Why Zinox empowered ICT Mediapreneurs with social media trends - ITREALMS

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Leading African Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions provider, Zinox Group, has concluded a three-day social media training for over 20 selected ICT media entrepreneurs and online publishers in Lagos, reports ITREALMS.

The training, ITREALMS gathered, was aimed at equipping participants with the skills and knowledge needed to leverage social media platforms and tools to expand their reach, generate revenue, and improve their online presence.

State of Emergency in Rivers: A tale of politics, power, and social media - ITREALMS

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on March 18, 2025, citing breakdown in governance and public order, sparking nationwide outrage, especially on social media, reports REMMY NWEKE.

Breakdown in governance:

On March 18, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, citing a breakdown in governance and public order.

Akpoti-Uduaghan: Legal firm disowns letter trending on social media - ITREALMS

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A legal firm, Indemnity Partners, has disowned a letter trending on social media purporting to have been issued from the law firm in respect of Mrs. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Alema of Warri, High Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan.

The legal firm insisted that it did not issue the said letter.

Book Review: Cyber Politics – Social Media, Social Demography and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria - ITREALMS

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Book Review:
Title: Cyber Politics – Social Media, Social Demography and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria

Author: Dr. Omoniyi P. Ibietan

Publisher: Premium Times Books

Year: 2023

Pages: 460

Reviewer: Azu Ishiekwene

Date: July 25, 2023, Abuja, Nigeria

My job today is to review the book, and not the man. But since the man made the book, I would, to slightly paraphrase Oscar Wilde, overcome by yielding to the temptation of reviewing the man.

Cream queen, Esther Omouwho of Komich Kreamy Cakes says 'my business is built around social media' - ITREALMS

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Cream queen and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lagos-based Komich Kreamy Cakes, Esther Omouwho told ITREALMS' GBEMI OMOTOSO says her business is built around social media, emphasising that more industry collaboration is needed.

Excerpts:

What is your signature in the cake industry?
I am a whipped cream queen because it's faster and easier to work with, however I used all other frostings (Fondant, buttercream) perfectly too.

Backdoor licensing of social media: Stakeholders kick against NBC plan – ITREALMS

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Stakeholders in the information and communication technology industry have condemned the planned licensing of social media platforms by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), ITREALMS exclusively report.

ITREALMS recalls that NBC was on news trend, Thursday reportedly that “All social media platforms, online broadcasters must apply for licence by NBC” which emanated from published advertorial.

Guild promotes Isah to acting president, cautions FG against regulating social media - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has promoted its Vice President, West, Mr. Mustapha Isah to the post of acting president, to fill-in the gap created by the exit of the immediate past president, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, who was recently appointed the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, reports ITREALMS.

This is coming as NGE cautioned the Federal Government against regulating social media, describing it as inimical to the growth of press and defiles democratic tenets.

Announcing this development, the Standing Committee of NGE, ITREALMS gathered, had constituted itself into an Electoral College to effect the promotion and relaying on Article 13(4) of the Nigerian Guild of Editors Constitution.

Thus, they elected Mr. Mustapha Isah as Acting President of the Guild, to fill the vacant position of Mrs Funke Egbemode as President, upon her appointment and acceptance of offer as Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation in Osun State.

The communique arising from the meeting personally endorsed by the acting president, Mr. Mustapha Isah and General Secretary, Mrs Mary Atolagbe, the Standing Committee also revealed it discussed the state of the nation and the media and took particular note of the ongoing plans by the Federal Government of Nigeria to ‘sanitise’ the Social Media space and thereby resolved as follows:

That the Federal Government should rescind the decision to regulate the Social Media, as such measure is in clear contravention of Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution (As amended), which guarantees every Nigerian citizen the right to “freedom of expression, including the right to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.”

The Guild reminds the Federal Government of the dire consequences of similar attempts in the past to gag freedom of speech, as such initiatives were usually misconstrued by security agents and some public officials to harass, arrest and in most cases, illegally detain journalists and other Nigerians for holding their opinions.

Advising the Federal Government to seek ways to maximize social media to disseminate information on the activities and policies of government, rather than its current attempt to stifle it: the Guild urges the government to engage the founders and promoters of social media, namely: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter among others – to creatively find ways of sieving information disseminated through their respective channels, to curtail extremisms of violence and hate speech.

