Election: USAID, Palladium Task Northeast CSOs On Misinformation

Ahead of this year’s general elections, the United States Agency for International Development, USAID in collaboration with Palladium, through their SCALE Project, engaged civil society organisations working in the northeast to tame the spread of misinformation and disinformation in the region.

The engagement which brought relevant stakeholders, aimed at devising strategies to effectively mitigate the tide of the spread of misinformation and disinformation in the public sphere at a time when Nigerians head to polling stations to elect leaders.

Speaking on behalf of the Head of Party SCALE Project at the end of the two-day Zonal Dialogue Series in Bauchi, Nnenna Nkata explained the dialogue proposed workable ideas to address the scourge of misinformation in the Northeast in the context of upcoming elections.

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She said that the resolutions reached at the end of the two-day dialogue will be pursued vigorously to alter the narrative.

“The USAID Nigeria Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE Project) implemented by Palladium supports the efforts of CSOs and BMOs to influence the development of and implementation of key democratic reforms at local, state and national levels to improve the managerial and advocacy technical capacity of CSOs to drive policy change and greater public accountability.

SCALE facilitates civic space dialogues with civil society organisations, relevant government institutions and the private sector to inform the structure and focus of our civic space, better understand strategic stakeholders’ perspectives and address free civic space barriers unique to Nigeria’s diverse political and socio-cultural landscapes,” he said.

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Sulaiman Muhammad Umar, a participant from Maiduguri said the two-day engagement has impacted his skills to handle divergent advocacy issues critical to socio-economic and political realities prevalent in the northeast at the moment.

Dr Furera Adamu Garba, Department of Languages and Linguistics, Sa’adu Zungur University Gadau said the discussions around misinformation and disinformation are apt and timely, especially at a time when the country heads to the poll next month.

She said the exercise will go a long way in tackling the menace of misinformation in not only the northeast but the country as a whole.

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