 1st to 3rd Respondents to start impeachment proceedings against the 4th Respondent, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’’ This was manipulated to read that the court has given the go-ahead for the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against the President.” Fake News!

    “In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country like ours, fake news is a time bomb. And in recent weeks, many anarchists have been doing everything possible to detonate the bomb. But for the prudence and vigilance of Nigerians, they – the religious and ethnic bigots among us –  would have set the nation on fire, especially over the farmers-herders clashes as well as communal clashes.

    “Having come under fire for their role in spreading fake news, the big technology companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter have started to address the problem. Google is reported to have dedicated 300 million US dollars over the next three years towards efforts to fight the spread of false information.

    “Facebook, according to Bloomberg, took down 583 million fake accounts in the first three months of 2018. And, according to Reuters, Twitter suspended over 70 million accounts in May and June this year alone, and the pace of suspension has continued. Apart from the techies, the European Commission, in January 2018, set up a high-level group of experts to advise on policy initiatives to counter fake news and disinformation spread online.

  • WhatsApp introduces new feature to curb fake news

    WhatsApp has announced the launch of a new feature globally that will highlight when a message has been forwarded and not composed by the sender.

    The messaging application made the move public on Tuesday through its official blog following calls from various parts of the world, including India, to tackle the spread of fake news.

    In the statement, the platform, owned by Facebook, said, “Starting today, WhatsApp will indicate which messages you receive, have been forwarded to you.

    “This extra context will help make one-on-one and group chats easier to follow,” WhatsApp said in a blog.

    “It also helps you determine if your friend or relative wrote the message they sent or if it originally came from someone else.

    “To see this new forwarded label, you need to have the latest supported version of WhatsApp on your phone,” WhatsApp added.

    Recently, while replying a notice by the Indian government to take immediate measures to prevent misuse of its platform, WhatsApp had said that it was testing a new label that highlights when a message has been forwarded.

    Read Also: WhatsApp introduces mute, unread option

    “This could serve as an important signal for recipients to think twice before forwarding messages.

    “Because it lets a user know if content they received was written by the person they know or a potential rumour from someone else,” it had said.

    In its blog, the instant messaging application added, “WhatsApp cares deeply about your safety.

    “We encourage you to think before sharing messages that were forwarded. As a reminder, you can report spam or block a contact in one tap and can always reach out to WhatsApp directly for help.”

    The company had last month also announced “unrestricted monetary awards” for research on spread of misinformation on its platform to address the problem.

  • Buhari’s aide seeks end to fake news

    The Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital Media, Tolu Ogunlesi, has urged media practitioners do more to combat fake news.

    Ogunlesi spoke at the 6th Internet Freedom Forum, an international conference organised by Paradigm Initiative, at NAF Conference Centre, Abuja.

    According to him, an effective media ensures a free society and serves as a check on government.

    “The media should, therefore, avoid engaging in only broadcasting what different actors are saying but go beyond the press statements to finding out the truth. They should ensure truthfulness in their reports. While I would not campaign for government regulation of media space, I would argue for the media to be more accountable and self-regulate,” Ogunlesi said.

    But Premium Times publisher Dapo Olorunyomi said the media was already accountable.

    Olorunyomi urged government to be more transparent in releasing information.

    Digital rights experts at the event hailed the passage Digital Rights and Freedom Bill by the National Assembly.

    Ephraim Kenyanito of Article 19 East Africa, said: “It would be great if the Nigerian president could immediately sign the bill into law. This would be seen as a challenge to other African countries. It would be great for Nigeria to set a good example in this area.”

    Paradigm Initiative’s Digital Rights Program Manager Adeboye Adegoke, said: “The bill was drafted by a coalition of civil society, private sector and government to protect the digital rights of Nigerians in the emerging digital age. The bill is great for the protecting citizens’ rights and also great for the economy as it would energise the tech industry.”

    Microsoft Nigeria Head of Legal Affairs John Edokpolo, called on the government to enact good laws in encouraging innovation and development in the tech industry. “If you want foreign direct investment in the technology industry, you need to have a good data privacy law, among other things. It helps when businesses can help government see the economic benefits of having positive legislation around digital rights. The job should not be left to the civil society alone.”

  • Fake news violates constitution, say Olanipekun, Abati

    Fake news violates the 1999 Constitution and is therefore a criminal offence, former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and former presidential spokesman Dr Reuben Abati have said.