Recognising that Nigeria is already in the red zone of nations with very poor record of Press Freedom and Freedom of Speech, the Guild notes, for instance, that the 2019 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders places Nigeria in a distant 120th position among 180 nations under review. Also, in the 2019 Global Impunity Index published by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), which chronicles countries where criminal groups, politicians, government officials, and other powerful actors resort to violence to silence critical views, dissent and particularly the media, Nigeria ranks as high as the 12th position, sharing the top bracket with impunity-prone and conflict-riddled nations like Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Mexico, Pakistan etcetera.

Sadly, this is not a good profile and the Federal Government of Nigeria should not take further actions that would add to this unpleasant tar on the nation by seeking to ‘sanitise’ Social Media but, should rather build bridges and collaborations with the Nigerian media and promoters of social media. Such synergy and partnership in an Information Age, is the best way to make the most of the advantages of social media which far outweigh any perceived disadvantages.

The Guild notes that Nigeria has enough extant laws, including the Cyber Crime Act 2015, to deal with issues of ‘hate speech’ and ‘Fake News’. It urges the government to test such laws in the courts of competent jurisdictions in accordance with due process of the law rather than create another legal instrument and atmosphere that would give agents of state the latitude to harass and criminalise citizens especially journalists.

The Guild observes that in most cases, it is the officials of governments at all levels that push out Fake News and hate speech by their words and actions; stressing that it behoves government actors to check their actions and utterances.

The Guild uses this opportunity to call on government and security agencies to release forthwith all journalists being detained nationwide, as their continued detention run contrary to the grains of the Constitution.

Further, the Guild congratulated Mrs Egbemode on her appointment and wished her well.





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Techpreneur faults FG, NASS on social media bill - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

A Lagos-based techpreneur, Mr. Ebenezer Dare, has faulted both the Federal Government and the National Assembly (NASS) and called on them to define what they really want to regulate in the name of proposed Social Media Bill, reports ITREALMS.

Speaking on the vexed issue of the plans by the Federal Government and National Assembly to gag the system, Mr. Dare, who is the Chief Executive Officer at Hostlag, a domain names and web hosting company, wondered if the Nigerian government truly wanted to regulate foreign applications developed by foreign companies or the people.

He said that regulating the people for instance, will FG sit down with those social media companies in the process of making their regulations and if not, “how do they want to achieve the said bill?”

For him, both the FG and National Assembly must understand what they want to regulate and then come up in alliance with the application companies, insisting that no law is developed in a vacuum, especially in a democratic setting like Nigeria.
And if it is the applications they want to regulate, he urged them to rename the said bill and not call it social media bill.

“If software and websites will be included, that's no longer social media,” he objected, stressing that is relevant now is more education rather than regulation of any sort.

“What I think we need is more of education rather than regulation,” he said.

FG, Dare said, needs to appeal to the emotions of social media activists, youths and other social media users.

“We need to do something that will affect their psychology about the danger of sharing fake news or hate speech because an average social media user will only share news that affects his or her emotion without confirming the source or the genuinety,” Dare submitted.

Insisting that what Nigeria needs on this social media usage is education.

Nenye Dom/Editor

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Pix: Dare

‘35% Nigerian kids on social media, spend more time on YouTube’ - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The latest study on children behavior online has shown that estimated 35 per cent of Nigerian kids of school age where on social media, especially on the Facebook but spent more time on YouTube, during the just ended long vacation, reports ITREALMS.

According to Kaspersky Lab, kids in the region made up 35 per cent as the most popular being Facebook, Google Mail, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram, due to inability of parents to assert control using available tools.

The research revealed that children spent more time on YouTube– in particular, showing an increased interest in Netflix and o2tvseries.com for movies and series

Also, the lab revealed the online activities of children across Nigeria, based on statistics from the company’s Parental Control modules, Kaspersky Lab showed what children in the region watched, listened to, purchased and searched for online.

The report showed anonymised statistics on websites visited from Windows PCs and Macs, and search activity on Windows PCs, Macs, Android and iOS devices.

ITREALMS gathered that the stats were taken from Kaspersky Lab’s flagship products that have the Parental Control module switched on, and from Kaspersky Safe Kids, a standalone service installed for kids’ online protection.



