Honorable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has
revealed the federal government’s strategy for tackling fake news in the
country.
Lai Mohammed said that his Ministry had strengthened the capacity of its
information officers to deal with the menace of fake news through
fact-based counter-narrative.
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Mohammed stated this yesterday while presenting his keynote address
at a capacity building Workshop for Strategic Communication Liaison
Officers, which was held in Abuja.
The Minister said though the social media had proven to be a powerful
tool of public communication, it was plagued with challenges,
particularly the prevalence of fake news which made it imperative for
information officers to brace up and overcome the challenge.
He said the Federal Government was also implementing a robust
strategic communication framework, with feedback mechanism, to interface
with Nigerians on the policies and programmes of government.
Mohammed said: ‘’Faced with the prevalence of fake news, we took
action by preparing Information Officers with the skills to identify and
counter such fake news through engagement and counter narrative.
‘’Information officers are assigned to monitor both online and
offline news media to identify such fake news and develop timely and
credible counter narratives to respond to such fake news.
“We also engage through town hall meetings across the six
geo-political zones to inform Nigerians and the international community
about our programmes and to listen to criticism, feedback and advice
from the citizens.
‘’Through these meetings, we are able to shape policy and improve on
delivering our promises to the people. The town hall meetings,
undoubtedly, have yielded positive results with the kind of direct
feedback we received from Nigerians.
‘’These interactions with Nigerians underscore the importance
government attaches to the people in carrying them along in the task of
governance.’’
He underscored the critical role of information officers in
strengthening government’s communication to achieve national strategic
objectives, particularly in managing the image, reputation and promoting
the cultures of the people of Nigeria through a dynamic public
information system.