Please note that the FactCheckHub has not obtained any right from the authors or copyright owners of all third-party contents from embedded links and shall incur no liability in this regard.
Please note that the FactCheckHub has not obtained any right from the authors or copyright owners of all third-party contents from embedded links and shall incur no liability in this regard.
Please note that the FactCheckHub has not obtained any right from the authors or copyright owners of all third-party contents from embedded links and shall incur no liability in this regard.
Please note that the FactCheckHub has not obtained any right from the authors or copyright owners of all third-party contents from embedded links and shall incur no liability in this regard.
ON DECEMBER 26, 2021, Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi said the money left behind by former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration could not sustain the country for three weeks.
He made the claim on a Channels Television’s programme titled, ‘Hard Copy’, The Punch reported.
The claim was reported on multiple news platforms; the reports were also shared widely across various social media platforms.
Figure 1: The Punch newspaper, which published the report, is one of the national newspapers in Nigeria.
Figure 2: Sahara Reporters is one of the online newspapers in Nigeria which published the report.
Figure 3: The Cable, another online newspaper, also published the report.
THE CLAIM
The money left behind by former President Goodluck Jonathan could not sustain Nigeria for three weeks.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) show that Nigeria had $28.6 billion inits foreignreserve when former President Jonathan left office in May 2015.
Further findings show that Jonathan’s successor, President Muhammadu Buhari’s first Appropriation Act in office (2016 budget) was N6.06trillion. This was Nigeria’s annual budget for the year.
Nigeria’s Naira exchanged for the US Dollar at a maximum official rate of N305.21 as of October 2016.
Dividing the 2016 budget of N6.06 trillion (N6,060,677,358,227) by the then prevailing exchange rate of N305.21 gives $19,857,400,996.78. This is much less than the $28.6 billion left in the country’s treasury, according to the CBN data.
Figure 4: Nigeria’s Naira exchanged at a maximum official rate of N305.21 as of October 2016.
If the country’s 2016 budget had been financed totally from its foreign reserve, Nigeria will still have about $10 billion left in its reserve.
From the findings above, Nigeria’s foreign reserve, as of when former President Jonathan left office in May 2015, is much more than what the President Buhari-led government budgeted as its expenditure in its first year in office.
THE VERDICT
The claim by Amaechi that money left behind by former President Jonathan could not sustain Nigeria for three weeks is FALSE; as reports indicate that the country’s foreign reserve had $28.6 billion as at when his successor took over.
This fact-check was produced by The FactCheckHub in partnership with the Code for Africa’s PesaCheck.
AMID the ongoing Russia – Ukraine crisis, a viral post shared on Facebook on Monday, February 28, 2022, claimed that Russia has a nuclear missile called ‘Satan 2’ capable of destroying the whole world.
The post which contains some texts and an image purported to be the missile was published by a Facebook Page named Robert Mugabe Hilarious Quotes. It added that the weapon is only owned by Russia.
“#RussiaUkraine: Satan 2 Liquid Fueled Nuclear Missile
“This weapon is only owned by Russia and it’s capable of destroying the whole world.
“A media user said ‘If Putin gets angry enough to deploy this thing, even Angel Michael in heaven will run to take cover first till it has finished exploding before he will blow his own trumpet.’ #Musbizu,” The post reads.
The page that shared the claim had 938,825 followers as of Wednesday, March 2, 2022, when the post was retrieved.
The post itself has over 4,600 likes, 3,100 comments and 812 shares as of 12 noon on March 2, 2022.
THE CLAIM
Russia-owned Satan 2 nuclear missile capable of destroying the whole world
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
A Google Reverse Image Search of the image revealed that the photo is that of Russia’s nuclear missile, RS-28 Sarmat otherwise known as Satan 2. However, the claim that it can destroy the whole world is FALSE.
According to Missile Threat, a website that brings together authoritative and up-to-date open-source information and analysis about ballistic and cruise missiles around the globe, RS-28 Sarmat development began sometime in the 2000s.
Russia completed its first prototype of the missile in late 2015.
“Satan 2” was unveiled in 2016. It is capable of destroying an area the size of Texas or France, according to a May 2016 news report by Sputnik, a state-backed Russian news agency. It was also reported by CNN.
