‘Social media can help in fight against violent extremism’
‘A Good Day in Gidi.’ Contributors pose on the end of Social Media Week in Lagos...yesterday PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI
This formed part of the submission at one in all many courses of this 12 months’s Social Media Week (SMW) in Lagos, which ended yesterday.
SMW Lagos, now in its sixth 12 months, has come to be one different avenue, the place thorny factors that should do with governance, know-how and the residents are delivered to the fore and dissected adequately.
The SMW , with the theme, ‘Nearer,’ was a conference that provided insights and inspiration to help people and corporations understand acquire additional in a hyper-connected world.
On the session on ‘Battling Violent Extremism by means of the Social Media,’ it was revealled that members of the deadly Boko Haram sect fleeing the northeast inside the wake of military bombardment, for the time being are in Lagos as security personnel and okada riders.
Marketing consultant of Bishop Matthew Kukah and Head of the Kukah Centre, Rev. Father Atta Barkindo, said there's urgent must hamonise strategies inside the fight in the direction of Boko Haram.
Barkindo well-known that Nigeria ought to do each little factor doable to confront the rising violent extremism, which he said was in a position to dividing the nation.
He lamented that folk, significantly inside the northeast, have been totally dis-empowered, together with: “No meals, no infrastructure and no security. There have been military and humanitarian interventions, nevertheless there have not been any communication approach to actually curb the menace.
“A communication approach, using the social media platforms, can achieve this a lot to help."
The cleric burdened the need for concerted effort to mix the northeast once more into the Nigerian society and often known as for a extra in-depth regional cooperation between Nigeria and Cameroun to cut back the have an effect on of Boko Haram.
Head of Media and Communication, Presidential Committee on Northeast Initiative (PCNI), Alkasim Abdulkadir, said the Boko Haram battle is an uneven one which has change into troublesome to beat.
Abdulkadir well-known that Boko Haram menace should not be seen as a north or northeast draw back, saying: “It is a Nigerian draw back, which requires collective effort to curb.
"You might not know, there is a Boko Haram cell in Lagos. Moreover, as a result of the military males are pounding them in that space, they run to totally different parts of the nation.
“In Lagos, many people have employed them as security males, some are utilizing okada. It is a time bomb, if we fail to hamonise our strategies for his or her defeat," he stated.
Abdulkadir, who said a report estimated that about $9 billion will be needed to redevelop the north, significantly the northeast, following damages completed by the insurgents, disclosed that the people, institution and authorities ought to work assiduously collectively to complete terrorists’ reign.
To a former director of NSRP, Mrs. Hamsatu Allamin, just about every family inside the space have their sons as member of the sect, together with: “A number of of our mothers are these defending weapons and totally different ammunitions for them, because of there have not been right sorts of communication."
In accordance along with her, there must be an accurate possibility to mix and re-orientate those who have surrendered once more to society.
The SMW programme, which started on Monday, launched people from Nigeria and the world collectively, along with the clerics, activists, entrepreneurs, innovators, consumers, authorities, and entertainers, amongst others.
The courses, well-packaged, tried as lots as doable to underscore the importance of not merely using Fb, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat, amongst others, just for the satisfying of talking, nevertheless to operate a platform to advocate change, repositioning of all the sectors of the financial system, even governance.
Co-Founding father of SMW, Obi Asika, said the yearly event helps to fireside up the aware of Nigerians that they need to uncover the social media to reposition the nation.
Testifying to the prowess of know-how all through his session, the Neutral Nationwide Electoral Charge (INEC) Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said the Charge would consolidate on the success of the ultimate fundamental elections.
Yakubu said INEC would rely tremendously on the facility of know-how to ship on subsequent 12 months’s elections and even the two governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states in July and September, this 12 months, respectively.
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