After Russia, Nigeria is leading a dangerous “fake news” culture – EFCC, FBI must step up

Another blog noted for notoriety and sensational stories, weeklypostng.org published a fake photo of the ailing President together with an image of an unidentified burial event; narrating how Aisha Buhari wept bitterly over her husband’s death.
Anthony Obi Ogbo | Guardian News, Houston, TX

It escalated with a “Breaking News” pullout on January 29th, categorically reporting that an ailing Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari was dead. According to the authors, “phcitybreed.tv”, Buhari died in a London Hospital where he was receiving medical care. The blog attributed its source to another fake set-up, “CNN-ALIVE”, and also indicated a confirmation by that the Nigerian Mission in UK. This piece generated millions of shares and infiltrated the social media with heated discussions about a fragile Nigeria’s sociopolitical system under its sick president.

January 30, the blog made it even worse; claiming that Queen Elizabeth II had sent a condolence message to Buhari’s family and the people of Nigeria. “In a message of condolence, the Queen described Buhari as “one of Africa’s pillars”, the blog wrote. Quoting “another London source”, the blog further claimed that the British Prime Minister, Theresa May visited the Nigerian Ambassador to the UK to express her condolence.

Naijanewsplus.com also published a different version of a crowded burial event carry a corpse depicted as that of the late President.

By the first week of January, the social media was already saturated with various headlines and photos suggesting President Buhari was dead. Two other blogs; “metro (blocked)” and “naijanewsplus.com” took the lead; feeding a desperate social media audience with uncorroborated “Buhari-is-dead” headlines with horrible doctored  photos. In fact, Naijanewsplus.com published an old photo of Queen Elizabeth II as a recent photo – signing a condolence register on Buhari’s death.

January 30, the blog made it even worse; claiming that Queen Elizabeth II had sent a condolence message to Buhari’s family and the people of Nigeria.

Another blog noted for notoriety and sensational stories, weeklypostng.org published a fake photo of the ailing President together with an image of an unidentified burial event; narrating how Aisha Buhari wept bitterly over her husband’s death. Naijanewsplus.com also published a different version of a crowded burial event carry a corpse depicted as that of the late President.

By the first week of January, the social media was already saturated with various headlines and photos suggesting President Buhari was already dead. Two other blogs; “metro (blocked)” and “naijanewsplus.com” took the lead; feeding a desperate social media audience with uncorroborated “Buhari-is-dead” headlines with doctored horrible photos.

March 10 however; President Buhari returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom where he actually received medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment for 50 days. Today, this same “dead” President is alive undertaking both national and international engagement. So, what must have gone wrong?

The President and his media handlers may have instigated these array of misinformation and deceit by lopsidedly dribbling the public about the President’s ordeal. It communicated his medical leave, but failed to update Nigerians with substantial details, fueling all sorts of rumors about his survival. Desperate bloggers sponsored by those opposed to his regime however, saw this as an opportunity to incite a population already angry about the public system under President Buhari. These are the background realities that provoked the “fake-news” culture.

The FAKE NEWS PARADE – KNOW WHO THEY ARE

METRO(Blocked)
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been reported dead in a London Hospital
(Site already taken down).

NAIJANEWSPLUS.COM
BREAKING NEWS: Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari Is Dead Confirmed By CNN-ALIVE
► ► ►

PHCITYBREED TV
Now confirmed: Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is dead
► ► ►

NAIJANEWSPLUS.COM
Buhari’s DEATH …. See Queen Elizabeth II condolence Message To Nigeria!(Watch Video)
► ► ►

WEEKLYPOSTNG.ORG
Buhari’s Death: SAD NEWS!! The Worst Has Happened. Aisha Buhari Weeps Bitterly – Live on CNN
► ► ►

 

Indeed the “fake News” culture is a bad trend in any nation’s political development and stability; especially as Nigeria gears up for a 2019 general elections. Fake news websites disguise as real news outlets but calculatingly publish hoaxes, propaganda, and falsehood —habitually using social media to enlarge their messages and drive web traffic. The websites seek to misinform the audience for both financial and political gain; and they have indeed influenced political trends in major counties.

In the United States for instance, the Senate intelligence committee leaders have received reports that Russia hired at least 1,000 trolls to spread fake news stories to hurt the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton during its previous presidential election. The fraud was said to have been orchestrated by Kremlin which reportedly paid an army of vandals to create fake anti-Hillary Clinton news stories targeting key swing states.