    They spoke at a roundtable discussion on Fake News and the Future of the Media, organised as part of activities marking the launch of  the book: Brands In News, written by Raheem Akingbolu.

    Olanipekun, who chaired the event, lamented the damage fake news has caused in the society.

    The former NBA president, who claimed to have been a victim of fake news in the past, urged media practitioner to rise up and eliminate fake news.

    “I have been a victim of fake news before and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. This is the reason why media practitioners must sit up and eliminate the virus called ‘fake news’, which has eaten quite deep into the society since the invention of social media,” he advised.

    According to Olanipekun, the introduction of ‘Citizen Journalism’ has not helped matters, rather, it has been a key factor in the spread of fake news.

    He noted that fake news is thriving because Nigeria has not been abiding with the Constitution.

    He made reference to Freedom of the Press Law in Malawi and Section 152 of the Ghanaian Constitution that have provision for free reportage of news as well as providing sanction against fake news.

    Dr Abati, who was the keynote speaker, identified conscience, values and responsibility as salient weapons in fighting fake news.

    “In virtually every country of the world there is a presence of fake news”, which he described as fabricated news intended to “mis-inform, dis-inform, sensationalise, hurt, achieve a specific objective either for profit or mischief”.

    According to him, globalisation and technology have contributed to the spread of news stories rapidly although in different perspective.

    He said: “We are in the age of citizen journalism. However, fake news creates confusion, misleads and  is a form of distortion, which has raised questions  about media and its responsibility.”

    This, he noted, can cause a lot of damage when used with the wrong medium.

    According to him, “the media should act as an instrument of nation building. The media is to set agenda and establish standards, provide leadership and not to cause damage or tell lies.

    “Section 39 of the Constitution allows freedom of expression and the right of ownership, but Section 15 is for the media to provide security and welfare of the people.

    “Our job as journalists is to stand for the people, but the same media is being used to cause damage,” he lamented.

    Dr Abati, a former Special Advicer on Media and Publicity to former President Goodluck Jonathan, urged journalists to stick to the truth and not publish fake news in order not to breach the trust of the people.

    The author, Akingbolu, said his experience as a journalist, since his student days up to professional life, motivated him to write the book, which is his first.

    He said: “This is my own contribution to national development and the growing media”.

    Others present at the event included  Publisher of This Day, Mr Nduka Obaigbena; Publisher, Marketing Edge, Mr John Ajayi; former Editor, The Nigerian Compass, Mr Gabriel Akinadewo; Book reviwer, Mr Tony Kan; Managing Director of Precise Communication, Mr Bolaji Okusaga; President Premium Eagle Publications, Mr Dotun Oladipo; former Vice Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Lagos Branch, Mrs Bolanle Olatunde; Managing Director, Proshare, Mr Femi Awoyemi and Mr  Lolu Akinwunmi, who was the moderator at the event.

  • BBC task Nigerians on detecting, curbing spread of fake news

    James Angus, the Director, BBC World Service Group has urged Nigerians and mass media audiences to fight against fake news.

    The director made the call on Thursday while speaking at the Mass Communication Department, University of Lagos (UNILAG), on ways of curbing the onslaught of fake news.

    Like journalists, mass media audiences have important roles to play in order to put the incidence of fake news in check Angus said.

    According to him, media message consumers are also an integral part of the fight against fake news because they are the direct consumers of false information.

    Angus explained that mass media audiences needed to “be discriminating” in the news content they are exposed to as such contents could be offensive, dangerous and used to promote political violence.

    He said, “I think people should just think before they click on stories. Audiences also have responsibilities too as well as journalists.

    “People shouldn’t share materials they don’t know to be true. And I think a lot of problem with fake news today is people sharing dubious contents, and with that it gets circulating.

    Angus, stated that fake news ‘is incredibly toxic because it undermines trusting the actual news.’

    He also explained that fake news also comes in multimedia formats such as pictures.

    “Fake news is not always just about the substance of the story, it can be about visual journalism.

    “And you have to remember what a powerful tool visual journalism is. It’s not just the words you write and the words you broadcast; it’s the pictures that you use… and they can be literally dangerous than a thousand words.”

    Angus also stressed on the need for journalists to investigate seemingly fake news stories in order to accurately certify them as false.

    He encouraged journalists to expose to the public stories identified as fake.

    Meanwhile, the newly-appointed BBC director has also enjoined mass media establishments to maintain professional standards alongside their efforts to make profit.