The Russian government, in another news report by the Express, said Satan-2 can evade the United States’ defence shield and is capable of destroying an area the size of England and Wales — or Texas.
“The new Satan 2 has largely the same capabilities as the Satan: Both missiles can reach the east and west coasts of the US, both can travel miles in a single second, many times the speed of sound, and both can carry multiple independently targetable warheads,” says media report by the Business Insider.
Similarly, a 2016 report by the NBC news says “Known colloquially as ‘Satan 2,’ the missile will replace the RS-36M — which was dubbed ‘Satan’ by NATO after entering service in the 1970s.”
Robert Kelley, a former nuclear weapons expert at the U.S. Department of Energy, said the new missile was likely an upgrade of electronics — rather than explosive power or range.
“The range of the missiles will be about the same, the explosive destructive power will be about the same [but] the reliability, flexibility and confidence [in the warheads’ ability to hit their targets] will go way up,” says Kelley, who is currently a distinguished associate fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
THE VERDICT
Russia-owned ‘Satan 2’ nuclear missile is not capable of destroying the whole world, multiple reports confirmed, thus making the claim FALSE.
ON September 7, 2021, the Presidency Office of Digital Engagement (PODE) published what it called ‘a compendium of President Buhari’s ongoing and completed infrastructure projects in South-East Nigeria.’
The list was released two days before President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Imo State, one of the five states of South-East Nigeria.
It was a strategy targeted at convincing the people of the region that the current government of Buhari, which they had accused severally of marginalising them, was committing humongous public resources to building and rehabilitating their decrepit infrastructures.
On-the-ground checks, however, showed that PODE lied on the status of some of the projects and told half-truths on a few others.
It rehashed some of the lies and half-truths told by Minister of Information Lai Mohammed in 2018 that were debunked here and here, making reference to “more than 60 ongoing federal road and bridge projects across the five states of the region…” already fact-checked by the reporter.
The presidential office listed some of the projects as “the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Construction of Ihiala-Orlu Road in Isseke Town-Amafuo-Ulli with Spur (Ihiala-Orlu-Umuduru Section) in Anambra State, Rehabilitation of Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Road Route Section II: Anambra/Imo States Border-Ibinta-Okigwe Road; and Construction of Oseakwa Bridge in Anambra State.”
Other projects listed by PODE were: “Rehabilitation of Old Enugu – Port Harcourt Road (Agbogugu-Abia Border Spur to Mmaku); Rehabilitation of Nsukka-Obollo-Ikem-Ehamufu-Nkalagu Road in Enugu State; Rehabilitation of Owerri-Umuahia Road Sections I, II & III Imo/Abia States; Rehabilitation of Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Road Section II: Anambra/Imo States Border-Ibinta-Okigwe Road; Rehabilitation of Bende – Arochukwu – Ohafia Road Section I in Abia State; Rehabilitation of Abakaliki-Afikpo Road Sections I and II in Ebonyi State, among others.”
The source of the projects listed by PODE was traced to this link. The list came from the Ministry of Information and Culture but was also placed on the website of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.
Difference between Mohammed’s and PODE’s claims
Mohammed’s claims in 2018 did not include water projects. PODE added some water and dam projects it claimed were completed in the South-East region by the current government. It also listed some power and MSME projects, which were not part of Mohammed’s claims three years ago.
Commencement of the investigation
The reporter picked 27 projects at random – out of over 70 projects listed by PODE – for investigation. Many of the projects investigated were previously listed by Mohammed and rehashed by PODE as either ongoing or completed.
The reporter visited all the water projects, except one. The 27 projects investigated cut across the five states of the South-East region, which are Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Abia and Anambra states. The investigation was done in December 2021 – three months after the claims were made.
The uncompleted water projects
The first project visited by the reporter was Inyishi Regional Water Supply Project, situated in Imo State. PODE claimed that this project had been completed, but there was no sign that any work had ever been done on it when the reporter visited. It was still, stagnant water, making it unsafe for drinking or household use.
