It is time the President Bola Tinubu administration started working the talk in terms of countering misinformation and disinformation for Nigeria’s development.

Development Diaries reports that President Tinubu, through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, recently decried the high level of false narratives and misinformation in the country.

He also revealed that the federal government was working to change the systemic moral decline in the country through the implementation of a sustained mass reorientation campaign aimed at fostering unity, patriotism and promotion of positive values among Nigerians.

Recall that the minister, in October, revealed that the president had directed him to carry out re-orientation for Nigerians. But what steps have been taken towards implementing this directive?

The spread of misinformation, disinformation and false narratives in the country is not new; however, what Nigerians should know is the practical response of the government. 

These days, a lot of Nigerians get their news and information from social media, where inaccurate and misleading information is frequent.

The government has done little or nothing to establish or support independent fact-checking organisations to verify information and debunk false claims or to provide easy access to fact-checking resources for the public.

The President Tinubu-led administration has also done little or nothing to ensure transparency in government actions and decisions to build public trust, nor does it hold public officials accountable for spreading misinformation and disinformation.

Development Diaries urges the Minister of Information to take concrete measures to respond to misinformation and disinformation in the country. One such measure could be setting up an ‘information watchdog’ that monitors the spread of information on social media with a view to countering false narratives with superior arguments.

Photo source: Mohammed Idris