Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (third left); Special Assistant to the President on Information and Culture attached to the Minister's Office, Mr. Segun Adeyemi (extreme left); Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Newspapers, Alhaji Mohammed Idris (middle); Editor-in-Chief of Blueprint Newspapers, Hajia Zainab Okino (third right) and other members of the Editorial Board, when the minister took the campaign against fake news to the newspaper house in Abuja on Tuesday.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
attributed the escalation of the recent crisis in the National
Assembly to the circulation of fake news, especially in the Social
Media.
The Minister stated this in Abuja on Tuesday when he paid a
courtesy visit to the headquarters of Blueprint Newspapers, in
furtherance of the Federal Government's campaign against fake news,
which was launched 11 July 2018.
“When
we launched the campaign, we did not envisage the kind of event that
occurred at the National Assembly last week, specifically Aug. 7 less
than one month after the launch. That event, during which the
National Assembly was barricaded, is a classic example of how fake
news can aggravate conflicts. In fact, it was driven all the way by
fake news
''A serving Senator led the fake news onslaught, claiming that only
APC members were being allowed into the chambers as a ploy to impeach
the Senate President while PDP members were barred - FAKE NEWS! No
APC members was in the chambers at the time!'' he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said but for the timely intervention of the Acting
President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the situation could have deteriorated
and brought great opprobrium on the country.
He said that in the aftermath of the crisis, news that 21 billion
Naira and assorted weapons have been found in the residence of the
sacked Director-General of the DSS also turned out to be fake.
The Minister said fake news remains a clear and present danger to the
nation’s unity and democracy, and indeed to the very survival of
the country, adding that it cannot and must not be treated with
levity.
He admonished Nigerians to always check the source of any news item
before sharing it, saying"Don't share whatever you can't vouch
for.”
Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need for the media to take the lead in
the campaign against the phenomenon of fake news which, he said, has
the capacity to erode the credibility of the media.
He said the visit to the corporate headquarters of the Blueprint was
to enlist the newspaper's support for the campaign against fake news
as well as to thank the news medium for not allowing its platform to
be used to spread fake news.
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