Globally, children were reportedly more likely to watch video content and listen to music, than spend time on social media, however this was not true for children in Nigeria, who were most active across internet communication media (referred to as social media/networks) in the region at 35% with the most popular being Facebook, Google Mail, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram.

This was then followed by video content and music at 29 per cent.



Children in the region also began to visit news sites more frequently, including sports.ndtv.com, accounting for 20 per cent of activities. Electronic commerce was also among top four categories as well; 7 per cent of children showed their interest in exploring online stores for clothes and mobile devices. With regards to online stores, children in Nigeria visited Amazon the most.





It should be noted that alongside computer games recorded just under 1 per cent, similar statistics where noted for children in Nigeria who also searched for adult-content web-sites.




Chuks Egbune/GEE



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Osun 2018: HDP’s Adedoyin promises quality education, names deputy, unveils social media - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The governorship candidate of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP) in the forthcoming September 22 governorship election in Osun State, Mr. Wole Adedoyin has promised to provide the public school students with access to quality education, reports ITRealms.

This is coming as HDP named Olawale Adewumi as deputy governorship candidate in the state, even as the party unveiled its website and social media handles including Facebook, in readiness for the election.

ITRealms reports that HDP in Osun State picked Mr. Olawale Adesoye Adewumi  as its deputy governorship candidate at the weekend, reiterating to provide facilities for the public schools  including all the basic facilities, as part of his commitment for winning the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

Adedoyin disclosed this weekend, saying the state of education in Osun state needs repositioning, while also committing to a list of citizen’s demands to ensure quality education in government schools.

He however commended the incumbent governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola for rebranding the face of education in the state.

Mr. Adedoyin promised to implement broad based learning so that students may possess the necessary knowledge and disciplinary tools while in school.

He further stated that it was her party’s priority to prioritise scientific education, for which they will train teachers and upgrade curriculum. Adedoyin’s manifesto focuses exclusively on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.

Mr. Adedoyin also spoke about increasing the budget allocated for education while also high-lightening the need to strictly regulate and monitor private and public schools.

Finally, Adedoyin has promised to initiate and commit to a charter that will be based on the demands of parents, teachers and community members in Osun state. The charter will outline the need to upgrade schools from primary to tertiary institution while also highlighting the need for constructing science and computer labs.

The charter will make it mandated that more government schools be renovated and constructed at every level while also improving the quality of education. The charter included that libraries should also be established alongside science and computer labs, teachers will be trained in modern teaching practices and that healthy co-curricular activities be made more popular.

Meanwhile, as part of Hope Democratic Party (HDP) effort to take their campaign to the grassroots and nooks and crannies of the state as well as in a bid to connect and network with the grassroots people of Osun State, has unveiled social media handles including Facebook for campaigns and sanitization of voters on the party’s governorship candidate and the blueprints of the party for the citizens of the state.

According to HDP’s publicity secretary in the state, Mr. Dada Olusegun said the party and her governorship candidate have designed friendly blogs and Facebook accounts aim at showcasing the programmes and manifestoes of the party and her candidate for the forthcoming governorship election.

Also Twitter and Instagram are part of the social media platforms created alongside the blogs and the Facebook account to be used for his party’s campaign. 

Speaking further on the issue, Olusegun said this action is necessary as to win the hearts and vote of the peoples come September 22nd.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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Pix: Mr. Wole Adedoyin

FG gags media, NTA threatens staff over social media

ITREALMS:

The Federal Government (FG) may have concluded plans to gag the Nigerian media especially starting with those under its direct watch, reports ITREALMS.

Indication to this effect follows an internal memo by the management of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) which vowed to deal with any of staff who makes comments “online” from now on.

The circular issued by the Director- General of NTA, Yakubu Mohammed, dated January 15, 2018 was signed on his behalf by the Executive Director, Administration and Training, Mr. Steve Egbo.

The circular with reference number: NTA/HQ/EDAT/CIR/Vol.1/03/4, sighted by ITREALMS, the DG was quoted as saying that the “online publications” referred to in the circular were comments by staff of the NTA on social media platforms, especially Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

ITREALMS also gathered that NTA management was concerned because the report of such comments have “been getting to higher authorities.”

