Photo: From Left: Mr Sebastian Hon, SAN; Mr Jacob Nweze, Convener of the Social Media Digest Summit; Mr Abdullahi Suleiman, the Secretary, Youths Social Development Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), and Mrs Nenadi Dogo, acting Director, Tourism Department in the Social Development Secretariat during a press briefing ahead of the summit in Abuja.
(SINL NIGERIA) The youths in the country have been urged to harness various opportunities that abound in the use of social media to build the nation.
Some of the participants at a press briefing organised in Abuja ahead of a Social Media Digest Summit scheduled to take place in December gave the charge.
Mr Abdullahi Suleiman, the Secretary, Youths Social Development Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), urged the youths to desist from circulating fake news to promote peace and tranquility for national development.
Suleiman described social media as a necessary evil and a double-edged sword.
He urged the youths to leverage on the opportunities that social media provide to advance the country’s technology.
“We are thinking of bringing up a tech creative hub where we bring together all the users of social media and see how we can make them become productive through nation building and by extension boost the economy of the country,” he said.
Alhaji Ibrahim Aminu, the Mandate Secretary, Social Development Secretariat (SDS), said social media influences perception, hence, there was need to change the narrative as stakeholders.
Aminu, who was represented by Mrs Nenadi Dogo, acting Director, Tourism Department in the SDS, said the effort was in the collective responsibility to project the positive aspect of social media under the vision of President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.
“The Forum will provide an avenue to educate, inspire and to also challenge the the social media users not only to harness the platform for good but to also counter negative narrative by using the power of the medium to showcase FCT and Nigeria as a vibrant tourism destination,” he said.
Mr Sebastian Hon, SAN, who said the power of the social media space can not be underestimated, advised the youths to redirect their attention to those positive things it brings.
Hon called on the Federal Government to introduce social media courses from primary schools as a way of catching them young on the benefits of social media.
The Convener of the event, Mr Jacob Nwese, said the Social Media Digest Summit is a non- governmental organisation aimed at promoting an impactful and positive use of social media platform by users in line with global best practices
“Our vision is to project the benefits of social media to the teeming population of Nigerians, especially the youths, Africa and the entire world.
“It is our hope that at the end of the summit, we shall have engendered both social and behavioral changes which could lead to positive growth of the nation and the entire earth,” he said.
It will be recalled that the 5th summit, which will be organised between Dec. 4 and Dec. 6, is titled: “Social Media: A Tool for Development in a Renewed Hope Era.”
