NIGERIANS WOULD NEED THE POWERS OF COMMON SENSE TO REPEL THE NEW SOCIAL MEDIA WARFARE OF THE CRIMINAL SIDE OF THE #ENDSARS - Chief Umeugoji

Story by Razaq Adedeji Jimoh

 

Chief Reuben Umeugoji

A Lagos based Igbo Chief and industrialist, Chief Reuben Umeugoji, has advised Nigerians not to lower their guards as peace begins to return to the State and other parts of Nigeria in the aftermath of the #ENDSARS protest. He stated that as the governments are succeeding to reclaim the cities’ physical space from the hoodlums that hijacked the protest to undermine their authorities, the criminals appeared to have shifted their crime base to the social media for a new strategy he described as “social media war” to sustain their mission to divide Nigeria through “destructive powers of fake news”.

Chief Umeugoji may appear to have spoken the minds of many Nigerians. The piece of Paul Ade-Adeleye of The Nation’s Barometer page gave the same gauge of the Lagos mood as one where the social media narratives is redefining the identity of the ruling APC in the wrong perspective and it appears many of the party members are not doing enough to counter this offensives. He entitled his own missive as Lagos: #ENDSARS as Cyber Warfare

Thus so, Umeugoji suggested that “Nigerians would also need to evolve the powers of common sense to repel the new warfare strategy”.

The industrialist gave this advice while praising the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for coming out at the appropriate time to debunk all the fake news wrapped around his person in the course and climax of the protest. He was referring to the visit of Tinubu to the State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the State House in Marina on Saturday, October 24, 2020.

There were many parts of the social media reports that insinuated many stories about Tinubu with regards to the protest. That included the one of Sahara Reporters that underwent three metamorphosis stages. It began with one that read: “Tinubu Orders Military to Open Fire on EndSARS”.

Perhaps after the online medium owned by Omoyele Sowore realized the grave unethical implication of that publication, it flagged down the story and replaced it with another that read: “Live: Nigerian Military Open Fire on Peaceful EndSARS at Lekki. It however retained Tinubu’s photo for visage of the story. The third caption Sahara Reporter would release on its online porter – all within 24hours interval – for the same story read: “#ENDSARS: Ex-Lagos Governor , Tinubu, Justifies Use of Force on Peaceful Protesters by President Buhari’s Government”. This latter headline was however retained for many days probably because it believed that to be subtler in slander.

It turned out that the Sahara Reporter’s deliberate manipulation of information to misinform the public was powerful enough for the obvious incitement it was intended.

Trailing the reports in the terrestrial space were the arson attacks on all properties directly or remotely linked to Asiwaju Tinubu. That included but not limited to the burning of Television Continental (TVC), a broadcasting station located around the CMD area of Alapere in Keu; torch of the premises of Vintage Press – publishers of The Nation newspaper and; the vandalisation of Oriental Hotels by the successfully incited mob.

From the social media front while the insurrection lasted, the attack on Tinubu should reasonably and rightly pass for assaultive psychological trauma. He was reported to have fled the country in the heat of the crises. A viral video of this version gave a live radio interview of unspecified media firm where Tinubu was purported to be speaking from France and denying his link to the yet mysterious “Lekki Shooting”.

Closely related to that in strategy was another version of social media news which had it that his son had been kidnapped by the rampaging youth. In that, he was also simulated to be purportedly heard live, weeping in similar radio interview with appeal to the kidnappers to spare the life of his son.

In the Adeleye’s observation given on Sunday October 25 and found to corroborate Umeugoji’s point, he said it was right time the Lagos State realised that “it is already at cyber war with peddlers of fake news. He said the “Lekki Shooting” is mischievously pushing the “narrative that there was a massacre orchestrated by the former governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, approved by President Buhari and executed, with finesse by the incumbent Governor, Sanwo-Olu. The narrative started as a low din of the social media, but it finally rose to decibels loud enough to beat the band. Unfortunately, precious uninspiring little was done to counter these devastating offensives.

“The siege to the character of these persons are powerful and it is testament to the level of ignorance in the society and among the social media youths”.

Upon the visit of Tinubu to Governor Sanwo-Olu on that Saturday, all this became clearer to be a part in the many versions of the “Cyber Warfare” the hijackers of the #ENDSARS had perfected to incite the youth and Nigerian masses to insurrection against the government and a section of the Nigerian elite. Clearing the air to pressmen on all the social media reports mentioned above at the visit, Tinubu said they were all fake news because he never left the country in the first place.

He said: “I didn’t go anywhere. I am a Lagosian and I still hold the title of Asiwaju of Lagos and I am still (the) Jagaban. Fake news is all over the place. They said Seyi my son, was kidnapped and was chased; but look at him here. I didn’t pay a penny to bring him here”.

Chief Umeugoji, who immediately spoke to Civics Journal on this first public appearance of Tinubu after the crises, described it to be “timely”. He also said it was a “powerful statement” to his (Tinubu’s) traducers on one part and a “resounding message” to the Nigerian public at large on the other part.

He said: “It was a strong message to his enemies that he was never demoralised by their antics of the social media assault and propaganda. He had told them in clear terms that he did not earn the title of Asiwaju of Lagos for the fun of it. It is meant to lead the State in time of peace and crisis.

“To the Nigerian Public, Tinubu had evinced what we all might require to fight the rave of fake news merchants with a cause to shame them. When you come out to expose their lies as Tinubu had done now, you put the liers to shame and very soon, people would begin to be wary of them and take cautions in believing what they read or hear on the social media”.     

The industrialist, who is also a chieftain of the APC in Alimosho, charged all the Progressives minded public to join the APC members across Nigerians to give a cause to repelling all forces that may be rising against the genuine party leaders like President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu.

He also disclosed that he felt more concerned by divisive and dangerous ethnic dimension the crisis was tilting to as he yet condemned the invasive attack on the palace of Oba of Lagos. He added that it was high time we deployed the powers of common sense to differentiate criminals from their ethnic identities.

When Tinubu visited Sanwo-Olu

He said: “As the criminals are on the rampage both in the social media and in our physical neighbourhood, what we need to fight them collectively as responsible citizens is the power of common sense reasoning. It is this power that will help us to see the hoodlums, the looters, the arsonists and criminals generally in their identity of crime rather than seeing them in the identities of their ethnic origin as Igbo, Hausa/Fulani or Yoruba.

“This is the only way we can win the war against the enemies of Nigeria in their different categories as religion bigot, ethnic chauvinists and outright criminals.

“If our common enemies could be united in their resolve to destabilise and divide the country, we are already defeated before the raise of our arms if we move against them severally without a united front coalesced around our own patriotic strength.

“Therefore, he continued, as Igbo man who has spent about the golden years of my life in Lagos, I condemn the invasion of the palace of Oba of Lagos by these enemies in the strongest terms. I could only see criminals and not Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa doing that.