Hence NTA management threatened action against those who make such comments, which it described as “reckless and unethical.”

Further, Mohammed warned that any member of staff caught "in this fast spreading serious act of misconduct will be made to face the consequences of his/her action in line with civil service rules.”

Nonye Dom/GEE

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Digital Economy: ICANN studies e-friction, social media usage in 15 MENAT countries

ITRealms:

The study on the status of the regional digital economy, entitled “Accelerating the Digital Economy in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey” by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has revealed that the study would focus on 410 million people living in 15 countries, reports ITRealms.

The study, ITRealms reports, identified the dynamics of the current digital economy and recommends points of development in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT), of which ICANN had commissioned a similar study in 2014 with the same aim in a global context: “Greasing the Wheels of the Digital Economy”.

ITRealms gathered that this study serves as part of ICANN's efforts to foster engagement between ICANN and the broader Internet community, and to help build a strong and competitive domain name industry in the region. The study focuses on 410 million people living in 15 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirate (UAE).

The ICANN’s Vice President of Global Stakeholder Engagement in the Middle East, Baher Esmat said, “It tackles issues such as social media usage, content in local language, Internet connectivity, Internet start-ups, e-friction and legislations in the Internet sphere.”

Esmat also said that ICANN commissioned the study to investigate the current status of the digital economy in the MENAT region and to outline the opportunities of growth in various areas, including the domain name market that could help us make better use of the digital potential in the region.

“We believe the recommendations that derive from this study provide a guide for policy makers and businesses to nurture digital transformation in the region,” he said.

The findings of the study indicate that there is a need for governments to lead by supporting long-term efforts in four areas, including “Provision of ubiquitous, affordable connectivity, availability of relevant content, building of digital capabilities, establishment of supportive policies and practices.”

ITRealms gathered that the study concluded that in order to enhance the digital economy of MENAT, a collective effort by all stakeholders, from public to private sector, is required.

“The study will be discussed in the upcoming ICANN60 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Remote participants will be able to join this discussion here,” he said.

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Tackling social media effects, challenges top agenda @NIICF’17

ITRealms:

The Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF) & Africa Digital Awards (ADA) would this year have a session on how to tackle the effects of social and the challenges of cyber security, reports ITRealms.

According to the coordinator of the dual event, Mr. Tayo Adewusi, the forum and awards have proven to be a must attend for top C-level management staff and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs).

“It is imperative for the federal government, regulators, and industry stakeholders to discuss and map out creative ways to make broadband penetration accessible, available and affordable in all nooks and crannies of this country, if we must tackle the menace of cybercrime,” he said.

Adewusi said that with the theme “Broadband Access: The Challenges of Cyber Security Threat & Effect of Social Media Era” was chosen to bring together Information and Communication Technology (ICT) leaders driving the Nigeria growth.

Scheduled to hold on August 25, 2017 at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, he said, the event would be chaired by Minister of Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu with supporting two keynotes speeches from the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta and the Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Mr. Ferdi Moolman. 

Other leading papers expected would comprise that of the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Isa Patami; Director General, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr. Is’haq Kawu; Managing Director, Galaxy Backbone, Mr. Yusuf Kazaure.

In addition, Adewusi said there would be presentations from the Managing Director, MainOne, Ms. Funke Opeke, her counterpart at Nigcomsat, Ms. Abimbola Alale, President, Nigeria Internet Registration Asociation (NIRA), Rev. Sunday Folayan and Partner Muiz Banire & Associates, Mr.  Kunle Adegoke. 

He pointed out that the forum offers exclusive sessions around the latest developments and trends in Nigeria’s ICT landscape and corporate environment, especially around broadband, Internet security, IoT and social media.

“The forum is envisioned as the foremost impactful meeting of top C-level executives in the industry,” he said.

Also, he said, the Africa Digital Awards (ADA) would take place simultaneously with the forum, noting that this year’s event will be breath taking as they have already began the shortlisting of the nominees.

“The key criteria for this year’s over 50 nominations include value of the service or technology in solving recognised technology problems, meeting network requirements, optimising service and performance & enhancing customer service, overall quality of innovation and contribution to ICT advancement, originality & vision, potential industry growth and service, market success/acceptance and contribution to end – user’s quality of experience and service efficiency,” he said.

