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By Umar Muhammed, Lafia
In a drastic move to address the menace of misinformation, the leadership of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), has warned Nigerians to always identify and verify their news contents in order to squarely tackle the rising spate of fake news which threatens the nation’s reputation.
The reputation building organization explained that the menace of fake news, disinformation and misinformation if left unchecked will have a substantially adverse consequence on the citizenry and their economy.
Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura, Vice President of the NIPR, who led other national officials of the Institute to Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, handed down the warning while speaking with journalists immediately after inspection on the alleged collapse of the newly inaugurated Lafia flyover and underpass named after President Bola Tinubu recently.
Our correspondent reports that recently it was reported (not Apex News) that the 16-billion Naira worth newly-built road infrastructure by the Governor Abdullahi Sule administration had collapsed, triggering trepidation and stirring disinformation in the state and beyond.
Speaking with journalists immediately after the inspection of the facility, Dandaura clarified speculations on the collapsed sections of the flyover, stating that the structure is safe, fit and motorable.
According to him, the misleading information had no element of truth, appealing to stakeholders in the state to contribute in promoting good narrative about government and the society.
The professor of development communication condemned the actions of “merchants of falsehood”, emphasizing that doing so endangers the nation’s reputation locally and globally.
He, however, charged organizations to support the integrity initiative of the NIPR to reposition the nation towards sustainable development, adevocating for the promotion of verifiable, accurate and responsible journalism.
Speaking separately, Prof. Okey Ikechukwu (Vice President, Education Advisory Board), Muhammad Kudu-Abubakar, veteran broadcaster and Francis Duru, a Nigerian filmmaker/actor urgee Nigerians to acquire more skills in media and information literacy.
They, therefore, emphasized the need for adherence to freedom of the press and freedom of expression was very imperative, affirming that acts of fake news are fatally menacing to the collective survival of the nation.
They averted that the misrepresentation has portrayed the nation’s engineering sector in a badlight, warning citizens to see it as a civic responsibility to verify information and to present them as truth.
They further charged members of the public to discourage the spread of fake news by discountenancing unverified news items.
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