    “I really sympathize, because I know how difficult it can be to make money out of the news business, but we do know that there are successful operations out there that do both things—they maintain high professional standards for treatment for accuracy, but they are also successful commercial operations,” he said.

    Angus also called on the Nigerian government to partner with the media in finding solutions to the issue of fake news circulating in the society.

    Highlighting BBC’s roles in dealing with the problem, he said “The BBC is supporting the fight against fake news, through its own international journalism, by investing in original journalism here in Nigeria.”

  • Fake news, vendetta and justice

    In  South Africa the  Supreme Court  of Appeal has ruled that the nation’s President Jacob  Zuma must face charges hitherto sidetracked to enable  him function as president since  he assumed  office. The charges are corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering. Formidable charges  you  can see  and you  want to tremble  on behalf  of the S African  president on how  he can survive such charges. But  he is not alone in carrying such allegations like the sword of Damocles  dangling  on his neck. The  US President Donald  Trump  carries  an array of daunting charges that  beggar  description and round up questioning not only his  competence to hold office but also  his sanity and  leadership  capabilities, if any,  by    his detractors. In   a  way Trump’s unenviable  burden  is self made  and originate directly   from  the fact that he called   New  York  Times,  CNN  and  Washington  Post  – Fake  News   and ever  since a cycle  of vendetta  has been  set in motion on any or all  issues   between  both camps. Similarly  in  Nigeria serious  allegations are  flying  between a Senator of the  Republic  and no less  a person  than the Inspector  General  of  Police who has  gone to court to stop  the Senate from summoning him  for questioning  at   the senate. While  the Senator  too has been taken to court by  the  government  on his allegations against  the Police boss. Also  on the international scene we  look  at how  both  Iraq  and Spain  have tackled  the unfolding drama  of a vote  for  secession in both  nations ‘regions of  Kurdistan  and  Catalonia.

    It  is my contention today  that fake news  is a threat  to the peace  and stability of any organization whether  political, economic or social. Fake  news  is  false  information and  it is plain lying or twisting of facts. It  is simply  mendacity  in all its ramifications. In  natural   human  morality,  fake news is condemnable in all  religions both  traditional  and modern. Those  who  lie  or ask  others  to  lie will  end up  in perdition  which  is a favourite  statement or warning of a former  Principal  of  CMS Grammar  School, Bariga,  Lagos. In  addition  those lied against  may  never  be able to extricate themselves from punishment, especially  when  the accuser is   also     the judge   and so   powerful  as to deter or frighten away  those  who  can say  the truth  and  prevent the innocent from being punished wrongly. This is where  the problem  of vendetta comes in whereby the accuser is the judge  and executor of the charges  brought  against the accused. A clear  case  was in Kenya’s 2007 Election violence in which  by 2012 ,the accused  had  become president  and there  was no willing witness to testify  agains the president  Uhuru  Kenyatta and his VP   at  the International  Criminal   Court  at   the   Hague on charges  of election violence earlier in 2007.  But  the saying that the truth  will  always  prevail  is a statement  of truth  whose veracity  may  at times be delayed or eliminated  for a while by those who profit  in   mendacity in the pursuit of their  small minded vendettas  against real and    potential  enemies. But  really  at  the end  the truth  always  prevails.

    Similarly  there   is the saying that the  mills  of justice may grind slowly,   but they  grind  exceedingly  fine. Let  us look  at  the events  and personalities we have identified in that  light.  Let  us look  at the Zuma case in which  prosecutors have resurrected 783  charges  against  the incumbent S African  president.  The  charges  relate  to a 1999 multi  million naira arms deal  in which a certain   businessman Shabir  Shaik claimed  some bribes  from a French  company on behalf  of  Zuma, who  has denied  the charges. Whether his denial is fake news or mendacity will be tested in court, now that  his tenure  and official  cover  as president is virtually  over and justice must be served.

    In  the case of  Donald Trump  versus  Fake  News it  is clear  that the vendetta   is at  boiling point such  that even  the threat  of nuclear annihilation from North Korea  pales  into insignificance as  far as both Trump  and the Media are concerned. At  the end it  is difficult  for the media  to be objective  in reporting anything about  the US  president while  the US president himself  is so engulfed  with  lambasting fake news that  he has this week  wondered in his many tweets  about removing the licence of those he has branded fake news.  This is something that the Media will  never take lightly and the fight  becomes  a real  mudslinging between  the two  protagonists. The  saying  that when  elephants fight it is the ground  that suffers is very apt here. Just  like  the medicine  man proceeds indignantly to break  the egg of the fowl  that upturned his medicine pot  in a clear ‘an eye  for an eye‘  syndrome.

