 Over 400 online publication sites dedicated to daily churning out of fake news to fight the government have been discovered by the federal government, according to the Minister for Information, Lai Mohamed. Well, the minister noted that fake news is taking a new dimension and threatening the existence of the country. He said, the debilitating efforts of the manus was not only on the government but on every Nigerian. So joining me to talk about this is Inibere Ifyong, his lawyer, and of course Immanuel Moran, who's also a lawyer. Thank you gentlemen for joining us. Thank you. All right. I'm going to start with you, Inibere. This is not the first time that the federal government is, you know, saying or alleging that there are people who are trying to overthrow it or topple the government. And they have said that people are trying to put out fake information to make the government look bad. So the question that keeps coming to my mind is, why would anybody want to topple this government? Why would anybody want to put out information that would make this government look bad? What could be really responsible for that thought growing in anybody's mind? What I find very astonishing about the comments of Inibere Ifyong is that I just don't understand how, you know, Nigerians will discredit, discredit, discredit their own credibility in their history. There have been a different thing in Inibere Ifyong when I went to the best of my knowledge So for the minister to say that online platforms of online service that are tuning out fake news to resolve just the height of mystery. But then do you know that in Inibere Ifyong is a really tough country, Nigerians are suffering. It has become the poverty capital of the country. The exchange rate has, again, deniered, deniered. The security in the country. People are suffering. But I think it's basically nothing. My understanding is that when I went to the next minister, it may be a deliberate policy of the international community to entertain Nigeria. So give some form of coming relief. This is the kind of suffering in the country because there is no time when I can view the government. But beyond that on the most serious, not very dischievous for the minister of information. We in Tham is an agent of fake news. I apologize because he has said repeatedly that I used to act on behalf of an inaccurate. So we also blame the Federal Ministry of Information as an agent of fake news. So for me, these are friends that should not be in the Republic of Israel. Let alone the chief minister of any serious administration. But again, as I said, this is not the government that is willing to address the issues affecting the country. But beyond that, we must also see that an indication of the continual censorship of India and the continual drinking of the city. And that is why we must also pay attention to them. We need to ensure that this video does not continue to calm down on the media and does not continue to shrink the suffix. So to that extent, I want to realize that the media has a constitutional obligation under Session 22 of the Constitution to hold the government accountable. There is also a fundamental right to freedom of expression that is guaranteed under Session 39 of our Constitution. And particularly speaking, these comments are baseless. Logically, these comments are untenable. Morally, these comments are repulsive. But as I said, for whatever it is, this is just some common relief to give Nigerians who have been so traumatized by this regime something to distract them from suffering that is going on. Let me take you up again. 476 online publication sites dedicated to churning out, according to him, fake information to fight the government. And I have to on the line fight the government. Now my question again, has this government been open when it comes to information sharing and the line of communication? Has it been open? Have they been free when it comes to us asking for information to be shared with us the public so that we can be more informed as to what's happening? Again, for the government to be able to plug the holes for this fake news or propaganda, how well have they themselves managed information going from government quarters to the people? Clearly, this is not the government that is transparent. This is not the government that is willing to open its books for scrutiny. So for when the minister comes out to say, oh, that people are devoting online platforms to spread fake news and put it in the government, what is clear to me is that you do not want anybody to question us. Because in the real sense, what is government is against? It's not really fake news. The government is a fake news. And that is something that amounts to some exactly. It is something that is exactly everything that they have a genuine concern about the spread of fake news because the government itself, the current regime, as far as I'm concerned, is the greatest propagator for fake news and disinformation. A government that triumphed on propaganda, a government that Nigerians have seen don't have any credibility when it comes to jamb. Oh, I think we're having a little problem with the internet on Barista and Iberias. And so let's go to Barista, Manolo Moran. Fake news, according to the minister, is taking a whole new dimension and threatening the existence of the country. Now, I want to dig deep into that. What needs to be done to change that trajectory if, for example, the issuance of these fake stories or this propaganda seems to be rocking the foundation of the country? Plus, does Nigeria have a serious case of propaganda that is running around right now that is being bandied that could break us up? Is there anything that we can really place our finger on right now, Barista Moran? I hope to... Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Go ahead. Yeah. Well, there are so many things that, unfortunately, this government is doing that do not add up. We have so many problems that are facing us in this country. And all the government is interested in its activities as citizens are trying to sabotage. I think the citizens are not Nigerians also. There are so many things that it's so easy for government to do. Unfortunately, we say you are not in government. But we also run our own private businesses. How do you relate the way they are relating on issues of security? And do you expect people to be praising you? Like my little friend said earlier, it's important that government does its business of governance. If government does its business of governance, why would people create avenues to frustrate the government? I don't think that's feasible. But are you saying to us that there are not people because there's information everywhere, especially on social media. There have been cases where publications were made with lesser heads that looked like it was coming from a certain government. An example, a good example is what happened during the Muslim holiday. There was a secular that was going around saying that there was a third day of holidays for everyone. It was coming from the office of the head of service. There's