By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
A former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has described the #EndSARS crisis as a classic example of how fake news and disinformation can inflame and aggravate a volatile situation, rather than a failure of government communication.
This was according to a statement signed and issued by Head of Strategic Communications
Lai Mohammed’s Media Office , Nnamdi Atupulazi.
Speaking at a high-level forum at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) on Friday, the former Minister said that while the protests began as a genuine expression of public grievances against police brutality, they were quickly hijacked by those with ulterior motives and then escalated significantly by the deliberate spread of misinformation and unverified reports across traditional and digital media.
”The problem we had was not the usual communication gap between the government and the citizens. It was fake news and disinformation, coupled with unbridled violence… The biggest challenge came when the government deployed troops to Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos to disperse the protesters. That’s when fake news and disinformation escalated,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed specifically cited the role played by CNN, whose reports, he said, relied heavily on unverified and, in some cases, doctored content, thereby amplifying tensions and shaping a global narrative that did not fully reflect the realities on the ground.
“What we saw during EndSARS was the dangerous power of disinformation in real time,” he said, noting that the episode reinforces the urgent need to strengthen mechanisms for fact-checking, promote media responsibility and build resilience against the growing threat of information disorder.
On the COVID-19 pandemic, the former Minister highlighted how Nigeria successfully leveraged communication despite the absence of any existing global template at the onset of the crisis.
”When COVID-19 broke out, there was no template to fall back on. The last major pandemic, the Spanish Flu, had occurred over 100 years earlier. So we had to devise our own communication strategy on the go,” he said.
He explained that the government adopted a coordinated and adaptive communication framework, anchored on transparency, consistency and responsiveness. Daily briefings, multi-platform messaging and sustained engagement with the media ensured that Nigerians received timely and accurate information.
”We produced a wide range of advocacy and communication materials, translated them into major indigenous languages and pidgin, and then disseminated them across traditional and digital platforms,’’AlhajiMohammed said. “We launched live radio programmesnationwide to sustain public dialogue, bringing together health experts, religious and traditional leaders, caregiversand survivors to educate citizens and address lingering doubts about the virus, while tackling stigmatization. We conducted weekly opinion polls that showed approval ratings of between 97% and 98%, a clear indication of the impact of our strategies.”
This approach, he noted, helped to counter widespread misinformation, manage public anxiety and encourage compliance with safety protocols, including testing, mask-wearing, hand hygiene, social distancing and vaccination, thus averting the predicted massive deaths in a country that recorded only 0.0044% of the 7.1 million global deaths.
Addressing communication during the ongoing insurgency, the former Minister said one of the most impactful interventions was the groundbreaking media tour of territories previously occupied by Boko Haram, which he embarked upon shortly after assuming office.
He explained that at a time when global narratives suggested that the insurgents were firmly in control of large swathes of territory in the North-East, he took the bold step of leading about 40 journalists to liberated areas.
“That trip was a turning point. For the first time, journalists were able to see firsthand that those territories had been reclaimed, and that normalcy was gradually returning,” Alhaji Mohammed said, adding that the visit significantly altered both domestic and international perceptions, countering extremist propaganda and restoring confidence in the military’s progress.
He emphasized that beyond kinetic operations, shaping the narrative was critical in denying insurgents the psychological advantage they sought through misinformation and fear.
On the challenge of communicating in a highly diverse country like Nigeria, the former Minister highlighted the introduction of the nationwide Town Hall Meetings series as a key innovation.
”Each meeting was an unscripted session that enabled government ministers to speak on a chosen theme and then take questions from the people. The invitees cut across the country’s diverse demography, gender, professions, etc. No group was left out: women, students, workers, traditional and religious institutions, etc.
”We rotated these meetings among the six geopolitical zones in the country and ensured live and multi-platform coverage so that even those who could not attend physically could participate and ask questions,” he said, noting that the town halls provided a direct interface between government officials and citizens, allowing for localized messaging, feedback and inclusive engagement.
The initiative, he added, helped to bridge communication gaps, build trust and ensure that government policies and programmes were better understood at the grassroots level.
On Twitter suspension, Alhaji Mohammed said it was not an impulsive act, but the culmination of sustained engagement with global social media platforms over the need for responsible use, particularly in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious context like Nigeria’s
‘’Despite repeated efforts by the government to secure cooperation in curbing misinformation, incitement and divisive content, these concerns were largely unaddressed,’’ he said. ‘’Faced with growing threats to national cohesion and security, the government took the difficult but necessary step of suspending the platform in the overriding public interest.’’
On a broader note, the former Minister revealed that upon assumption of office, there was no coherent communication strategy in place, necessitating the development of a comprehensive framework from scratch.
“We met a situation where there was no structured communication strategy on ground. We had to conceptualize, design and implement a new approach that aligned with the realities we faced. This involved institutionalizing proactive engagement with stakeholders and integrating traditional and digital media.
”With trust established and relationships consummated, we then ensured that our communication strategy was not only multi-platform but also a two-way system that carried the people along and received necessary feedback,” he said.
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