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The social media scene is ever growing and talks are been organized to keep the ecosystem friendly and calm, Jos, Plateau State is however not left out of the discussion. In attendance kim coffee, the tech gurus from nHubs, tomruk , Pax Amor Initiative etc. Read the keynote (excerpt) speech below…
Earlier this year, 2017, the new President of the United States in an unprecedented move in immigration policies banned, for a period, citizens of certain countries largely from the Middle East as terrorist-potential danger to the United States.
A couple of weeks ago, one of the richest gulf countries, Qatar, has suffered a multinational economic embargo from four of its neighbours who accused Qatar of sponsoring terrorism and being a safe haven for terrorists and extremists.
In recent times, there has been the rise of populism as an ideology in the West. This promotes exclusivity and ethnic superiority, for example the white supremacists in the US. Some Nigerians have suffered from xenophobic attacks and discriminatory acts meted on them around the world, worst, from our African countries.
Our country (Nigeria) has been battling to contain the dreaded BOKO HARAM group (religious extremists). This is five years now. Recently, the group is making headlines again after the Nigerian military claimed to have downgraded it.
Weather you tune in the radio or listen to the television, extremism is a present day problem that dominates the airwaves. What is most worrisome is the speed this phenomenon engulfs the world, no thanks to globalization! Some have argued that the media and particularly, the social media, remains the fastest means of spreading and promoting extremism. Recently, Facebook congratulated its users for achieving a landmark 2 Billion user worldwide. This translates to one and a quarter of the total population of the world, which is put at six Billion people. Is it possible extremists propagate and spread their views to the larger world using its ubiquity? How do we guide against the abuse of the social media by extremists?
The recent calls for restructuring by many Nigerians have heightened the tendency towards extremist views. Individuals now rarely engage in any meaningful conversation online on national issues without appealing to extreme ethnic, religious or cultural hate speeches.
