By Sani Danlami
The advent of social media which is believed to have begun around 1997 with the launch of the platform “Six Degrees”, is shaping the news reporting, in the sense of narrating happenings.
Access to news has been democratized. Citizens masquerading as journalists now report events in real-time.
Social media comes in with some magic. It provides a direct line between journalists/citizens journalists with their audience and sources. It seems that things have been made easier as news stories are broken faster, thereby creating more interactive environments among journalists, audience and sources.
As well, social media allows politicians as well as power brokers to speak to constituents or their target audiences directly. Now people express themselves without the gatekeeping employed by the traditional media to sanitize discussions.
But this comes with some challenges and responsibilities as verification of information and combating misinformation become daunting tasks.
In spite of the strides taken by social media to ease down slow dissemination of information as exemplified by the traditional media, it gave birth to some sicknesses including but not limited to cyberbullying, disinformation morphing, privacy violation, which are fast consuming us.
It is within this context that a former member House of Representatives from Tarauni Federal Constituency, Hafizu Kawu under the auspices of Hafizu Kawu Media Team, teamed up with the Council of Ulama of Nigeria, Kano State Chapter, to cleanse social media in order to attract healthy political discussions.
For ages, people have been complaining of the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation; but little is done to walk the talk. Social media has dissevered relationships, led to conflicts and heated the polity much more than it served us.
It was out of this frustration that the former deputy governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 governorship election, Alhaji Murtala Sule Garo called on the past governors of the state including Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso to set aside their differences and work together for the betterment of the state. Kano has been at the receiving end. Disinformation and misinformation split up former established political figures in the state.
This social media summit could not have come at a better time. Already, the drum of the 2027 general election is quietly beating and political parties’ social media handlers are fast becoming adamant. Based on this, the summit will go a long way in sanitizing and strengthening processes of social media.
One beautiful thing about this summit organized by Hafizu Kawu in collaboration with the Council of Ulama’a is that it drew participants from major political parties in the state including the APC, the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), among others.
Also, the choice of the venue of the event, which is Islamic Forum of Nigeria National Headquarters, in Kano, testified to the commitment of the organizer on reforming and promoting decency in modern political practices, particularly on social media platforms.
Undoubtedly, this is a very interesting outing which says a lot about Hafizu Kawu’s intention and commitment towards promoting political cohesion and understanding among political parties in the state, particularly within the ranks of their social media users, who proved, many times, to be in disarray.
The dual-professor, Abdallah Uba Adamu, was the guest speaker at the all-important event. Present at the event also was a renowned Islamic scholar, Shaykh Ibrahim Khalil, the chairman of the Council of Ulama, Kano Branch.
Abdallah Uba Adamu was particularly selected to initiate the participants into some core values of journalism as a communications scholar to enable them engage in healthy communications and discussions. He said that this is necessary for Kano State to occupy its rightful position as a melting pot of politics and it will serve as an example for the neighboring states.
Going by the targeted audience, popular politicians from Tarauni Local Government, namely; Alhaji Talle Mai unguwa, who came with a group of who is who in Tarauni APC; former member of State Assembly from Tarauni, Abubakar Zakari, with his large entourage and former Commissioner for Special Duties, Kabiru Muhammad, among others, attended the event.
Other politicians from APC were the Tarauni local government APC Chairman, Maikudi Ali, with Wards Chairmen were present, signaling their endorsement of this important effort of cleansing social media space.
Former Speaker Tarauni Local Government Council, Ali Madu attended the event in the company of former councilors of the local government and other political heavyweights from Tarauni.
Tarauni is the birthplace of this idea; but members of political parties across the state were attracted by the event. They all endorsed this idea of enhancing public morality and cleansing social media. Why? Everyone is a victim. Fake news and propaganda have turned electioneering campaigns into physical strife
The two teams, the former lawmaker and the council of Ulama’a, from all intent are deeply engaged in promoting saner and safer political discussions among political actors in the state. This is what Kano political atmosphere desires the most to produce good leadership that will serve all.
The most interesting part of the event, though it was organized by Hafizu Media Team and the Council, was that participation cuts across the state, as many social media users from across APC, PDP and NNPP, attended the first of its kind event.
Prof Adamu explained with all clarity that the necessary paradigm shifts from misuse of social media platforms by party promoters. On the other hand, Shaykh Khalil, referred participants to always put Allah first before engaging in anything towards promoting their political interest.
Other speakers called on social media users to always have a good understanding of their principals in order to work effectively and efficiently.
This and similar efforts can promote peace and stability in the polity. It is obvious that without peace no development is possible, workable and reachable.
Despite the threats social media poses to political stability, with such summits, where educators and community leaders join hands with educators to enlighten users of social media on ethical considerations, the future looks bright.