Adewusi explained that ADA has been designed to annually honour distinguished individuals and corporate for having distinguished themselves in the contribution to the development of the industry.

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Communication Managers warned to take social media seriously over fake news

ITRealms:

Communication Managers under the aegis of World Communications Forum (WCF) have been cautioned to be cautious of social media by taking this industry subsector seriously due prevalent of fake news, reports ITRealms.

Giving this caution, at the 2017 World Communications Forum held in Geneva, Switzerland and Development Expert, Mr Michael Bociurkiw, said that its high time chief executive officers of communication outfits across the world have to take social media seriously by way of helping to monitor their clientele reputations.

“CEOs of companies, who refuse to spend on social media, social media strategy, and crisis communications, do so at their own peril,” he declared, stressing that monitoring is required 24/7.

He pointed out that at this era, company's reputation is everything because it takes years to build a trusted brand but minutes and even seconds to bring it down.

“Don't allow a gap in communications to allow others to do the speaking for you” he said.

Bociurkiw pointed out that the challenge of fake news has become a subject of communications front burner, reiterating that in the current communications environment clients expect their consultants to be decision-makers.

“However, social media now requires quick decisions in the middle of the night, thus encouraging Communications practitioners and Chief Executive Officers to embrace Social Media as much as they can,” he said.

According to him, information is fast food, because today people consume 87 per cent more information than 30 years ago.

“In the past 4 months the communications environment has changed completely, now communications wags the tail of diplomacy,” he said.

Also, he admitted that fake news is a danger to democracy and could easily become hate speech, and that large new media companies such as FaceBook have been slow to introduce policies/tools to combat. Just as he highlighted this as one of the challenges of the social media, in spite of its numerous advantages, and hopes there will be a solution to this, as he upholds the use of social media in the 21st century.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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FG says 'We are not monitoring social media, citizens calls'

BreakingNews@ITRealms:

The Federal Government has described as false the information being circulated on the Social Media to the effect that under a purported Ministry of Interior Regulation, all phone calls and Social Media posts made by the citizens are to be monitored and recorded, reports ITRealms.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday in a press statement made available to ITRealms by the Segun Adeyemi, his Special Assistant (SA) was quoted as describing the development as another example of disinformation that has permeated the media space, especially the Social Media.

The Minister said the intention of those behind the false news is to give the impression that the Federal Government is working to stifle freedom of speech, which is not the case.

''There is no regulation, old or new, from the Ministry of Interior or any federal government agency requiring the recording of all calls or the monitoring of Social Media platforms like WhatsApp, Twitter or Facebook. We are therefore using this medium to inform all Nigerians that what is being circulated in this regard is totally false and should be disregarded.

''We thank all Nigerians who have reached out to us in an effort to confirm the authenticity or otherwise of this information, which is now being widely circulated on the Social Media. This is the best way to ensure that the purveyors of false news do not dominate our media space,'' he said.

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Commentary: Adeboye and social media gang

Commentary:

What was it that the General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, said that caught fire? At the recently concluded annual convention of the Church, he advised male church workers not to marry women who cannot not pray for one hour.

That was not all. He also advised them not to marry women who cannot cook. Turning to the women, he advised them not to marry lazy men and those who have no jobs.

While he was still speaking, social media was aflame. The more charitable critics told him to get over his old-fashioned ideas. Not a few said they considered his comment harmful and irresponsible. Doesn’t he know that he is a role model?

Well, my father told me the same thing and I’m not ashamed to say that I can’t remember how many times I have told my own children the same thing: don’t marry a drifter, a spouse who believes in nothing.

My father was not a Christian, so he did not use Adeboye’s exact words about prayers. But what he said about a woman without the fear of God and/or one who cannot cook would be judged a far worse heresy by today’s social media standards. My father said that a woman who does not have the fear of God is capable of anything and the one who cannot cook is badly brought up.

That’s quite harsh. But it came from his heart and I’m thankful for it. I’m also thankful that my mother taught me to pray and to cook not because she wanted me to thresh melon while my wife puts her feet up, but because she said I’ll never know what tomorrow would bring or where life might take me.

I’m perfectly happy with my father’s advice and the lessons my mother taught me. I have shared them with my son many times.

