President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday alerted Nigerians on the activities of some politicians using campaign arena to propagate hate agenda.
Speaking during an audience with officials of the National Network for Community and Youth Development (NNCYD) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the President urged Nigerians to ignore such people as they mean no good for the country.
“The fact that you are crossing religious, political and ethnic boundaries in your engagements is praise worthy. Now, we are in the season of political campaigns unfortunately some people will attempt to take this opportunity to propagate their hateful agenda.
“Therefore, it is our collective responsibility to also step up by preaching tolerance and understanding. As a government, we are doing our best but we need non-governmental organisations like the NNCYD to also support us in delivering the message of peace and unity. After all, we only have one
Nigeria, our only country,” he said.
The President also highlighted the dangers of spreading fake news through the social media, which he said is meant to reshape the world.
“In the past decade the world has seen some fundamental structural changes. A good example is the digital and cyber revolution that is still reshaping the world as we all know. In many instances, this development positively impacts billions across the globe. However, on the contrary, the same platforms are used as tools to propagate divisions and hatred.
“Nigeria is not isolated from these influences. We are seeing rising instances where social media platforms are being used to propagate hatred, through religious, political and tribal groups. These spiteful message that insight violence and are posted by a handful of unpatriotic people anonymously,” he said.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the group and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Yayale Ahmed, said the National Network for Community and Youth development aims at enlightening citizens of the country on the need to love one another, love the country and identify with good governance.
He said the group had identified the President as a champion of integrity and it would continue to support him.
He also called on the President to sustain the on-going fight against corruption “in spite the fact that corruption is seriously fighting back.”
