Cross River State governor, Senator (Prince) Bassey Edet Otu, has charged youths on the responsible use of social media in shaping positive narrative about the state.
The governor gave the charge when members of the leadership of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, (NYCN), Cross River State chapter, conferred on him grand patron of youths during a courtesy visit in Government House, Calabar on Monday.
The governor noted that social media is a powerful tool in information dissemination but is also now a channel for misinformation, rumour-mongering and fake news by young users.
A press release by Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, quoted Otu as saying:
“The usage of the social media in information dissemination helps people stay connected and share ideas, thoughts, and opinions with others in a safe and secure environment. Unfortunately, misinformation, disinformation, and fake news are common challenges confronting us through the platform. The social media is filled with a large amount of misinformation, which often misleads the public to make wrong decisions, stimulates negative public emotions, and poses serious threats to public safety and social order.
“The youths, a primary arm of the society is the driving force on social media, and we have witnessed how misinformation from this sector has caused various problems to the society.
“As government, we are concerned about reshaping the usage of this platform for the benefit of government and to foster productive development. I charge you to use the social media to promote useful information aimed at developing the society and support government.
“The youths represents the greatest segment of government. If you don’t build and mentor the youths, there is no future. As a government, we cannot rise without your maximum cooperation. We will support the youths in all sectors and frontiers. We are starting by training over 2, 000 youths in ICT. We will continue to work with the youths to develop the state,” Otu said.
Speaking earlier, the chairman of the state’ youth council chapter, Comrade Dan Obo, commended Governor Otu on his development stride and for giving a significant number of youths opportunity in his administration.
“We are here to celebrate you, we are excited with the way the state is running and want to thank you for the engagements of youths in your cabinet. We are confident of the successes that awaits Cross River State in the coming days under your leadership,” Obo stated.