It’s up to him to take it or leave it but I don’t know many parents who will not share life’s lessons that have worked for them – and even those that didn’t work – with their own children.

I understand that today’s world of relative morality has no place for right and wrong, only shades of grey. The in-thing – what is trending and in fashion – is to forget the past, especially if that past comes from traditional society, and to embrace the spirit of the new age, mostly defined by Western trends and standards.

There’s a variety of this relativist thinking that I find very confusing. Because the icons of this age live in the public square where pregnancy in all its sacredness is advertised as “baby bump” on Facebook and “baby shower” announces the unborn child, the voltrons insist that we can be judged only by their own standards.

We can’t say what we believe in because we have to be careful to be politically correct; we cannot hold any opinion because it might offend millions of other people who look up to us as role models; we can’t even share a private moment with loved ones, because our privacy is exactly what feeds the fly on the social media wall.

Those who want Adeboye’s head on a platter for saying what he said in what was supposed to be a private meeting with his church workers can have it, but if new thinking is so fickle that its adherents cannot withstand anything more than the namby-pamby of their ill-digested Oyinbo ideas, then too bad. On the day when anyone really, really needs to pray – woman or man – you won’t need Adeboye to tell you how long to pray.

The old school should not relent or give up the values they hold dear without a fight.

As for the adherents of the new thinking, we know a good number of them: hypocrisy is their middle name. They will not tell their own wards and children to do what they vigorously advocate on social media. They live two lives – one for Facebook, the other for Closetbook. Fools follow them at their own peril.

Recently, a friend shared a conversation he had with his daughter with me: “Dad,” the young lady said to her father, “What would be your response if I said I had a lesbian or gay friend – just a friend.”

My friend said he thought very long and hard for a reply. He didn’t want to say something that would turn his daughter off and yet he didn’t want to encourage the relationship.

“You will not have a lesbian friend because bad company corrupts good manners,” my friend replied his daughter. “I have nothing against people of different orientations but I also reserve the right to choose my friends, just as you do. I wish you would use that choice wisely.”

He had to walk on eggshells to say the word. That’s what the adherents of the new thinking have done to us – they have robbed us of the gift of plain speaking, but they won’t stop at making us softies. Their ultimate goal is to silence us. We are afraid to speak up for the values that we believe in, because we’re afraid to be labeled old-fashioned.

My father would not have faced this misery. It would have been inconceivable for me to even think of it, much less discuss it with him. If ever I crossed the line, he would have stitched up my mouth with stripes.

Of course, that generation had its excesses rooted mostly in superstition, fear and ignorance. But trust me, they have given more than their fair share to get us where we are. The choices we make going forward are entirely up to us.

*Contributed by AZU ISHIEKWENE, the MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine and board member of the Paris-based Global Editors Network.

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Pix: Azu Ishiekwene

Ghana: Penplusbytes says 'No' to social media ban

ITRealms:

The Penplusbtye, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based organization situated in Accra, the capital of Ghana, has called on the Police Administration in the country not to ban social media in the forthcoming elections, reports ITRealms.

The Executive Director of Penplusbtye, Mr. Kwami  Ahiabenu II, made this call in the sidelines of a social accountability forum held in Accra, urged the Police Administration to consider setting up a social media monitoring centre, instead of total ban on social media activities on election day.

A Ghana News Agency (GNA) report available to ITRealms, Ahiabenu was quoted as declaring, “A total ban of social media  on election day would increase suspicions and create an information gap that can easily be filled with more misinformation and rumours.”

He also said social media had become a very important ICT tool with most of its contents being very useful to the society, stressing that despite its excesses, social media had contributed to entrenching democracy, especially in most African countries, through monitoring of elections as well as serving as a major source of diverse information in the world over and therefore for Ghana to ban social media on election day would not be too good.

“Many citizens and stakeholders rely on social media to monitor elections, and this give them confidence of knowing what is going on, therefore a ban of it will create problems and jeopardise elections outcome,” Mr Ahiabenu II said.

Dr Esther Ofei-Aboagye, Vice-Chair of the National Development Planning Commission, who chaired the function said “We shouldn’t move away from social media but we should use it to promote governance and accountability, especially in this election year.”

