‘Use social media responsibly’

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has called for responsible use of Social Media by Nigerians especially as the general election draws closer in the country.
The former House of Representatives member offered the advice at the second edition of the Nigerian social media summit held in Abuja recently.

Dabiri who was represented by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr Abdurahman Balogun said Nigerians should be able to make use of social media in a responsible way.

The second edition of the summit was themed: Social Media as a tool for Social Governance, National Unity and Electoral Participation.

Dabiri said Nigerians need to use social media to widen their scope as social media is beyond chatting.

“Some people don’t know social media can be used as a source of living rather frivolous talks, ” she noted.

She also cited the emerging importance of social media for electoral purposes , stating that the new media has continued to have influence on electoral matters in the country

“Over the years ,we see results of election on social media even before the electoral body announces it, this has caused us lot of danger in the country due to overheating of polity and other issue, this needs to be watched”

Also speaking at the event, the Chief Press Secretary of the Niger State, Mr Jibrin Ndace said social media should be a tool for national unity and should be used wisely.

“The orientation must be changed towards social media. Politicians make use of social media during their campaigns because they understand the importance, so likewise Nigerians should orientated on what social media is and it is not, reaching out to the grassroots is very important , preaching stability is also important”

Jibrin Ndace said that the choice of political party should not be a reason for disparity in the country
“Nigerians should wake up, let’s move from the way we abuse ourselves on social media and move into the reality of making use of social media even with our peculiar differences”

“Ever since I became the Chief Press Secretary, Niger state has always been part of the best state which has never left any project unturned and pays our workers salary up till date” he added
Panelists at the summit, Lukmon Fasasi(Founder ,Nigerian Internet Business conference), Jafaar Zubair(Director of Operations,Intellect9ja) , Gidado Shuaib (International Media expert and Editor in Chief news digest) also shared their thoughts on the use of social media.

They said that the use of social media remains pivotal in the country while stating that barring its use will be difficult in Nigeria.

The summit was chaired by the Minister for Communication, Barr Adebayo Shittu, .
The organizers of the summit also unveiled plans to start a national digital and social media training program aimed at teaching Nigerians positive use of the social media for more economical benefits and more responsible use.

The summit had participants from all over the country with participation from several other countries through social media platforms.