Normally, a scheme like Inyishi Regional Water Supply Project should provide a source of water for the community, but villagers said it was only good for washing cars and motorcycles. There was no signpost signalling commencement or completion of the project, nor was there any piece of equipment found there.
The water is surrounded by thick green grass, creating the foreboding that it could be a habitation for scorpions and cobras.
Inyishi Regional Water Supply: Photo by: The FactCheckHub|Odinaka Anudu
A woman who lived close to the water project, Anna, told The FactCheckHub that she only saw some government officials five to six years ago while inspecting it.
Another villager, Joy Okereke, said it was only useful for cyclists who always came to wash their motorcycles.
Apart from Inyishi Regional Water Supply, PODE also listed Ofeme Water Scheme as one of President Buhari’s completed projects.
The water scheme, which is located nearly 20 kilometres from Umuahia, Abia State capital, was handled by Jidadu Ventures Limited, as seen on the signpost mounted in front of the project site.
Ofeme Water Scheme. Photo: The FactCheckHub | Odinaka Anudu.
The FactCheckHub journalist was not allowed into the project’s premises by a security guard when he identified himself. Outside of the gate, it would seem that the project had been completed: The water storage tank had been erected and the finishing touches had been made.
President-General of Ofeme community Chibueze Onyemata, a lawyer, told The FactCheckHub that the project had been completed and was functional, benefitting the three villages in the town. He explained that it had three sources of power: solar, hydro (public electricity) and generator. He praised President Buhari and Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State for putting the project in place.
However, the reporter found that the water project was not serving its purpose. Taps only ran at Umu-Nkpu, where the project was sited but did not function in other nearby communities. None of the taps seen by the reporter at Udo-Ofeme, fewer than five kilometres from the project site, was producing water. Even at Umu-Nkpu , the reporter was told that the taps were not producing water regularly.
A row of non-functional water taps at Udo- Ofeme
“We do not get water from the taps. Only those at Umu-Nkpu enjoy it,” a villager at Udo Ofeme, Sunday, who lived fewer than five kilometres from the water project, told this reporter.
An engineer Peter Oyigbo told The FactCheckHub that a project could only be described as completed when it began to serve the purpose for which it was constructed.
“So, if a water project has dry taps or does not provide water, it is simply not a completed project,” Oyigbo, a Lagos-based structural engineer, said.
Next is the Earth Dam situated at Amauzari in Imo State. PODE claimed that the project was completed, but villagers said they did not witness when it was even started.
When the reporter got to the actual location of the project at a village known as Okwosu, there was no evidence to show that work had been done there. There was neither the contractor’s signpost nor was there equipment nearby.
Earth Dam at Amauzari, Isiala Mbano LGA. Photo: The FactCheckHub | Odinaka Anudu.
The water was not overflowing its bank, but that was because of the heaps of sand and withered grass that were able to withhold it.
The adjoining road at the Earth Dam in Amauzari. The FactCheckHub | Odinaka Anudu.
An adjoining road to the water project was untarred, and it rarely had visitors, villagers said. The reporter interviewed four villagers, including the motorcyclist who brought him to the site, but none of them admitted seeing any work done on the project in the last three years. “Nobody came here to do that water scheme,” an Amauzari villager, Tochukwu, said when asked about the project.
Johnson Ude, the motorcycle rider who brought the reporter to the site, who is also from the village, said he had never seen contractors on the site.
Uburu water supply scheme
Last but not least is Uburu water supply scheme, which was handled by a contractor known as Yubar Consultants Limited, as seen on the signpost erected one kilometre from the project. PODE claimed that this project, located in Ebonyi State, had been completed. On-the-ground investigation showed that PODE was correct to an extent. In terms of structure, the project had been constructed and completed.
A set of three taps at Uburu, Ebonyi State. The FactCheckHub | Odinaka Anudu.
“The taps run twice every week,” said a villager, Uduma Nwankwo. However, interactions with other villagers showed that it was not supplying water to those living far away from the project.
The reporter did not witness water flowing from the taps on the day of his visit and one Amaka Oluchi said the project, being an Uburu village water scheme, was not serving the majority of the town. Hence this project can be classified as partially done, going by Engineer Oyigbo’s explanation of a completed project.
