The Director General of the National Orientation Agency, Dr Garba Abari, has appealed to Nigerians to always protect the integrity of Nigeria and institutions following uncomplimentary comments on social media whenever the government agencies are called out by any individual or group.
Abari said as patriotic Nigerians it is our responsibility to keep faith in Nigerian institutions in the face of all odds as we do not have any other country to call ours.
The NOA Director General stated this while reacting to the recent controversies that surrounded the alleged falsification of the results of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) by a 19-year-old girl, Mmesoma Ejikeme.
Abari lamented that despite repeated explanations by JAMB that its system was neither tampered with nor compromised as being speculated on social media, many people doubted its integrity and that of the examination it conducts yearly.
But the NOA DG, who spoke at a capacity building on Fact-checking organised by the NOA in Abuja, described such action as a dangerous development to the integrity of Nigeria’s education sector.
The participants at the capacity building drawn from different government agencies including the military and paramilitary organisations were taught the use of social media for national development and to preserve the integrity of their institutions among others.
NOA DG said, “The JAMB has assured Nigerians that it has its own internal mechanisms to handle cases of falsification of results and what brought about the national uproar was because of the way Mmesoma went to town with her fake result.
“There are certain things that we need to do in order to save our national institutions.
“We must believe in the integrity of our national institutions. Where there are in-house rules and regulations, the public should not play around with issues that could be easily investigated.
“Let us allow all the investigation to be concluded before we would start making dangerous comments.
“Contents on the matter were full of abusive words which were very disturbing.
“Misinformation in social media has serious consequences on our nation and its institutions. It is also a threat to our national cohesion and unity.”
The NOA DG also noted that fake content in social media had, unfortunately, characterised Nigerian’s daily existence.