March 10 however; President Buhari returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom where he actually received medical treatment for an undisclosed ailment for 50 days. Today, this same “dead” President is alive undertaking both national and international engagement.

Nigeria, currently battling a negative image as one of world’s most corrupt countries is obviously leading a dangerous “fake news” culture which might be politically destructive. To curb this chaos, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must step up with aggressive strategies to locate and track down individual culprits and media outlets reputed for spreading falsehoods. They could collaborate with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States currently investigating similar trend to explore relevant leads to this obnoxious development.

This country is presently crippled with ethnic strifes and economic recession as it approaches a 2019 general election season. Thus, effective policies must be put in place to track down culprits and social media sites behind this destructive trend.

China remains America and the world’s greatest geopolitical threat – not Russia

Mitt Romney may have been correct, in 2012, when he said that Russia was America’s greatest geopolitical threat. Notwithstanding Russia’s current bad behavior, Romney’s assessment is no longer correct.

By Hon. Carroll G. Robinson, Esq. & Dr. Michael O. Adams

China is now America’s (and the world’s) greatest geopolitical threat. China has allegedly hacked the federal government, something some foreign policy experts consider an act of war. This is in addition to hacking American companies and stealing their intellectual product.

 China wants to be the world’s new singular economic and military superpower. China wants to control the China Sea – a vital global economic artery – through military force so that it can intimidate and dominate its regional neighbors and control global trade.

 While Americans are focused on the Russian email intrigue, China is militarizing man-made islands in the China Sea to eliminate the international norm of freedom of the sea.

The U.S. needs to deploy more aircraft carriers to Asia and help Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan build missile defense systems similar to the “Iron Dome” system in Israel. America must also strengthen our relationships and alliances in our own hemisphere, especially in Latin-South-and Central America as well as the Caribbean. This includes building on the Obama opening to Cuba.

Additionally, America needs to invest in Africa. We must help the nations on the continent strengthen and grow their economies and fight terrorists and work with India to strengthen its economy and military including a missile defense system.

Rebuilding America’s infrastructure, cutting taxes and deporting undocumented immigrants will not be enough to make America richer so it can spend more on the military.

To create more jobs and grow the American economy to have the funds to reduce the national debt and invest more in the military, there must be people around the world who can afford to buy American goods, services and products, and have the willingness to do so.

America must help build foreign markets for American goods, services and products and help ensure freedom of the sea and sky to protect the movement of global commerce.

Our nation will have to work with Russia, Jordan and the Saudis to bring peace and stability to Syria and the broader Middle East. Part of that effort will have to include strengthening America’s energy security and independence from Middle Eastern oil.

America has been trying to maintain a post WW II structure of the world that is just no longer realistic. The new reality of the 21st Century has to be acknowledged and used to inform the creation of a new American foreign policy framework and global consensus.

 Investigating and responding to Russia’s hacking of the DNC and John Podesta’s email accounts must also include a serious and objective analysis of how to respond to China and North Korea’s hacking of the federal government and American businesses.

The failure to properly respond to prior incidents of foreign hacking, in the United States, is a part of the reason why Russia felt emboldened enough to hack the DNC and John Podesta’s email accounts.

 The reality is that America is not fully prepared to defend the nation against cyber war.

It’s time to put partisanship aside and get to work on properly preparing our nation for the new challenges and adversaries before us and those to come.

 Finally, journalists need to understand that their hyperbolic coverage of investigating the Russia hacking story is strengthening Putin on the world stage as a grand geopolitical strategist, (Ivan Krastev, Russia Isn’t Pulling All The Strings, The New York Times, December 21, 2016.)

 Domestically, so-called establishment and mainstream media outlets are also significantly undercutting their own credibility. Far too many journalists are now engaged in ahistorical partisan advocacy as opposed to objective fact based reporting historically contextualized.

 Putin has destabilized and further divided our nation without firing a shot while elevating his own stature on the world stage. This has been accomplished, in part, by media coverage. The safety and prosperity of our nation depends on how we view the world and respond to its changing needs and circumstances.

♦ Robinson and Adams are members of the faculty of the Political Science Department at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.

 

x Close

Like Us On Facebook