Minister of Water Resources refused to disclose details
The FactCheckHub, through its parent company, The ICIR, sent a Freedom of Information (FOI) letter to the Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Hussein Adamu on January 25, 2022, requesting details of these projects, including how much was allocated to them, names of contractors, contract periods, the status of the projects and amount released so far.
The National Assembly passed the FOI Act on May 24, 2011, and signed by former President Goodluck Jonathan on May 28, 2011.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) mandates public and private sectors to make information of public interest available on request.
A Ministry of Water Resources’ staff member contacted The ICIR via telephone on January 31, stating that the information was available.
In line with the FOI Act, the minister was given seven days to provide official responses to the questions, but he failed to do so.
Another seven days was given to the minister to allow him time to provide the needed information, but he still did not respond. More than two weeks after the 14-day period, the minister is yet to provide the requested information, which is of public interest.
Bridge and an important road in Anambra State
PODE claimed that Oseakwa Bridge located in Ihiala, Anambra State, one of the five states of the South-East region, had been completed. Findings showed that the presidential office was correct. According to information obtained from the 2018 contract details released by Mohammed, the contract for this project was handled by Horizon Construction Co. Ltd.
New-look Oseakwa Bridge
The bridge wore a new look when the reporter visited in December 2021.
Oseakwa Bridge in 2018
This was totally different from how it was in 2018 when the reporter investigated Mohammed’s claims. In 2018, there was neither a bridge nor a road that could be regarded as Oseakwa, but that has changed.
Furthermore, PODE also claimed that the current government had constructed the Ihiala-Isekke-Orlu Road (Ihiala-Orlu Road in Isseke Town-Amafuo-Ulli with Spur (Ihiala-Orlu-Umuduru Section) in Anambra State.
PODE simply listed the project as ‘construction,’ which is ambiguous.
The reporter found that the project started at a town known as Ihiala and ended at Isekke, both in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State. The project did not stretch to Awo-Idemili, a town bordering Anambra and Imo states.
The route leading from the palace of the traditional ruler of Awo-Idemili, L.I. Okoligwe, to Orlu in Imo State, both in the South-East region, was untarred.
Ihiala-Orlu Road (from palace of traditional ruler of Awo-Idemili, Eze L.I. Okoligwe
Pinnatech Nigeria Limited, the contractor handling the project as seen on the signpost mounted in front of the site, had tarred the road from Ihiala to Isekke, but was yet to start work from Awo-Idemili to Orlu.
Quantity surveyor for the project Anthony Okafor blamed it on poor weather conditions. Foreman Samuel Kalu told the reporter that work would start ‘soon’ since the rains had subsided.
A native of Isekke Ifeoma Joshua said the contract from Ihiala to Isekke was ‘solid,’ but wondered why the project had stalled.
“This road is closer to Orlu, but because of its state at the moment, vehicle drivers take longer and more expensive routes,” she said. Construction was not going on as in December when the reporter visited the site, though the contractor was seen, sparking fears that the contractor might be owed by the Ministry of Works and Housing. A resident of Awo-Idemili, Charles, told the reporter that work stopped on the site in 2020.
Project
Contractor
PODE’s claim
True state of things
Earth Dam, Amauzari
Not provided
Completed
No work done
Ihiala-Isekke-Ulli-Orlu Road
Pinnatech Nigeria Limited
Ongoing
Work suspended
Inyishi Regional Water Supply Project
Not provided
Completed
No work done
Ofeme Water Scheme
Jidadu Ventures Limited
Completed
Partially done
Oseakwa Bridge
Horizon Construction Co. Ltd
Ongoing
Completed.
Uburu Water Scheme
Yubar Consultants Limited
Completed
Partially done
Source: The FactCheckHub Investigation
Residents of Ihiala, Awo-Idemili and Isekke told The FactCheckHub that the road had become an escape route for criminals, kidnappers and armed robbers. The reporter witnessed first-hand, three young men on bikes wielding AK-47 rifles along that axis.
“Every day here, soldiers engage them in gun battles. We are tired, and that is because of the fact that this road here is not yet fully constructed,” a resident, who pleaded anonymity for fear of being attacked, said.
