Social cohesion is fundamental to the successful functioning of societies, especially diverse ones such as Nigeria.
A lack of social cohesion can increase tensions among different social groups, enhance the likelihood of conflict and undermine trust within a community.
Lets examine the impact of COVID-19 on social cohesion within our communities as caused mostly by Misinformation and Disinformation.
Research has shown that without social cohesion, it will be difficult to attain the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) or reach the objective of leaving no one behind.
In practice, this means taking explicit action to end extreme poverty, curb inequalities, confront discrimination and fast-track progress for the furthest behind.
Social cohesion is also vital for achieving SDG, with its commitments to building peaceful and inclusive societies, realizing access to justice for all, and establishing effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.2Enhancing social relations among different groups and strengthening the social contract between citizens and the State are prerequisites for all of these ends, especially in post-conflict in communities in Nigeria
Definitions of social cohesion
Social cohesion is an elusive and contested concept. Analysts generally identify it as having horizontal and vertical dimensions. The horizontal dimension describes the trust, relationships and interactions among people in society across divisions such as identity or other social constructs, including race or class. Vertical cohesion entails trust between a government and society. This includes trust in political, economic or social leaders, institutions and processes such as elections, access to justice, taxation, budgeting and the delivery of public services. It is generally agreed that social cohesion has political, economic, social and security aspects.
Many challenges have disrupted social cohesion in Nigeria coming from past years to the present.
The pandemic came at a time when public trust in the Government was low, the economy was weakened through reductions in revenues from oil sales, protests across the country were a regular occurrence and violent extremist attacks were resurging. COVID-19 has exacerbated existing and sometimes deeply rooted political, economic, social and security challenges.
Its impact on social cohesion represents another point of stress on top of many others afflicting communities across the country.
When distinguishing between misinformation and disinformation, keep one very important word in mind: intent. Although both words refer to types of wrong or Misleading information.
What is misinformation?
Misinformation is “false information that is spread, regardless of intent to mislead.” Put a flag in the second half of this definition; it will be important later.
The spread of misinformation happens often in our everyday lives. We human beings—news flash—are not perfect. We can all make mistakes. We all forget things. We mishear or misremember details. We tell our friends something we heard on TV or saw on social media that wasn’t really true. If you are spreading around information that is wrong but you don’t know it is wrong, then you are, well, technically, spreading misinformation.
And when we say misinformation is an everyday thing, we mean it. For example, say a party starts at 8pm, but you forget or misread the invitation and tell your friends it starts at 9pm, you are supplying them with misinformation. But don’t fear: we’re not calling the fact police on you! The key, here, is that you unwittingly spread false information around; you didn’t mean to, or even might have thought the information was true.
Misinformation doesn’t care about intent, and so it is simply a term for any kind of wrong or false information.
Today, misinformation spreads very easily thanks to technology. On social media, users have—as just one tiny instance—shared stories about dolphins and swans swimming in the canals of Venice without checking if those stories are true (they weren’t). And in part because of such frequent incidents, it is a hot topic of debate if big tech companies like Facebook and Google should be responsible for stopping the spread of misinformation—or even if they even can without violating free
What is disinformation?
Disinformation means “false information, disinformation is knowingly spreading misinformation. example. Now, if you know a party starts at 8pm but tell your nemesis it starts at 9pm because you want them to look foolish, you are supplying them with disinformation. (Take that, Steve!) When you spread wrong information on purpose, with intent to decide and mislead—that’s disinformation.
Disinformation is very powerful, destructive, and divisive, and is a common tool for conflict,
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, we are all desperate for information. Where did the virus come from? Is there a cure? How can we keep staying safe? Will life get back to normal?
In the case of COVID-19, information can be a literal life-saver—when it’s true. Wrong information doesn’t help anyone and can even make things worse. And like a virus, wrong information can spread, causing what’s been called an infodemic.
SOCIAL COHESION: Popular discontent with by the people with the government and ongoing corruption in some instance, compounded by high unemployment levels, often poor service delivery, and a lack of social protection and rule of law meant that vertical social cohesion was fragile prior to COVID-19.
Despite the willingness of the new Government to improve social cohesion, the challenges remain significant, with COVID-19 entrenching old problems even as it creates additional ones. The Government faces a daunting task in addressing structural reform issues while tackling the pandemic.
Extreme poverty and inequality have meant that significant portions of the population are in urgent need of employment, health care, education, sanitation, hygiene and access to justice. Thousands lost their jobs or means of livelihood, and while food prices have relatively surged continued reliance on imported food makes the country vulnerable to shortages or major price increases.
Without a doubt, we can say the economic impacts of the pandemic have disproportionately affected marginalized groups.
COVID-19’s effect on these tensions appears mixed. Existing grievances could be further aggravated, as pressure on services, the economy and communal relations intensifies. At the same time, COVID-19 has fostered a common narrative that could unite the population of the world only if we work together.
The security situation has further deteriorated under COVID-19 as tension has at times escalated between security forces and the population, most of which we can say started during the implementation of lockdowns.
With evidence that the pandemic is exacerbating a number of existing political, economic, social and security issues key to social cohesion, it is vital to identify mitigating measures to prevent further negative effects. There are also opportunities to develop a more comprehensive approach to social cohesion that acts on both horizontal and vertical challenges. The report makes several policy recommendations to the Government, civil society and international partners.
Government should come forward with a more strategic approach to social cohesion and should be able to develop immediate and long-term responses to COVID-19 and its effects on relations within society.
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