BY VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO
 victoriangozii@gmail.com
08033077519
 
The term “fake news” was first used by United States’ president, Donald Trump  following his first election in 2020. He used it to designate news outlets that did not quite align with his policies, person and views. He described whatever news they broadcast as fake, untrue. Only what was put out by the Republican aligned Fox News he regarded as true. For the others, he collectively labelled them the ‘’Fake news media’’. Even to this day in this his second coming which officially began in January, the American president still maintains his stance. He hardly sees eye to eye with those media organisations that he considers antagonistic to his presidency, often throwing jabs at them via his Truth social media. Recall that Donald Trump it was who popularised the dissemination of official communication via social media by world leaders. He started it. And it is now the vogue while the good, old, signed statement on official letter head paper is used sparingly  now. However,Al that phrase which Trump first used derisively to label opposition media has metamorphosed into real fake news in the true sense of the word.
 
Fake news (misinformation, misrepresentation, false news) has spread to all four corners of our earth with potentially devastating consequences. Like minded persons, those who think, talk and act like purveyors of fake news (and they abound in every hamlet, community, society)  would  regard originators  of fake news as smart people with fertile brain in being able to conjure such stories. Nevertheless the fact remains that fake news is a serious threat to foundation of any society, a disservice to humanity with far reaching negative consequences for present and future generations. It is one of the many germinating fruits of a degenerate mankind that is sliding down the road to perdition. Like mushroom, fake news is growing in leaps and bounds, in geometric proportion. It is spreading its dangerous fangs to all nooks and crannies. What is more, it is rising in width and depth with use of deep fake, A1 which make detection of fake news increasingly difficult. As it is one would have to use one’s sixth sense, intuition to decipher fake news these days.    
 
  Let us first take a look at the ordinary, basic kind of fake news. These   are the ones that are often credited to ‘informed sources’, ‘insiders’ ‘a source familiar with the story’, no name is attributed to the source. And thousands of people are quick to share it on various social media platforms. It is then swallowed, hook, line and sinker by especially so-called generation Z. These are supposed to be a smarter generation but it seems that for this generation, thinking is a difficult task. In fact it is no exaggeration to say that this generation Z is generally lacking in logical analysis, they are generally incapable of it. Like the wind they can be blown to different directions. Lacking in conviction they are easily carried away by social media posts, their first love so to speak
. Fake news thrives during elections. Because of the hunger to get latest,  live election results and especially since conservative media only broadcast results that are authenticated by INEC (thereby delaying results) many turn to online, social media for immediate results. And some of the results here can be misleading as happened during the Anambra poll. Result sheets can also be faked on social media. Your best bet at election periods is to hear directly from the respective Returning Officers’ mouths as they reel out results in their own voices. 
 
On Friday, November 20, while Justice James Omotosho was delivering his judgement in the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu case, social media here in the south east blurt out a Breaking News that the judge was shot by a policeman in the court and that he was being ferried to a nearby hospital in Abuja. Many rushed to comment on this patently fake story while the cautious among them asked rhetorically, ‘can this be true?’  What crossed my mind upon first seeing this post  was to tune in to the various national television stations to see if they are relaying this ‘news’. Because surely, such a big news would be broadcast by all mainstream, conservative media. I did not see or hear any such news there. Then I checked on reputable online media. There was no mention of it. Even before then, I had asked myself the question, is it possible for a policeman to have carried out such an act given the tight security in the courtroom and within its vicinity with various layers of security personnel present? It looked impossible to me. Fake news. Alhaji Abubakar Badaru who resigned recently as Defence Minister has just debunked a viral post that he did so because he could not withstand Presidents Trump and Tinubu’s plans to “ bomb his brothers in the forests”.
 
Fake news has gone a notch higher by faking official letter heads of government agencies as well as signatures of their officials. Following President Bola Tinubu’s directive that policemen be withdrawn from important personalities and replaced with armed civil defence operatives, an official memo signed by CSP Suleiman Abdullahj, administrative officer of 50 Police Mobile Force (PMF) directing policemen attached to some 20 VIPs to return to base surfaced on social media. Affected officers included those attached to former vice presidents Atiku Abubakar and Namadi Sambo; federal capital territory (FCT) minister, Nyesome Wike; Chief Justice of Nigeria Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, former first lady, Aisha Buhari, etc. First I told myself, if the federal government is withdrawing policemen from Minister Wike why is it not doing same for other ministers. Then I asked myself, is it wise for government to withdraw policemen from serving ministers and heads of other arms of government like the Judiciary? Police authorities later disowned the memo as fake, insisting that the CSP that signed it does not exist in their books.
 
 Last month a  statement signed by  press secretary to the Plateau state governor announced that the governor had resigned from the PDP.  Hours later another statement signed by same press sectary dismissed the earlier pronouncement, describing it as fake. Voices are also now faked. Browsing through the internet I came across a programme on  ‘Channels’ TV where Dangote and Obi at different times  were promoting an investment scheme, urging Nigerians to not let the opportunity pass them by. It was their persons and their voices but it was all faked by fraudsters to dupe unsuspecting people.
Victoria Ngozi Ikeano writes via victoriangozii@gmail.com 08033077519