Like the Minister of Water Resources, the Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola did not respond to an FOI request made by The FactCheckHub on January 25, 2022. He, therefore, did not provide details of the contract, which residents say is slow.
WHEN Russia invaded Ukraine last week, several disinformations were in circulation which prompted the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to swing into action.
The IFCN is a body that brings together about 120 fact-checking organisations and advocates of factual information from across the world in the fight against misinformation and disinformation.
Over the past few days, fact-checkers around the globe have fact-checked over 400 misinformation/disinformation contents that centred on the Russia-Ukraine crisis. They range from images, videos and text which are not only fake but out-of-place, Poynter reports.
Jiménez Cruz, co-founder and CEO of Maldita.es, a Spanish nonprofit news organization aimed at combating disinformation through fact-checking and data journalism said the spate of disinformation occasioned by the crisis made his team and other fact-checkers get to work.
“We saw that there was a lot of work to be done, and this disinformation was not only being debunked by fact-checkers in Spain but also in other countries,” she said.
The Maldita team sent a message to a listserv belonging to Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network. With a spreadsheet, they invited other fact-checkers to enter disinformation they’ve debunked.
“We know that when fact-checkers collaborate among themselves, the work is much more effective and we can also gather better information about which kind of disinformation is circulating,” she added.
The outcome birthed Ukrainefacts.org, a database of fact-checks on the Ukraine-Russia mis/disinformation created by Maldita.
Also called #UkraineFacts, the collaborative effort of verified signatories of IFCN’s Code of Principles is now available to the public for browsing. There’s also a map of the world that users can click on to read about debunked disinformation in different countries.
The IFCN’s director, Baybars Örsek, said dozens of fact-checking organizations contributed to the spreadsheet with their content in the hours after the project was introduced.
“It’s a great reminder that the community is so active, and they were already monitoring a lot of misinformation and disinformation at the beginning of the military operation.”
Orsek added that fact-checking organisations are much better equipped now to handle disinformation around the Ukraine crisis, having gained a great deal of experience in this same kind of work around the coronavirus pandemic.
“The public opinion on this is also very clear … who is the right party in this. But with COVID, it was very challenging — especially at the beginning of the pandemic. Nobody knew what was happening,” Örsek said. “But this time, it was clearly an act of unjust aggression by Russia, so that’s not a big question.”
The misinformation and disinformation around Ukraine include out-of-context images, photos and videos from previous protests or conflicts that are circulating online as if they are happening in the Eastern European country.
ON FEBRUARY 10, 2022, the Ghanaian presidency tweeted that Ghana’s national identity card would be recognised globally as a valid e-passport/ID card.
The Office of the President in a follow-up tweet archived here said [Ghanaians] “can now use #GhanaCard as e-passport in 44,000 airports globally”.
Spokesperson to the Ghanaian Vice President, Dr Gideon Boako in a media chat, confirmed that Ghana has gone through the process of having its national ID card certified as an e-passport.
By this announcement, information has circulated on social media that Ghanaians no longer need passports and visas to travel through 97 borders and 44,000 airports across the world.
Some credible news websites have also published the claim.
But Nigerians who follow this news have been wondering if the claim is true.
“Where are my Ghanaian peeps? Is this true? Naija how far?? Hmm,” a popular Nigerian actress, Kate Henshaw recently asked on Twitter.
Her tweet has garnered over 3,500 likes and 876 retweets as of Friday, February 25, 2022. While some debunked the news, others confirmed it.
Some have gone ahead to take a swipe at the Nigerian government for being unable to provide an identity card of equal status to her citizens.
The FactCheckHub has investigated the claim and found it to be MISLEADING.
The International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO), an organisation responsible for the development of international air transport, has denied certifying the use of Ghana identity cards for international travel in place of a passport.
The organisation said only a sovereign state can determine the acceptability of alternative travel identity documents, adding that it has no power to do such.
“Any decision to accept such alternative travel identity document is made by the receiving state itself,” ICAO clarified.
The ICAO said its previous statements at the ceremony where the Ghana card was launched were misrepresented by the media.