information that is out there like that that could also not be in the best interests of Nigerians. My question is, do we have any information that could rock the foundations of this country and try to break us up? Because this is what the minister is insisting on, that these fake news or propaganda is trying to break the nation up. But listen, the government itself has all control over the media. They spend so much money on the media. Why is their voice, it is because of the conundrum. They have created. Nobody knows who is speaking for government. Nobody knows who is speaking, who is not speaking for government. That's the problem. The government creates a lot of confusion. You know, what you do this time is possibly you are listening to. You know, in the home of the chief of staff, the special advisor to the president came out first of all and denied it and said it's not true. Suddenly he deleted the tweet. He may break. You are the question of this crisis. Unfortunately, not one of them is a novice in government. For several years, the president on here was led to former vice president Zatiku and he was in government from 1999. They know what to do. The minister for information has been in opposition and in the former AD for years. They know what to do. They are creating these problems for us. Interesting. Let me ask you a question and this is purely about social media. We know that social media has its plus and it has its negatives. But now we see that, like I explained at the beginning, there's fake news, there's facts, there's truth, there's propaganda plus. I mean, is it just the job of the media because a lot of people keep saying the media has to do its job, but the media, yes, of course, is saddled with the responsibility to get the answers out all of the fake news. It double checks, it facts checks before it puts out information. But then again, when you live in an era or you are in an enclave where information is not given when you need it, and so there's room for speculation. What does the media do? The media obviously has to keep fighting to tell the stories that needs to be told. For example, and I'm not trying to put anybody on the chopping board, when you tune into media houses that are purely government owned, the story obviously is of praise singing. But then of course, if you want objectivity and you want to hear some other parts of the stories that are not being published, obviously you need to go to private media. So yes, the media has its own problems, but how do we deal with sieving information on social media? We ask about the NOA and the likes of those people who are supposed to be orientating and giving more and more information as to what Nigerians need to know what they should do and what they shouldn't do, but those people are missing in action. So you are less with the traditional media and you are also less with the government aids, the presidential aids and social media speculators. Where do we draw the line? Who is to educate Nigerians other than the media? You know, I need us to look at America in this regard. There is VOA. There is the television for Congress. There is also the media arm of the presidency. Despite all this, there is the private media. Nigeria is not different. The government media needs to do is up its game. They do not need to take people who are loyal to the president. They need people who are loyal to Nigeria. They need to take message. When we were young kids, we were all listening to NTA. We woke up for 9 o'clock news, for 6 o'clock news, but who remembers NTA again? You must give people what they want to listen to the truth. If you are the mouthpiece of government, that is my question. Who determines what the truth is? Who determines is the people. If you lie to me consistently, I will not come to you again. It is the people you serve, it is the market. It is the market. Okay, finally, because we are out of time, quickly. What should the government of the country be prioritizing right now? I know that fake news propaganda is an issue worldwide. India has the highest number of fake stories and fake news because of social media. But what should we be prioritizing right now in Nigeria? Now, what do you do about this kind of news? When you match proper news with fake news, people choose to make their choices and look at the problem that came up with Trump and Biden administration. People decided to follow the truth. We follow the truth. We are discerning people. My little friend in Nigeria, the death of a young lady in Akaiba, when one day David Uday brought up his analysis. The Congressional colleagues had to respond because the people could see the reasoning. Let us give to the people. Let us all believe that three Nigerian artists were all idiots. We are reasonable people. We can determine fake news. Okay. Unfortunately, we do not have time. We are both legal practitioners. We will take a short break when we come back. We will be listening to what Nigerians have to say about state policing and restructuring. Stay with us. We need it. One thing I want to say right now, the issue of insecurity, especially the north, as we can see what is going on there, as the people are not safe again. So my own, as for my own opinion, I think we need it. It's just you have a state police. If you say we need a state police, just look at it and understand of last month, the way they make last month to be existing. If you give last month a call, it will be worse than a police officer. So if you have a police officer, I mean police state police, they are not trained and you just employ them. One of these things you just have to look at it before you do it. We will look at my police. We need it because the insecurity is too much in Nigeria. No. Because that police will cause all this tribalism issue. As for me, I think I will need state police. That will bring at least security, internal security, local security for me. For me, I just feel like we need state police. In conjunction with the federal police, which will be regulated by the federal police. Here's my take. Mr. Formation and fake news gains ground in places where proper information isn't put out or isn't accessible. Now we need our government to be more expressive and plunge all possibilities or plug every possibility for speculations and making up stories that are untrue. The Ministry of Information and all media aids attached to Mr. President ought to be in sync and agree on whatever information that they put out. The traditional media, which is us, has already been settled with that responsibility of giving factual, truthful information double checking and making sure that no misinformation is rolled out. Social media, like I said earlier on, has its problems. We all must make sure and take note that everything that's online isn't real. It may look real, it may even feel real, but it may not be real. So before you repost that tweet, before you retweet or share any information whatsoever, please verify and double check because lives may depend on it and guess what? The life you save might just be yours. I am Mary Ann Nicole. Thank you for watching.