ITRealms noted that the Social Accountability forum, attended by various stakeholders including heads of civil society organisations, state actors on the social accountability front as well as donor organisations, created synergy and avenue for information sharing while building a concerted advocacy drive to ensure resources allocated for development are used to alleviate poverty and improve the standard of living of citizens at the grassroots.

The overall goal of the platform was to increase the contribution of civil society in promoting accountability and effective public service delivery.

The Social Accountability forum forms part of the implementation of the Penplusbytes’ two-year "Tech Driven Social Accountability for Results" project which is being funded by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.

It seeks to equip ordinary citizens with usable information via online platforms mashed-up with social media and mobile based platforms to promote their purposeful participation in demanding accountability and responsiveness from decision makers for effective public service delivery.

Nenye Dom/GNA/GEE

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Internet Governance: Tracking Governance on Social Media - Anambra State as a Case Study

Commentary@ITRealms:

Being the Text of the Address presented by Rtn Ifeanyi Aniagoh, the Senior Special Assistant on Social Media to Gov Willie Obiano of Anambra State at the 2016 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum hosted at Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Lagos on Thursday through Friday, June 2-3, 2016 by DigitalSENSE Africa in conjunction with Nigerian Communications Commission and National Information Technology Development Agency.

Excerpts:

Protocol:

It gives great pleasure to be in your midst at the moment, I want to say that I'm honoured.

We are all lucky to be born in a generation where the internet has become a tool for letting out and getting information.

We are in this unique gathering to talk about how the internet should be governed to create viable opportunities for Nigerians.

The term ‘governance’ refers to an encompassing set of guiding rules and norms that guide any area of human activity, rules that may be formal or informal, and are applicable to virtually any societal activity, whether ‘market governance', ‘political governance' or ‘internet governance.’

Internet governance covers a wide range of issues, from day-to-day technical and operational workings of the internet to public policy issues such as combating crime.

Social Media refer to the means of interaction among a people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas through virtual platforms.

Some examples of Social Media platforms include Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Twitter, Digg, Blogs and Websites.

Tracking refers to approaches that allow the concerned to record and follow the progress of any identified problem or "issue" until the challenge is resolved.

Tracking of Governance provides us with a way to report issues, track progress and know how, why, when and who is responsible for resolving issues in our society as well as monitoring government activities.

There are a lot of persons interested in tracking governance; you and I, civil society organizations, donor agencies and government think-tanks.

My role in this conference is to do justice to the "Tracking of Governance on the Social Media using Anambra State as a Case Study"... How do the administration of Gov Willie Obiano bring "government" to the consciousness of Onye Anambra and other concerned persons?

Why Anambra?

While it's the duty of the organizers of this forum to make open their reason for choosing Anambra for this study, we are all witnesses to the fact that the eastern State known as the "Light of the Nation" is a state with many firsts.

Today, Anambra State tops the chart in terms of Nigerian states with appreciable engagement on the Social Media and e-governance.

This is as a result of ndi Anambra's unquenchable desire to find solutions through enterprises; and the governor's natural inclination to empowering young persons who are the major stakeholders in this internet age.

What do we do in Anambra State?  Here, "we" refers to Anambra State Government.

To ensure a full participation of ndi Anambra in governance and to help the people to keep track of what the government is doing, we run the following programmes:

1. WhatsApp Session - a novel network of 87,000 persons connected together with the rare ability to share information and receive feedback within 60 seconds;

2. Anambra Scorecard - a 2-hour per week online live programme anchored on Facebook where the political office holders and stakeholders are "put on the spot" for the people to ask questions directly from all over the world;

3. Social Media Hangout - a monthly offline gathering of online dwellers in Anambra State to interact, share experiences and learn new skills aimed at promoting the positive use of the Social Media... Here we discourage e-thuggery;

4. Public Court - a weekly online poll spread across Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc, to get direct feedback on the people's perception and opinion on government's policies, projects and programs.

In addition to these self-assessing programmes, we also maintain broadcast of the government's activities through Facebook, YouTube, Emails, Blogs and other Social Media platforms.

There are two important things to note:

1. These channels provide the people with the opportunity to be in the know about the governance of their State ... Giving them the privilege to ask questions and keep tract of the day-to-day running of their government;

2. You can only sustain these channels if you have quality programmes and achievements to show... An insincere or non-performing government cannot survive the volume of criticisms therein.