Gideon Boako also later corrected himself saying the holder of a Ghana card would only be allowed to board a flight to Ghana (receiving country) from any airport, just as with the normal biometric passport, without the need for a visa. But this is not applicable to Ghanaians travelling to other countries.
He added that the diasporic Ghanaians who hold the Ghana card would not require a visa to travel to Ghana or within the ECOWAS states.
Travelling outside ECOWAS, however, will require that Ghanaians use the normal biometric passport which will contain visas.
He expressed hope that the Ghana Card will be admissible as a travelling document by other countries in the future.
“In the not-too-distant future, we expect that electronic visas will be issued under ICAO 2.0 protocols. When this starts, electronic visas could be issued on the Ghana card under bilateral arrangements with other countries,” Boako said.
However, there are a total of41,820 airports in the world, according to the CIA World Fact Book, and not 44,000 as claimed by the Ghanaian authorities.
All facts considered, the claim that Ghanaians can travel with the National ID card to 97 countries is FALSE.
CLAIM
VERDICT
EXPLAINER
1. Ghana’s national identity card will now be duly recognised globally as a valid e-passport.
MISLEADING
The holder of a Ghana card would only be allowed to board a flight to Ghana (receiving country) from any airport, just as with the normal biometric passport. But this is not applicable to Ghanaians travelling to other countries, says Dr Gideon Boako, spokesperson to the Ghanaian Vice President.
2. There are 44,000 airports globally that accept the Ghana card as e-passport.
FALSE
There are a total of 41,820 airports in the world, according to the CIA World Fact Book.
3. Ghanaians can travel with the National ID card to 97 countries
FALSE
The ICAO said only a sovereign state can determine the acceptability of alternative travel identity documents, adding that it has no power to do such.
* This fact-check was produced by The FactCheckHub in partnership with Code for Africa’s PesaCheck.
*Update: After publication, Ghana Immigration Service published a press release to debunk the claim that the e-card will be recognised globally as a valid passport.
A TWITTER user, Katelynsade, with the user ID: @Dagreatdey4youon Wednesday, February 16, 2022, while canvassing support for the presidential ambition of former Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha, claimed that Imo State has the highest number of universities in Nigeria.
Her tweet, now deleted, which was archived here reads: “Today, Imo State is unarguably one if not the only State in Nigeria with the most number of university, Rochas passion for education cannot be overemphasized #RochasOkorocha2023.”
Imo State has the most number of universities in Nigeria.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
Data obtained from the website of the National Universities Commission (NUC) revealed that Ogun State and not Imo State has the highest number of universities in the country.
Findings show that Ogun State has 17 universities, followed by Delta State with 11, while Imo State has only 7 universities.
The NUC is a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) with a mandate to grant approval for all academic programmes run in Nigerian universities. It also has the mandate to grant approval for the establishment of all higher educational institutions offering degree programmes in Nigerian universities, among others.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Imo State has the highest number of universities in Nigeria is FALSE; as findings show that Ogun State has 17 universities while Imo State has only 7 universities.
IN a bid to curb the spread of misinformation on its platform, YouTube has proposed three new steps.
This development is coming a few weeks after the video-sharing and social media platform announced its intention to collaborate with fact-checkers, using information panels.
YouTube, in a statement released by its Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan, said the three steps are the next efforts to take in the fight against misinformation that is bedevilling the world.
“As misinformation narratives emerge faster and spread more widely than ever, our approach needs to evolve to keep pace. Here are the next three challenges our teams are looking to tackle,” he stated.
Mohan said the first step, which is about catching new misinformation before it goes viral, is a process whereby the YouTube system would be trained to identify misinformation before it starts circulating.
“We’re looking to leverage an even more targeted mix of classifiers, keywords in additional languages, and information from regional analysts to identify narratives our main classifier doesn’t catch.
“Over time, this will make us faster and more accurate at catching these viral misinfo narratives,” he said.
In addition to that, Mohan said the YouTube systems would be connecting viewers to authoritative videos in search results and in recommendations.
“For major news events, like a natural disaster, we surface developing news panels to point viewers to text articles for major news events.
“For niche topics that media outlets might not cover, we provide viewers with fact-check boxes,” he added.
