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.
There are several reasons why you may want to keep a post or content you saw online for future reference.
One of such reasons is if you are fact-checking claims made by people.
It has been argued that sharing a direct link to a false claim made on social media in your report is giving publicity and traction to the user who shared the misinformation or disinformation.
To solve this conundrum, it’s better you archive the post.
There are different platforms that offer archiving services.
One of such is the Wayback Machine. This is a digital archive of the World Wide Web, founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit library based in San Francisco, United States. It is a web archiving tool, which is a repository of stored information. It does this by taking snapshots of web pages.
Archive Today is also another time capsule for web pages. It takes a ‘snapshot’ of a webpage so that it can still be online even if the original page disappears or is deleted.
“It saves a text and a graphical copy of the page for better accuracy and provides a short and reliable link to an unalterable record of any web page,” it noted on its homepage.
To use Archive Today, here are the steps:
Visit archive.is through the address bar of your internet browser.
Copy the URL (website link) of the post you want to archive and paste in the red bar provided for it.
Then, click Save.
The homepage for Archive Today.
4. Hold on while it saves the page. This will take a few minutes.
5. Once the archiving is completed, it will display a notification page.
An archived tweet for tutorial purpose only.
How to retrieve an archived post
To retrieve a saved post on the Wayback Machine:
Visit archive.org through your web browser (Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, etc)
Enter the URL or internet web link of the post to the address bar of the Wayback machine (e.g https://twitter.com/NNPCgroup/)
Click on browse.
A calendar will be displayed and the date(s) the post was archived highlighted.
Click on the highlighted date. It will display the archive post.
Alternatively, if you do not have the URL you can use keywords to search.
The highlighted date on a calendar showing when a post was archived.
The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) in conjunction with the ICFJ Knight Fellowship in Nigeria will on Wednesday, March 31st, 2021, hold a webinar on stemming misinformation.
This is in keeping with the The ICIR interest in dispelling misinformation which led to setting up its fact-checking operation The FactCheckHub.
Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education, and former Vice President for the World Bank, Africa region, would deliver the keynote address of the conference themed, “Public Accountability in Stemming Misinformation.”
The panelists scheduled to speak at the conference include Naziru Mikail Abubakar, the Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief of Daily Trust newspapers, Idayat Hassan, Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Oluseun Onigbinde, Founder of BudgIT.
Intending participants are expected to register for the webinar, which will commence 12 noon via this link.
Hannah Ajakaiye, the ICFJ Knight fellow for Nigeria who will moderate the event, said the webinar will curate discussions around combating the misinformation pandemic and galvanize citizens to advocate for good governance.
She added that, the event will arm the citizens with ideas on how they can promote public accountability through fight against misinformation and disinformation.
“The virtual event promises to be a well-rounded discussion intellectual guaranteed to provide possible solutions and ideas on how citizens can promote public accountability by owning the fight against misinformation and disinformation in the Nigerian society”, she noted
In 2020 the ICIR and the ICFJ hosted a similar webinar where the Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare delivered the keynote speech.
The FactCheckHub observed that the website in the broadcast post is different from the website specified for survival fund set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
The claim that the Federal Government is giving out N30,000 COVID-19 second wave survival fund is FALSE. The url (link) attached to the claim directs to a phishing website.
VIRAL posts on Thursday, March 18, 2021, claimed that Samia Hassan Suluhu, who is set to become Tanzania’s next president, would be the first female president in East Africa.
Following the death of Tanzanian president, John Pombe Magufuli, who was elected in 2015, Suluhu is now set to be sworn in as president but several posts on social media claimed that the woman would be the first female president in East Africa when finally sworn in.
A Nigerian Twitter Influencer, JJ. Omojuwa with the username @Omojuwa, who has over 1 million followers tweeted that Hassan set to become the first female president in East Africa.
A claim made on Twitter that Samia Hassan will be become the first female President in the East Africa region.
His tweet read: “Samia Suluhu Hassan will be Tanzania‘s next President. She will complete Magufuli’s term which ends in 2025. This will make her the first female President in East Africa. We wish Tanzania a peaceful transition.”
A Ugandan journalist also tweeted the same claim, which now has over 13000 likes and 4884 retweets on her wall as of 5pm on Thursday.
Two separate newspapers, Ripples Nigeria and Kenya-based Standard media also published the news with the same claim.
“East Africa to have its first female President in Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan,” read the standardmedia headline.
