By Olayinka Ajibade & Damilare Adeleye
In a bid to ensure responsible social media engagement, a new media scholar, Mr. Tosin Adesile has advised social media Influencers in Ado Ekiti to always factcheck their content before releasing it to the media.
Adesile warned that the spread of unverified information could potentially exacerbate the already sensitive national security situation.
He disclosed this during the 29th Edition of the Nigerian Army Social Media Influencers Seminar, a partnership between the Nigerian Army and the Ukan Kurugh Foundation held at Delight Hotel and Suites Hall in Ado Ekiti.
Adesile pointed out that the reckless sharing of divisive content, often driven by the desire for increased retweets, likes, and comments, has significantly contributed to the current challenges faced by the nation.
He said the increasing awareness of social media has positioned it as a force to be reckon with and citizens are now expected to use those platforms responsibly.
While welcoming the participants, the Chief of Civil Military Affairs Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. N.C Ugbo ably represented by the Director of Psychological Operations, Brig. Gen. B.S Keji noted that the event which has held at various location is the 29th Edition noted that, it is part of the vision and commitment of the current leadership of the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, in repositioning the service for operational effectiveness and professionalism of duties.
He said, the seminar is part of the effort geared towards bridging the existing gap with the media and also strengthening the existing relationship with the civil populace.
He also added that the essence of the programme was to remove the hostile relationships between the citizenry and the military therefore creating a coexisting relationship that can lead to national growth adding that the social media conference is needed more at this time when social media influencers had dominated the media space with fake news.
General Keji underscore the unique challenges faced by Nigerians, where citizens tend to denigrate their military—a trend uncommon in other parts of the world, it is partly our fault that we are far from the people, which is why we are holding these seminars.
“Kindly tell us where we have gone wrong, as this seminar is to correct the wrong use of the media against the Army”, he said.
Distinguished attendees include the General Officer Commanding 2 Division Nigerian Army, represented by Brigadier General N.C Ugoh, as well as the Honourable Commissioner for Youth and Sport in Ekiti, Mr. Gold Adedayo, and Mr Taiwo Olatunbosun, Honourable Commissioner for Information, and a host of others.
General Keji further called on social media influencers, bloggers/online journalists to rally support for the Nigerian Army and also encourage them to enlighten the general populace on the dangers of misinformation/fake news for the general security of Nigeria.
He further noted that the seminar became necessary having understood that millions of Nigerians now see social media platforms as their sources of information, hence, the need for the influencers and online journalists to fact-check every information at their disposals before sharing on their various social media platform and websites.
Highpoint of the event were interactive session, presentation of plaques and group photograph amongst others.