He noted that the second step, which is tagged: “The cross-platform problem: addressing shares of misinformation,” will be done by overhauling the platform’s recommendation systems to lower consumption of borderline content that comes from recommendations that are significantly below 1 per cent.
“One possible way to address this is to disable the share button or break the link on videos that we’re already limiting in recommendations.
“That effectively means you couldn’t embed or link to a borderline video on another site,” he said.
He added that the platform needs to be careful to balance limiting the spread of potentially harmful misinformation while allowing space for discussion of and education about sensitive and controversial topics.
Mohan said the last step is about ramping up misinformation efforts work around the world by exploring further investments in partnerships with experts and non-governmental organisations around the world.
“Our work to curb misinformation has yielded real results, but complexities remain as we work to bring it to the 100+ countries and dozens of languages in which we operate.
“Similar to our approach with new viral topics, we’re working on ways to update models more often in order to catch hyperlocal misinformation, with the capability to support local languages,” he stated.
Mohan, however, pledges the platform’s commitment to continue to build on its work to reduce harmful misinformation across all its products and policies while allowing a diverse range of voices to thrive.
“We recognize that we may not have all the answers, but we think it’s important to share the questions and issues we’re thinking through.
“There has never been a more urgent time to advance our work for the safety and wellbeing of our community, and I look forward to keeping you all informed along the way,” he said succinctly.
A VIDEO of a naked woman covered with black coal, curled with her face on the ground and showing three persons taking turns to urinate on her, has been shared multiple times on social media with the claim that they are French citizens humiliating a Malian woman.
In the 140 seconds footage, the woman covered with black coal was seen curled with her face on the ground. A few minutes later, two men came out from the onlooking crowd, one after the other, unzipped their pants and urinated on her body. Thereafter, another woman came out and planted her legs on either side of the woman’s body, squatted and also urinated on her back. The audience was seen filming the scene with their cameras.
Some social media users claimed (as archived here and here) that the video shows some French citizens humiliating a Malian woman. Whereas others claimed it shows how Malian women suffered abuse and humiliation when they were being colonized by France.
Media reports show that the military junta in Mali overthrew the Malian government in August 2020 after forcing its elected leader, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign.
As a result, the diplomatic war between Mali and France, its former colonial master worsened in January 2022 when the Malian military government reneged on an agreement to hold elections by the end of January as demanded by the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, and other international partners, according to the reports.
A Twitter user, @RisenSun6 tweeted the video on Sunday, February 6, 2022 with a caption: “A group of French citizens caught on camera urinating on Malian Citizen after a new military Regime end the relationship between Malian and France government Amid the atrocities Being committing against Malians in Mali by the government of France!.” The video has had over 22,000 views and more than 300 retweets as of February 22, 2022.
Similarly, another Twitter user, @brightersonic had earlier tweeted the video with the caption: “This is the sort of humiliation the French citizens meted out on a female Malian citizen in public. @FRANCE24 @WestCameroons @Africa_Archives @AfricanArchives Africans, They See You The Same Way Their Ancestors Do (as a slave). #Mali #BiafraFreedom.”
THE CLAIM
The video shows French citizens humiliating a Malian woman in public.
A screenshot of the tweeted video.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the footage is an art performance by Regina José Galindo and not of French citizens humiliating a Malian woman in public.
Regina José Galindo is a Guatemalan performance artist who specializes in body art.
The performance titled Piedra, a Spanish word that means stone, was used to show the tragic stories of poor indigenous women in Central and Latin America in the hands of heinous men and women in society.
It was also illustrated that it shows that women and Piedra (Stone) share the ability to endure the abuses of their environment and still survive.
The performance took place at the Hemispheric Institute’s 8th Annual meeting held at the Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, on January 17, 2013.
The footage was also found here on Vimeo, posted on December 6, 2016.
THE VERDICT
The video neither has anything to do with French citizens nor a Malian woman being humiliated in public. It was an art performance by Regina José Galindo. Thus, the claim is FALSE.
A TWITTER user, Health is wealth, with the user ID @AdenikeAwe1 on Monday, January 10, 2022 claimed that Nigeria’s State House, otherwise known as the Villa budgeted N1.7 billion to be spent on refreshment in 2022.