THE CLAIM
From the post, the following claims were established:
Samia Hassan Suluhu will be Tanzania‘s next president.
Samia Hassan Suluhu would be the first female president in East Africa.
THE FINDINGS
CLAIM 1: Samia Hassan Suluhu will be Tanzania‘s next president
The FactCheckHub findings revealed that the claim is TRUE
According to section 37 subsection 5 of the constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977, the vice-president would be sworn-in when the president dies. The constitution reads:
Where the office of President becomes vacant by reason of the death of the President, his resignation, loss of the electoral qualifications or inability to perform his functions due to physical infirmity, or failure to discharge the duties and functions of the office of President, then the Vice-President shall be sworn in and become the President for the unexpired period of the term of five years and in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 40, then after consultation with the political party to which he belongs, the President shall propose the name of the person who shall be Vice-President and such appointment shall be confirmed by the National Assembly by votes of not less than fifty percentum of all Members of Parliament.
Samia Hassan Suluhu, the Tanzanian vice-president had earlier announced the death of President John Magufuli, who died at the age of 61.
By virtue of the country’s constitution, Samia Hassan Suluhu will be sworn in as the president to complete Magufuli’s tenure, which ends by 2025.
CLAIM 2: Samia Hassan Suluhu would be the first female president in East Africa
The FactCheckHub findings revealed that the claim is FALSE.
The FactCheckHub research revealed that Sylvie Kinigi served as Prime Minister of Burundi from 10 July 1993 to 7 February 1994, and later as acting President from 27 October 1993 to 5 February 1994.
Burundi is in East Africa.
Monique Ohsan Bellepeau was another female president that had ruled an East African country before; she was a Mauritian politician and was Vice President of Mauritius from November 2010 to April 2016.
She became acting President of Mauritius from 31 March 2012 to 21 July 2012 when Sir Anerood Jugnauth resigned up to the inauguration of Kailash Purryag to the office.
She was again acting President from 29 May 2015 to 5 June 2015 when Kailash Purryag resigned up to the inauguration of Ameenah Gurib to the office.
Aside women who were acting president, East Africa also has Ameenah Gurib as president of Mauritius.
Gurib served as the 6th President from 2015 to 2018.
Also, Joyce Hilda Banda was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014.
In addition, Sahle-Work Zewde is the incumbent President of Ethiopia.
She was elected president unanimously by members of the Federal Parliamentary Assembly on 25 October 2018.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Samia Hassan Suluhu will be Tanzania‘s next president is TRUE. By the virtue of the country’s constitution, she should automatically be sworn in following the death of the former president.
The claim that Samia Hassan Suluhu would be the first female president in East Africa is FALSE. Burundi, Mauritius, Ethiopia and Malawi had produced female president before her.
ON March 12, 2021, Soludo Diaso @SDiaso, shared a photo of a man wearing a Police uniform and several other men sitting on the floor with the caption that it shows an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Nigeria arrested for kidnapping.
The post which generated over 11,000 engagements did not state the identity of the supposed Police officer.
THE CLAIM
The photo shows an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Nigeria arrested for kidnapping.
The false claim as it appears on Twitter.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by the FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
A search using the Google Reverse Image tool in 0.79 seconds produced 295 search results.
From the search results, there was a news report that gave the suspect’s identity as Kingsley Udoyen.
He was arrested on January 2, 2019, for impersonating a senior police officer’s rank of an ACP.
The rank, according to Musa Kimo, a former Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom, was used to scam and threaten members of the public.
Kimo told journalists during a media briefing in the state that:
A search in his house led to the discovery of one English pistol without magazine and ammunition, portraits of the Chief Superintendent of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), three pairs of uniforms, fake police ID card, and other documents from the suspect.
Frank Mba, the Police Spokesperson, in a statement, also described the accused as an impersonator and a fake police officer.
Mba said:
The suspect in Police uniform with the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police, one Kingsley Udoyen, male, 56years of No. 3, Stadium Road, Abak, Akwa Ibom State (see attached picture), is a fake Police Officer and not a serving Assistant Commissioner of Police.
Udoyen was later charged at the Magistrate Court, Abak in Akwa Ibom state.
This photo with a similar caption has been fact-checked and debunked in 2019 before resurfacing online in 2021.
This led the Police to debunk it on their verified social media account.
VIRAL posts on Sunday, March 14, 2021 claimed that Nigerian artistes, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu popularly known as Burna Boy and Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun popularly known as Wizkid were the first Nigerians to bag the Grammy Award.
