2023 Polls: CDD advocates conflict sensitive reporting

• Intensifies Campaign Against Fake News, Misinformation And Disinformation
As the count down to the historic 2023 general elections intensifies, much of the limelight has been on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which has been putting finishing touches to its preparations for the polls. Despite the spate of violent and audacious attacks on its facilities across the country, key stakeholders in civil society have been urging the Commission not to be deterred, especially as the electoral process present millions of Nigerian voters the opportunity to vote in leaders of their choice.

However, apart from the Election Management Body (EMB), frontline actors in the civic space have been working round the clock to deliver on their mandate, which includes supporting the electoral process to ensure it is peaceful, transparent and credible. Renowned pro-democracy think tank, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) led by its Director, Idayat Hassan has been at the forefront of engaging critical stakeholders, whose roles in the conduct of credible elections cannot be overlooked.

As one of the civil society organizations, which will be observing 2023 elections, CDD’s strategy has placed a lot of premium on engaging the media to ensure accurate, balanced and conflict sensitive reporting of the polls. This approach is very much in line with the express provisions of Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution, which states that the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in the Constitution and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people. To create the synergy required to realize critical aspects of the constitutional mandate enshrined in Section 22, CDD has been collaborating with INEC and the Nigeria Union of Journalists.

The focus of the collaboration has been to build the capacity of journalists who will be reporting the elections in the areas of conflict sensitive reporting, being familiar with the key provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and countering the threat posed by fake news, misinformation and disinformation. At the last count, extensive capacity building sessions have been held across the six geo-political zones. The South-South capacity building for journalists and civil society organizations was held in Port Harcourt, while the South-West leg was held in Lagos. Similarly, journalists in the North Central held their workshop in Abuja, just as those in the North West gathered in Kano. For the South East and North East, their capacity building sessions held in Gombe and Enugu respectively.

In the strategic calculations of the CDD, conflict sensitive reporting, an understanding of the key provisions of the Electoral Act and possessing skills for fact-checking fake news, misinformation and disinformation would be critical, if the media is not to unwittingly inflame the conflicts, which are already undermining the peace and security in many parts of the country.

This point about the need to report the 2023 elections in ways, which are conflict sensitive was echoed by the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Comrade Chris Isiguzo in his keynote presentations during the capacity building sessions across the six geo-political zones. Comrade Isiguzo said since the role of the media in Nigeria’s emerging democracy is central, media professionals must maintain the highest possible standards in their practice, including ensuring conflict sensitivity in their reporting. He stressed that the role of the media in peace promotion or conflict escalation has been heightened by a number of factors which include ownership and funding, editorial policy and the regulatory agencies, just as he admonished that journalism should be used as an instrument in promoting peace and reducing dysfunctional conflict to the barest minimum.

Subsequently, the NUJ President also urged the media to always beam their searchlight on the election management body – INEC to ensure that it is impartial and competent, that it embraces transparency and inclusivity in its composition and mandate in order to discharge its duties effectively. On the issue of social media, fake news and hate speech, which contribute to the escalation of conflicts in communities, Comrade Isiguzo admonished journalists to avoid hate journalism, and fake news as these evils can destroy a society. He said the advent of multi- media technology has changed the pattern and flow of communication, globally and since journalism is in the business and practice of communication, it has also been impacted upon tremendously.

His words: “The media have a vital role to play in nation building, by being active partners in the implementation of the development processes. They are veritable instruments and are therefore central to any input- output functions of any political system. However, there may be constraints of the media in this regard which among others include lack of conducive working environment, mass poverty, poor remuneration and lack of adequate training.

“It should be noted that the emergence of our country as a democracy in 1999 was a product of collective efforts of Nigerians as represented by the mass media and civil society. Despite its challenges, democracy has provided Nigerians with space to freely discuss their affairs. Every single day of democratic governance in Nigeria helps to further deepen democratic values in the country. Our role as journalists is to facilitate easy access to information that will enhance participation in governance and ultimately enable citizens make informed choices during elections.”

Consequently, Isiguzo expressed the readiness of the NUJ to improve the ethical standard of news reportage during elections. He enthused that the union is keen in ensuring that Nigerian journalists undertake their professional duties within the ambit of the Electoral Law and other regulations. He said the union would explore partnerships to realize the goal of improving the news judgment of the journalists, as it affects elections and elections related issues.
Importantly, the capacity building sessions also provided insights about the fake news, misinformation and disinformation ecosystem in Nigeria. Using experiences from previous state and national elections, the point was made about how politicians deliberately recruit fake news peddlers called “data boys” to produce and circulate false information via social media. The sessions, which were anchored by the CDD Technical Team responsible for Countering Misinformation and Disinformation made up of Damian Ihekoronye, Austin Aigbe, Olakunle Abiodun and Abiodun Banjoko regaled journalists with the many tricks and maneuvers used by fake news peddlers to deceive and misinform audiences on social media. Also, journalists who attended the capacity building understood how spread of fake news undermines genuine democratic participation while fueling violence in communities. Several examples were provided to show how ordinary citizens, politicians and government officials become willing or unwilling channels for the spread of fake news, misinformation and disinformation.

To ensure their platforms are not used to spread fake news and misinform their audience, the CDD Team stressed the importance of rigorous fact-checking, verification and the restoration of the gate-keeping function in the media. Journalists across the geo-political zones were also taken through the process of fact-checking, including the use of online tools like Tineye, Reverse Image Search, Google Earth, and Forensically to check the authenticity of texts, images and videos being sent around on social media. Tips for detecting deep fake videos were also shared, especially because such deep-fake videos have been circulated online, leading to the distortion and hoodwinking of unsuspecting members of the public. Journalists were therefore urged to be on their guard when accessing information on social media platforms, as fake news could be packaged in ways, which play to biases, and these biases could lead them to sharing such fake content without knowing it.

In the area of getting the right data sets to make their reporting robust and evidence based, the sessions provided the opportunity for participants to get insights from CDD’s treasure trove of knowledge products. Looking at the misinformation, which comes from lack of knowledge about the drivers of some of the conflicts in the country, a good number CDD’s data-driven knowledge products have helped solve the puzzle about the nature of armed conflicts in various parts of the country, and the implications of these for the elections.
For instance, early in the year, CDD released a detailed report titled; Northwest Nigeria’s bandit problem: Explaining the Conflict Drivers. The report, which was one of those generously referenced in the course of the capacity building deploys research-based evidence to dispel sensational narratives built around the notion of Fulanization. As pointed out in the report, the key drivers of the conflict are the growing salience of ethnicity in land use disputes, under development, environmental degradation, the failure of the criminal justice system, the rise of vigilantism and militia-based local security, and the breakdown of traditional conflict resolution mechanisms.

Data from the report show these factors have overlapped and exacerbated each other over the preceding two decades, paving the way for the current crisis. Similarly, in March, the CDD released another report with the title; Multiple Nodes, Common Causes: National Stocktake of Contemporary Insecurity and State Responses in Nigeria. The report has for long warned that the Nigerian State faces intractable security challenges, including the Boko Haram insurgency, banditry, violent conflicts between farmers and herders, militancy in the oil rich Niger Delta, the separatist agitations by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and the threats of an emerging secessionists movement in the South-West. All of these security challenges would shape the 2023 elections, which makes it a lot more important for those who will be reporting the elections to do so with a lot of nuance and insight about the character of the terrain.