By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
National Orientation Agency (NOA), said it would train 37,000 fact checkers across country.
The training will be in partnership with government and non-governmental organizations.
The organizations will provide 1000 trainers from each states including Federal Capital Territory( FCT) , to acquire skills on how to fact check news on the internet.
Director General of NOA Garba Abari made the disclosure yesterday,at a three day workshop held at One man village, Nasarawa state, in collaboration with Avant-Garde InterBiz limited .
The programme was themed; “Misinformation, fake news and Hate Speech Implication for National Security”.
Abari said “the workshop was part of the efforts to equip participants with a clear understanding of what hate speech and fake news are all about, and how to identify them. It will also help the to know how they could be linked to insecurity and how they can be mitigated using multi-faceted strategies.
“This is intended to make participants effective ambassadors in the campaign to curb these negative tendencies.
“We must therefore, cultivate the culture of dialogue to achieve consensus and compromise on any national issue”,he emphasized.
Also speaking, former Spokesman of the Nigeria Army, Brig Gen. Sani Usman (RTD), in his key noted address said the amount of fake news, disinformation and misinformation spread on the web and social media is overwhelming.
“These variables are spread mainly on the media, Websites, Social Networks, and the Internet on various topics and issues”.
Usman represented by his Technical Adviser Saddika Muhammad, maintained that it is important to cross-check and verify facts and authenticate information.
“We must also learn to differentiate between facts and opinions. “Consequently, it is high time we join hands in combatting the menace of fake news, misinformation and hate speech”,he said.
“This is why we need to take media and information literacy with all seriousness. We must think before posting or sharing any information and employing intercultural dialogue when relating with media content”.
Earlier, Principal Partner/Avant-Garde, Nathaniel Allahmagani, said “the workshop was apt and gives me opportunity to preach peace and nation building anywhere I find myself.
