BUHARI SHOULD WORRY MORE ABOUT WHAT IS TRUE

Ushakuma Anenga urges the President to worry more about the growing insecurity in the country

I’m told that staff of banks vested with the responsibility of picking out fake currency are trained to recognise original notes only. There are a thousand types of fake notes, but there’s only one original. The banks won’t waste their time and energy training staff on fake notes, there would be no end to such. The training is focused on the original, the true one; because with this, false notes have no chance.

Nigeria’s President, Muhammad Buhari declared a ban on micro-blogging applications, Twitter because one of his tweets which went against the community rules of the app was deleted. The President, as an afterthought, also alleged that the social media app was banned over concerns of “misinformation and fake news spread through it”.

In all fairness to President Buhari, there has been a lot of falsehood on social media; however there has also been a lot of truth. For the common Nigerian, with memories and scars of shortchanging by successive governments, social media presents an outlet for them to vent their frustration and also make some humour of their suffering. Social media is also a forum where people ask questions of leaders, offer solutions and contribute to the general opinion pool.

It’s however unfortunate that the federal government, amidst an abundance of truth, has chosen to be more concerned about the falsehood on social media. They often neglect the genuine concerns of a vast majority of the social media community and instead spend time, energy, and resources aimed at curtailing falsehood generated and propagated by a few. They focus and waste energy on fake currency notes rather than recognizing and working with that which is genuine and true.

It will be important to remind President Buhari to be more worried about what is true on social media, than the falsehood that flies around. Rather than worry about the misinformation on social media, President Buhari should worry about growing insecurity in the country. It’s not a falsehood that over 200 people have been killed in the last month in Benue State by herdsmen militia with thousands rendered homeless. This is in addition to the carnage in the North East and North West and indeed, all over the country by known and unknown gunmen.

The President should be worried about the fact that Nigeria’s jobless rate has more than quadrupled over the last five years under his leadership. Nigeria’s unemployment indices are now the second-highest on a global list of countries, with over a quarter of the educated population roaming the streets without gainful employment.

Rather than bicker over false information on social media, President Buhari should be worried about the truth that the economy of this country is in a shambles. What has happened to Nigeria’s economy today is as grievous as deducting 50% or more from everyone’s earnings, both in the public or private sectors. Prices of goods and services have doubled and some even tripled. This means one’s salary today cannot do half of what one could accomplish six years ago.

These are to mention but a few facts that are daunting enough to have occupied the minds of our leader, to find solutions to them, to better the lot of its citizenry, rather a lot of time and energy is being expended on curbing falsehood. What happens to what is true?

The popularity and goodwill that heralded this administration has melted freely under the heat test of time. It is almost a waste of time and space, attempting to counsel this regime that has shown repeatedly that it is opaque to dissenting thoughts, ideas, and opinions.

However, it is also common sense that “A man whose house is on fire does not go hunting for a rat.” Rather than waste time and energy chasing the shadows of falsehood and misinformation, President Buhari should worry more about what is true.

Anenga, a medical doctor, wrote from Makurdi, Benue State