The Chief Of Army Staff (CAS) Lt. General, Buratai Tukur, has called on the nation’s media professionals to help tackle problem of fake news and hate speeches that can run the country into serious crisis.
He made the appeals during the 3rd Annual Conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) themed; Economy, Security National Development: The Way Forward held at the weekend in Lagos.
The CAS who was represented by Director of Information Management (DCMA), Brigadier General, Aminu Goni, said: “When you reduce fake news, you will be able to add value to the security of the land.
“We implore you to protect the image of the security in the minds of the public.”
The Managing Editor and Chief Executive Officer of Eagle online, Mr. Dotun Oladipo, also noted that security had been a sore point issues that questions had been raised about the efficacy of the country’s security architecture and efficiency of her security agents as a whole.
This, he said, was why many expressed strong disapproval to the interaction with a man wearing a vest that was considered as having not contributed to the insecurity in the country but expressing an opinion: “We are all Biafrans”.
According to him, there is apprehension on the street coupled with the hunger in the land and obvious snail speed of our development, adding that the anger will likely boil over soon if proper action is not taken to check the situation.
He said: “I want us to have it at the back of our minds that the cry of an hungry and poor man will one day not allow the rich and the mighty sleep again if something is not done fast to address it.”