By Ankeli Emmanuel (In Sokoto State)
Worried by the ever growing insecurity in the country, Sokoto State Commssioner for Religious Affairs, Associate Professor Jabir Maihula, has appealed to the Nigerian media to deny insurgents, terrorists or bandits the needed oxygen to thrive by deliberately shifting away from what he described as the free publicity given to their activities.
Prof. Maihula who made the appeal Monday in Sokoto at the opening of a 2 day workshop organized by Alkalanci, a Fact Checking organization in collaboration with Sokoto State Ministry for Religious Affairs said educating religious leaders on how to verify informations and authenticate it's reality before spreading is very important.
The 2 day workshop attended by highly respected Islamic clerics across the State, has its theme as, "Combatting False Narratives And Promoting Media Literacy Programme",
Speaking to the topic "Building Resilient Communities Through Fact-Checking and Media Literacy", the Commsioner urged clerics to always consider the impacts and feedbacks of their sermons.
The Sultan of Sokoto and President General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar 111 represented by Sarkin Malaman Sokoto, Ahmad Umar Helele urged Nigerians especially those in the media industry to be careful about misinformation, disinformation and malinformation.
Highlighting why caution, objectivity and national interest should guide our daily lives, the respected religious cum traditional leader, Sultan urged Nigerians to remember that we are together in a moving vehicle, hence we must continue to love and pray for the driver.
"If our attitudes while in this moving vehicle causes any accident, the driver is most likely to escape while we, the passengers suffers the brunt", Sultan warned.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Alhassan Bala, the Editor, Alkalanci said workshops of this nature is timely and necessary, especially as Nigeria approaches an election year when the risk of misinformation and disinformation will significantly increase.
"Beyond local actors, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) are also expected, as several countries have strong interests in Nigeria’s elections.At the same time, artificial intelligence has made the creation of fake content more sophisticated. AI-generated images, videos, and audio—commonly known as deepfakes—are becoming increasingly difficult to detect.
While stressing that we live in an era where information travels faster than ever before, Alhassan said such makes it even more important for clerics to understand how falsehoods are created and spread, and how influential individuals like them can protect their reputations and communities from being misled.
On why most of the things shared via social media are inaccurate, misleading, divisive and harmful, Alhassan said, "they poses direct threat to peace, unity, and trust within our communities.
"That is why we are gathered here today in Sokoto to take a stand against falsehood and to equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills needed to build resilience through truth". Alhassan noted. NNL.