The tweet which has generated engagements reads: “N1.7B [billion] to be spent by the Villa on refreshments in 2022’s budget. In this same Nigeria? How much is for Education, health and agriculture in this same budget. Hey God. It’s like these people don’t live amongst us. Buhari and Oshinbajo’s government always falling hand.”
The sum of N1.7 billion was budgeted for Nigeria’s State House refreshment in 2022.
A screenshot of the tweet.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
When The FactCheckHub reached out to the lady who made the claim to confirm her definition of Villa, she didn’t respond.
Nigeria’s Aso Villa has been described as State House, The Rock,The Villa, and officially The Aso Rock Presidential Villa; but most times, it has often been regarded as the State House.
From the document obtained from the Budget Office of Nigeria, The State House consists of 17 departments.
The State House website, however, stated that the Villa consists of the Main Presidential Villa (Office and Residence of the President, and Offices of the Vice President and Wife of the President), the State House Conference Center, State House Annexe, and the Akinola Aguda House.
The FactCheckHub checked the 2022 budget approved by the nation’s National Assembly for refreshment for the 17 departments that made up the State House.
From the findings, the total sum of N411 million (N411,073,317) was approved for refreshments and meals in the 2022 budget for the departments. See data in Table 1 below:
TABLE 1
S/N
State House Departments
Amount approved for refreshment and meals
1
STATE HOUSE – HQTRS
135,668,651
2
STATE HOUSE OPERATIONS – PRESIDENT
30,652,500
3
STATE HOUSE OPERATIONS – VICE PRESIDENT
20,264,397
4
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE PRESIDENT
17,650,458
5
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER TO THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT
3,100,000
16
NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LAND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (NALDA)
6,000,000
17
NATIONAL AGENCY FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INFRASTRUCTURE (NASENI)
TOTAL
411,073,317
The approved budget did not contain figures for four out of the 17 departments. They include the State House Medical Centre; NIPSS Kuru; Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission & its centres and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
The FactCheckHub also checked the money approved for refreshment in the four departments specified as the Villa on the State House website.
The four are part of the 17 departments stated in the 2022 budget approved by the Nigerian lawmakers as shown in Table 1.
Although there is no allocation for the Wife of the President’s office, the amount budgeted for refreshment in the departments mentioned on the State House website is stated in Table 2.
TABLE 2
S/N
State House Departments
Amount approved for refreshment and meals
1
STATE HOUSE – HQTRS
135,668,651
2
STATE HOUSE OPERATIONS –
PRESIDENT
30,652,500
3
STATE HOUSE OPERATIONS – VICE PRESIDENT
20,264,397
4
STATE HOUSE LAGOS LIAISON OFFICE
2,020,236
TOTAL
188,605,784
THE VERDICT
The claim that Nigeria’s State House set out N1.7 billion for refreshment in the 2022 budget is FALSE; as findings show that the amount is N411 million looking at the 17 departments that made up the State House. And it is N188.6 million if restricted to the four departments mentioned on the State House website.
The Nigerian Government has charged radio stations in the country to abstain from fake news and to ensure that only credible and factual information is aired through their mediums.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, gave the charge in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday and signed by his media aide, Segun Adeyemi to commemorate the 2022 World Radio Day.
Mohammed said, in spite of the widespread use of social media and other mass communication platforms, radio remains one of the most trusted and accessible media in the world.
Speaking on the theme of the day: ‘Radio and Trust’, the Minister urged radio stations in the country to continue to work hard to maintain the trust of their listeners as they have unparalleled connections with the grassroots.
Mohammed noted that the theme is apt and timely as the nation moves closer to another general election.
He urged all radio broadcasters to leverage the trust the listeners have in their mediums to educate and sensitize the citizenry on their roles and responsibilities in electing the right persons to serve at various levels of government.
”I am excited to note that some of the concepts to be discussed as sub-themes centre around the need to keep the medium credible, engaging and receptive to new broadcast ideas while creating better opportunities for income generation and profit,” he said.
He assured that the federal government will continue to pursue the right policies, give the required support as well as provide enabling environment for the growth and successful operation of radio stations in Nigeria.