A Twitter user, Ibe with the username @meettheRichard tweeted that Burna Boy is the first Nigerian Artist ever to win the Grammy.
His tweet read:
[sic] Burna Boy becomes the first Nigerian Artist ever to win #GRAMMYs for their original work. This is just the beginning of more things to come! E choke!”
As at 12 noon of Monday, March 15, 2021 the tweet had already garnered 1,247 likes and 249 retweets.
A separate blog post, on the same day, also claimed that Wizkid is the first Nigerian to win the Grammy Award. The headline reads:
BREAKING!!! Wizkid becomes the first Nigerian to win a ‘Grammy Award’.
THE CLAIM
Burna Boy and Wizkid are the first Nigerians to win the Grammy Award.
A tweet claiming Burna Boy is the first Nigerian to win the Grammy.
THE FINDINGS
The Grammy Award, otherwise known as Grammy, is an award presented by the Recording Academy to recognise achievements in the global music industry.
The first edition of the award held on May 4, 1959, with its latest edition, the 63rd edition held on Sunday, March 14, 2021.
Two Nigerians, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu popularly known as Burna Boy and Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun popularly known as Wizkid were part of those that won at the 63rd edition.
Burna Boy won ‘Best Global Music Album’ for his album Twice as Tall, while Wizkid together with Beyoncé, and Blue Ivy won ‘Best Music Video’ for the song Brown Skin Girl.
The FactCheckHub findings revealed that although Burna Boy and Wizkid won at the 63rd Grammy, the duo were not the first Nigerians to win a Grammy.
A blog post claiming Wizkid is the first Nigerian to win the Grammy.
In 1991, Sikiru Adepoju and Babatunde Olatunji won a Grammy for their work in the album Planet Drumproduced by Mickey Hart which won the Best World Music Album category.
In 2009, jazz percussionist, Olalekan Babalola, won a Grammy for his work on Ali Farka Toure’s In the Heart of the Moon album.
Babalola also won a second Grammy in 2006 for his work on Cassandra Wilson’s album titled Loverly
Also, artistes of Nigerian descent like beatboxer, Kevin Olusola; rapper, Chamillionaire; singer, Seal have all won the Grammy.
Sade Adu who is also of Nigerian descent and was born in Nigeria won her Grammy in 1985 for the Best New Artiste category.
She also won Grammy in other categories in 1993, 2001 and 2010.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Burna Boy and Wizkid were the first Nigerians to win Grammy is FALSE. Nigerians and artistes of Nigerian descent have at different points in time won the Grammy Award prior to 2021.
A viral post on Twitter claimed that the North Korean president, Kim Jong-un, has been the only one appearing on ballot despite the country holding regular elections.
The post was tweeted by a Twitter page named Myth and Fact with the twitter ID @MythAndFact
“Elections are held in North Korea every 4 to 5 years but Kim Jong-Un is the only person on the ballot,” the tweet read.
THE CLAIM
From the claim the following claims were established:
Elections are held in North Korea every 4 to 5 years.
Kim Jong-Un has been contesting unopposed.
The claim on Twitter.
THE FINDINGS
CLAIM 1: Are elections held in North Korea every 4 to 5 years?
Report shows that the claim is true.
In 2014, the Independent, a British newspaper reported that elections in North Korea is held every five years.
The FactCheckHub findings show that the first election after Kim Jong-Un took over from his father was in 2014.
He was later reelected in 2019, which is five years later.
CLAIM 2: Kim Jong-Un has been contesting unopposed
Report shows that the claim is true.
North Korea analyst Fyodor Tertitskiy, who is based in the South Korean capital Seoul told the BBC that only one candidate is on the ballot paper.
He explained that once it’s your turn, you receive a ballot paper with just one name on it. There’s nothing to fill in, no boxes to tick. You take that paper and put it into the ballot box, which is located in the open.
He also clarifies that, even though there is only a name on the ballot paper , there are actually three different factions in parliament, “The Workers Party, of which Kim Jong-un is the chairman, is by far the biggest but a few seats are usually held by two other parties, the Social Democratic party and the Chondoist Chongu party”.
The Independent report and another BBC report also put forward that only state approved candidate are placed on the ballot.
THE VERDICT
The claim that election in North Korea is held every 4 to 5 years is TRUE. The election usually have a 5-year interval.
