Governors in Nigeria’s northern region wants strict regulation of social media, arguing that unregulated social media is a threat to the country’s unity.
Simon Lalong, the chairman of the northern governors’ forum made reference to the recent #ENDSARS campaign against police brutality and pointed that if the social media space is not regulated, the country’s oneness would soon be a thing of the past.
The Plateau state governor announced the position of the governors in a communique after a meeting on Monday evening.
“The meeting took note of the devastating effect of the uncontrolled social media in spreading fake news. Therefore, calls for major control mechanism and censorship of the social media practice in Nigeria,” Lalong said.
“The meeting rejects and condemns the subversive actions of the #EndSARS protest. The superlative agitations and other change-regime actions outside the ballot Box soon take advantage of the peaceful protests to push for their separative agenda. The meeting endorse the indivisibility, indissolubility and oneness of the Nation.”
The governors vowed to contend with anything that suggests an undemocratic change in government and stated that the unity of the country was non-negotiable.
The Forum urged the government to keep a “strict watch on the Federal Capital Territory to guide against unwarranted and destructive protests to safeguard critical assets of the Nation.
“(The) Meeting commends the National Assembly and the Presidency in being proactive in addressing the issues of Endsars protests across the country,” Lalong said.
“The meeting resolves to support the Nigerian Police Force to serve the country better and calls for the strengthening of trust between the people and the Police.
“The meeting expressed concern over the low-level involvement of relevant of stakeholders in the implementation programmes of Government and calls on the relevant Agencies to review implementation strategies to make for maximum impact and benefits.”
The #ENDSARS campaign was largely driven by social media engagements and drew support from global figures including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and several A-list celebrities across the world.
