NIGERIAN government often advocates against the spread of fake news in the country, but its official website that serves as window to the world has not been updated since December 23, 2019.
The ICIR’s check revealed that the last information shared on the website was a statement by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
The website https://nigeria.gov.ng/news/ is listed on Wikipedia as Nigeria’s official information hub for citizens and foreigners who are interested in updates
about the country.
But the last activity of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) uploaded on the website was on November 17, 2017 when the government approved N27 billion for the construction of Gombe – Biu road.
One good strategy to verify fake news is to use diverse and reliable alternatives for obtaining news, said Roberta Tipton, an information science expert at Rutgers University in New Jersey, United States of America.
It appears this truth is yet to find place within Nigerian government bureaucracy.
The Ministry of Information and Culture is responsible for updating the website.
And in the 2020 Appropriation Budget, the ministry demanded for a total of N9.3 million for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and N2 million for internet charges.
By leaving the official website of the nation without being updated, Nigerians would be left to search elsewhere for information which could lead them into fake information thereby giving wings to fake news. ICIR