The claim that Kim Jong-Un has been contesting unopposed is also TRUE.
[SIC] As the blockade of food items from the north to the south continued some traders from the north have continued to count their loses.
[SIC] Here are photo of spoil Tomatoes throw away along the road after been intercepted for days without able to move to the south.
This image with similar implied and explicit captions was also posted by different persons; here and here.
THE CLAIM
That the image shows cattle eating tomatoes from farmers in the North who couldn’t supply to the southern part of Nigeria.
The claim that cattle eat tomatoes owned by farmers in the north as it appears on a blog.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
CONTEXT: Following an ethnic crisis between the Hausa and Yoruba in Shasha, Oyo State, which also resulted in the loss of lives and properties, some northern traders under the Amalgamated Union of Food Stuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria resolved to suspend the transportation of farm produce to southern parts of Nigeria.
Trailers loaded with cattle, onions, tomatoes, and other farm produce were stopped from entering Jebba, a border town between Kwara and Niger States of the country.
In a report, the Union said it embarked on the action as a form of protest against the alleged killings of its members residing in other parts of Nigeria.
“There is a task force that we set up to enforce the directive by the union that there would be no transportation of cattle and foodstuffs to the South with effect from Thursday. So, the union set up the task force to prevent sabotage,” Kabiru Salisu, the Union’s financial secretary stated.”
The incident had since generated reactions on the internet with people in support and against the move.
Does the image depicts cattle eating tomatoes owned by farmers from northern Nigeria?
A search conducted by The FactCheckHub using the reverse image search traced the image to 2013 where it was published by a Hindi newspaper.
It was traced to Barwani District, in Madhya Pradesh, India.
According to the report, “a campaign to make agriculture a profitable business is going on in Madhya Pradesh, but tomato farming is proving to be the biggest loss-making business to the farmers of Barwani. The situation is that farmers are not even getting the cost price of tomatoes. They eventually threw tomatoes on the streets.”
After then, the image has appeared on the internet in July 2017.
Therefore, this cannot be an image of an incident that is stated to have happened in Nigeria in the year 2021.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the image shows cattle eating tomatoes from farmers in the North who couldn’t supply to the southern part of Nigeria is FALSE. The image has been online since 2013 and it is from India.
KARIMA Babangida, the Director of Federal Ministry of Agriculture claimed that Nigeria is the highest producer of cassava.
Babangida who was represented by Umar Mohamed, the Regional Director of North East, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, made this claim at a workshop on cassava production organised by the ministry.
She said, despite the low yield of cassava in the country, which is below 10 tonnes per hectare, Nigeria still maintains its lead as the world’s largest producer of cassava. Her words:
Nigeria is still the world’s leading producer of cassava, compared to others like Thailand.
THE CLAIM
Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by the FactCheckHub show that the claim is TRUE.
The FactCheckHub checked the Food and Agriculture Organisation Statistics (FAOSTAT) website for the official data on cassava production across the world.
The FAO 2019 data, which is the latest, as at the time of this report, puts Nigeria on the top of the list of countries with highest cassava production with 59.19 million tonnes.
THE VERDICT
Data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on cassava production across the world supports the assertion that Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world. Therefore, the claim is TRUE.
A post circulated on WhatsApp claimed that the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University is recruiting to fill various vacant positions.
The post retrieved on February 28, 2021. said the management of the institution on behalf of the governing council is requesting applications from suitable candidates for the various positions.
Vacancies at Umaru Musa Yar’adua University. The Management of Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina on behalf of the Governing Council, is hereby soliciting for applications from suitably qualified candidates to fill the position below:
THE CLAIM
Umaru Musa Yar’adua University is recruiting to fill various vacant positions.
The post as forwarded to a WhatsApp group.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by the FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
The FactCheckHub check shows that the university had already debunked the vacancies on its official website.
The university stated that the purported Academic & Non-Academic vacancies are false, urging the general public to ignore. The post reads;
This is to inform the general public that the purported Academic & Non-Academic vacancies emanating from the University is untrue. By this all are kindly advised to ignore. The Management does not declare nor approve such adverts. All are therefore kindly advised to ignore. Signed Management.
Similarly, Abdulhamid Danjuma, the school spokesperson debunked the claim.
“It is untrue,” Danjuma said in a telephone conversation with the FactCheckHub.
The claim circulated online that Umaru Musa Yar’adua University is recruiting to fill various vacant positions is FALSE, the university has debunked it.
