Special Adviser to Governor Caleb Mutfwang, of Plateau State on Strategic Communications, Dr. Timothy Golu, has implored Social Media Influencers to deploy professionalism when passing information and be mindful of what could be capable of breaking peaceful coexistence in the society.
He stated this recently, while delivering his speech at the Strategic engagement with Youth Social Media Influencers of Plateau and Bauchi States, organised by Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA) in partnership with Search for Common Ground, at the conference hall of Old Government House Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The Special Adviser, encouraged participants to consciously observe guiding principles that look into conflict sensitivity while posting any information in the public domain to help promote peaceful coexistence in the society.
He commended his colleagues for their self development capacity saying, “conflicts are inevitable, but not every conflict is a violent conflict. What we are talking about is violent conflict.There are other forms of conflicts, but violent conflicts manifest itself more and they destroy lives and property.
“For me, conflict sensitivity should be adhered to avoid any intriguing form of breakdown of laws. So, when you are saying something, you have to say it from the background of information”, Golu advised
He, therefore, called on them to ensure that, whatever they report should promote peace in the society because it may not affect them now, but some day, somehow, it might affect even their families when it sparks conflicts.
Meanwhile, the former Lawmaker, has advocated for the adoption a legal framework in school’s corricolum to help educate children and people to be conscious of what we say or do in the society.
Earlier, the Director General of the PPBA, Dr. Julie Sanda, observed that the social media has not in small measure helped in educating the public, but encouraged participants to promote peace and reconcile people, because peacebuilding was key to every development.
On his part, Head of Programme Implementation of Search for Common Ground, Godwin Okoko, disclosed that continuous training and mentorship of media influencers on conflict-sensitive reporting and peacebuilding would be carried out.
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of Media Temple Global, Mr. Yakubu Taddy, noted that the Social Media has come to stay, but influencers need to be conscious because if they cooked something that brings conflict, they could be victims of that same process.
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