    In   the case of  the   IG, Mr  Ibrahim  Idris asking  the court to stop  the Senate  President and Senate  from investigating him on the allegations  by APC  Senator Isa  Misau  representing Bauchi  Central  Senatorial  District,  that the IG  collected  10 bn naira monthly from   some  firms and highly placed Nigerians  for giving them security cover one  can  see vendetta very  much on play. The  IG  has  denied the allegations which sound  so unbelievable  and the IG  has gone on to  accuse  the senator as a deserter  who left the force with false retirement papers. But  both  gentlemen  are  entitled to justice and that is hearing both sides of the case. Which  means that the investigation in the senate  should go on as expected of the constitutional  role of the senate on such  allegations.  The  government too should  act within the law and our presidential  separation of powers  in the case against  the   senator. This  is because an IG  of  Police  should  not be hamstrung from performing his onerous  constitutional  duty of policing the Nigerian  nation.  Just  as the Senate  as an  arm of government  must investigate allegations  before it as required by the constitution  of the Federal  Republic of Nigeria regardless  of the motive  or clear  vendetta  behind it. That  really is the way  of justice  and equity in such political  matters and this cannot be an exception.

    The  truth  is that in any democracy legitimacy  of office  must  depend  on the will  of the governed and that  is reflected  in the result  of  any  election  according to the constitution.  It   follows therefore  that any  political system   that  fakes  elections or  rigs it   cannot claim  any  legitimacy  and  is only  existing on the borrowed  time  or   at best  a stolen  mandate  and  fraudulent legitimacy   based   on   a contraption of fake news.  In  Iraq the government in Baghdad  has ordered  the arrest of Kurd  leaders  who organized the Independence  referendum in the northern part of the Iraqi  nation. One  could ask  why the government in the center allowed the referendum in the first  instance. Indecision    here  could be a political  leadership  problem that creates the impression of getting wise  after the event. In  Spain  the Spanish PM has  foreclosed any  negotiation with  the President of  Catalonia  and is  studying the statement Catalonia’s President  made  to the Catalan  legislature  to see if it contained any declaration of Independence which will be against Spanish  Constitution  which says Spain is indissoluble. The  EU  too  has  announced  that it will  not accept  Catalonia into the EU because  it has acted illegally  outside Spain’s  constitution. That  is constitutionalism  as  distinct  from the vendetta ridden disposition of  some nations   and    institutions whose leaders  were  branded ‘vagabonds in power’   by   Fela Anikulapo  Kuti   because  they  thrive on vendettas and fake news in the application   and  administration   of justice both   socially  and   politically.  Once  again, long live  the Federal  Republic  of Nigeria.

  • Hate speech, fake news threat to national security, says El-Rufai

    Hate speech, fake news threat to national security, says El-Rufai

    Governor Nasiru El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Wednesday said hate speech and fake news were the biggest threat to national security and called for collective action to tackle them.

    The governor made the observation when he received Maj._Gen. Anthony Alolagbe, the new Commander, Operation Safe Haven, a special task force established in 2010 in Plateau, who paid him a courtesy visit in Kaduna.

    “There is need to curtail the emerging trend of using social media to create crisis in the country.

    “I think collectively we have to fight it and discourage those behind it by arresting and prosecuting them,’’ he said.

    El-Rufai disclosed that the social media had been used to incite people to violence in the state, but warned that the government would not condone that anymore.

    “In this state, we will not allow anyone engage in propagation of hate speech and fake news; there is provision in the penal code in Kaduna state that deals with that.’’

    He however expressed satisfaction that Nigerians were “becoming more aware of the dangers hate speech, fake news and the abuses on social media pose to the peace, unity and stability of this country.’’

    El-Rufai told the commander that his administration was putting in place measures to promote social justice, and was working closely with all security agencies to sustain peace in the state.

    “There are still challenges, but with the intervention of army and police it has been curtailed to some extent,” he said, adding that security agencies were doing their best to address them.

    Earlier, Alolagbe explained that the operation’s major duty was to protect all civilians in  Southern Kaduna and Plateau, especially those living along the boundaries of the two states.

    “We have deployed our security and patrol teams to ensure free movement of people carrying out lawful activities, and we have been able to curtail cross boarder banditry,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the mandate of Operation Safe Haven was extended to cover southern Kaduna in July 2017 after clashes there.(NAN)