The director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Garba Abari, has urged the youths to avoid over-heating the polity by shunning hate speech and fake news as the country goes to the polls this month.
Abari made the call in Abuja on Wednesday during a one-day stakeholders dialogue on 2023 elections with the theme, “Fostering Youth Action For Peace”.
The dialogue was organised by NOA in partnership with Building Blocks For Peace Foundation.
Abari said, “The INEC statistics suggest that victory in the election will largely be determined by the involvement of young men and women, especially given the interest exhibited by these groups of Nigerians.
“But this also is dependant on how much we realize our basic civic responsibilities as citizens-law abiding, ensuring that the electoral process becomes a extremely participatory, inclusive and we all are ready to give support to government and the security agencies to ensure that we put doubting Thomases to shame.
“Youths should ensure that they shun hate speeches and the fake news which definitely are going to get accendance as we get closer and closer to the elections.
“Incidences of fake news and hate speeches have led to war in different parts of the world, we must ensure that we use the social media for purposes of progress.”
For his part, the executive director of BBF Foundation, Rafiu Lawal, said the aim of the programme was to create awareness for youths participation in the forthcoming general elections, since their involvement is critical for Nigeria’s socio-economic and political development.
He appealed to political actors to use all avenues as a means to educate people on the elections, while cautioning the youths against violence during the exercise.
