BY RAYYANU BALA
Of recent, fake news has been posing serious danger to the well being
and survival of people in this country; it forced virtually all
well-meaning individuals to feel sorry about it hence, it has become
a very disturbing phenomenon requiring concerted efforts to nip its
growing menace in the bud. The speed at which fake news is spreading
in our society truly requires urgent action from government. Some
miscreants and purveyors of mischief take to fake news as a means of
spreading hatred and fanning the embers of disunity amongst people.
The advent of social media however, makes the spread of this fake news
more rampant and easier, for, it (social media) lacks mechanism to
check or control how stories are processed and passed to the general
public. The absence of gate-keepers in operations of social media
turns it into a dumping ground for all kinds of rubbish. And this is
happening, all in the name of freedom of speech and of expression.
Truly, absence of “Gatekeepers” in the social media has seriously
eroded the credibility of the stories from such platforms. Gate
keeping as widely known in both the print and the electronic media,
plays a very important role in determining the types and content of
stories that go out to the people. Before any stories go out,
“gatekeepers” in the case of mainstream media, must scrutinise them to
ensure that such stories are free of libel or slander. Apart from
avoiding libel or slander, gate-keepers in the mainstream media are to
ensure that the stories are not sensational in order to safeguard the
integrity of the newspaper/ TV radio medium and to safeguard the
corporate existence of the nation as well as to safeguard the rights
of individuals.
But with the advent of social media such as Facebook, Twitter,
Whatsapp, Instagram, etc., this gate-keeping role was brushed aside.
With the help of social media one can just sit in the comfort of his
bedroom, cook up a story and post it in the social media without
minding whether such a story is injurious to any one’s liberty and
without minding whether such a story contains materials that can
jeopardize the corporate existence of the country or capable of
igniting tension in the polity. Through the help of social media many
incalculable damage has been done to social cohesion of some people
and many injuries inflicted on individuals’ rights and individuals’
privacy.
The story making the rounds in the social media entitled: “Don’t
Betray Us, Al-makura Tells PDP’s Atiku, Says Governorship Seat Life to
Them” can be described as rubbish at best, for the story was totally
devoid of facts. And if not because of social media, no responsible
medium would allocate space to this libelous material. The story was
but a conjecture which can effectively be situated within the context
of social media talks carefully cooked up and garnished to look like
truth. It is indeed, preposterous for one to even imagine that
Governor Al-makura can go to Dubai to sign a deal to support Atiku of
PDP in the forthcoming general elections. From the way and manner the
story was cooked up one can easily notice the hands of opposition
parties.
For all practical purposes, the story was falsely designed to create
political tension in Nasarawa state with a view to throwing APC
supporters into a state of confusion and bewilderment. On the other
hand, the story was also designed to pitch the presidency against
Governor Al-makura. But sorry none of these will happen; certainly the
authors of the story have failed woefully. In fact if anything, the
story has only exposed their desperation to capture power in Nasarawa
state using cruel and mischievous methods.
We all know Governor Al-makura is an ardent supporter of President
Muhammadu Buhari right from when he won his governorship election
under the CPC, a party which President Buhari formed in 2011. Since
the consummation of this relationship, Governor Al-makura has never,
either by an act of commission or omission, demonstrated any act of
disloyalty to Buhari. The existing mutual bond between them has
indeed, made it difficult for a one to ditch the other. At least to my
knowledge, Governor Al-makura has never even for a second,
contemplated following a path different from the path that can advance
the cause of Buhari. In fact Al-makura is a complete Buhari disciple.
Since 2011 when providence joined them together, Al-makura has never
stood atop Buhari’s order; as he always sees him (Buhari) as a father.
To reinforce this assertion, it may interest us to know that when top
APC chieftains including Buhari, at inauguration of the 7th
Senate, expressed their preference for Senator Ahmed Lawal as Senate
President, we all saw how Governor Al-makura along with some other APC
governors were practically running from pillar to post, trying to
mobilize support for Ahmed Lawal to emerge as Senate President. And we
are also living witnesses to the leading role Al-makura played in the
emergence of Adams Oshiomhole as APC Chairman when same APC leaders
wanted him (Oshiomhole) to become the National Chairman of the party.
With these few examples we can confidently assert that Governor
Al-makura is not only a loyal party man but is always in support of
whomever Buhari supports. Al-makura has never abandoned Buhari and he
will never abandon him.
Just as I said, the mischievous story that Al-makura along with APC
gubernatorial candidate in Nasarawa state Engr. A A Sule signed a deal
in Dubai to support Atiku’s presidential aspiration can only find
space in the social media. It is unfortunate that dearth of
gate-keepers in social media is responsible for this growing menace of
fake news in our midst and unless and until we find a way to control
the use of social media in Nigeria, malicious stories in social media
will continue to remain with us and haunt us.