What do others do?  "Others" refers to non-government stakeholders in the Anambra State Project ... The CSOs, NGOs, critics, the citizens and the opposition.

The Social Media presence of Anambra State Government:

1. Gives the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)  and NGOs the time-saving access to relevant facts and figures enabling them to keep track of the performance index of Anambra State Government;

2. Gives the critics the open platform to constructively engage the government by sharing their opinions on how better the State can be run... Note that criticisms are not insults or online bullying;

3. Gives ndi Anambra and concerned persons secure and confidential routes to send feedback directly to the government of the State;

4. Gives the citizens an alternate and very reliable means of resolving emergencies.

Ultimately, the recognition of the role of New Media in governance which informed the decision of Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra State to engage a Senior Special Assistant on Social Media, has given Ndi Anambra, at home and in diaspora, the rare opportunity to partake in government of their State.

One may then ask ...  What are the advantages of tracking governance through Social Media? The unlimited list of these merits as being experienced in Anambra State can be summarised thus:

1. People-oriented Governance - A government like we have in Anambra State being aware that the people are constantly watching its activities endeavours to provide what the people need, listens to their demands and alleviates their plights;

2. Purposeful Leadership - A careful appraisal of the giant strides of Gov Willie Obiano of Anambra within 2 years in office explains this benefit... A government that consciously allows self to be publicly assessed at all times, as is obtainable in Anambra State, can only survives by providing purposeful leadership;

3. Job Creation - The programmes I enumerated earlier gives direct jobs to 41 young persons while Anambra Social Media Hangout trains at least 20 online entrepreneurs per month... Imagine the indirect jobs being created through the government MDAs and the CSOs/NGOs that follow the government on the internet to track its progress;

4. All-inclusive Democracy - What else will a democratic society like ours wish for than what we have in Anambra State, where everyone has the privilege to participate in the governance of the State and all citizens enjoy the right to Freedom of Information (FOI).

While e-governance is not a cure-all for modern challenges of governance, it is a powerful enabling tool that has aided governments achieve some of their development and administrative reform goals.

It has also helped major stakeholders of good governance to keep track of the progress being made by governments of the day.

Generally, many states in Nigeria are now realizing the need for e-governance in order to provide people-focused, cost effective, and easy to use services for citizens and enterprises and to improve the internal workings of government.

Similarly, many governance tracking applications have emerged rapidly (such as yourbudgit.com, tracka.ng, etc).

Thus,  it's very evident that if other states and the Federal Government can emulate Anambra State on the effective use of the internet in governance while allowing free tracking of government activities by interested persons, more Nigerians will be able to access and assess the government’s services without necessarily going to the government office or contacting by telephone.

The use of the internet will reduce the negative attitude Nigerians have towards government agencies because not many people enjoy interacting with their government; and delivery of government services from any place to citizens.

If well-orchestrated, e-governance can also bring an improved citizens’ access to information and services, increase efficiency in service and information delivery to citizens and other stakeholders as well prepare our nation for digital democracy which involves e-voting.

As a takeaway, I encourage every young person here not to stop at effectively using Social Media platforms but aim at developing better platforms ...

The e-government positions and the jobs being created by the need to track governance could be yours.

Thank you for listening.

Ifeanyi ANIAGOH, SSA to Gov Willie Obiano on Social Media.

@IfeanyiAniagoh

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Pix 1: Ifeanyi Aniagoh, SSA on Social Media to Gov. Obiano presenting his paper on Internet Governance: Tracking Governance on Social Media.
Pix 2: L-R: Domain Name Business Manager, UpperLink Ltd, Mrs Irieti Chukwujama; President, Cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN), Mr. Remi Afon;  Executive Director Operations, DigitalSENSE Africa, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke; Chairman of NDSF 2016 and President, Nigeria Computer Society,  Prof. Adesola Aderounmu; ;  Broadband and Converged Solution Manager, Phase3Telecom, Mr. Yemi Adedoyin, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano on Social Media, Anambra State, Mr. Ifeanyi  Aniagoh responding during question and answer session, at 2-day 2016 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum held at Digital Bridge Institute, Lagos.