CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS: BLOGGERS, SOCIAL MEDIA USERS TASKED ON RESPONSIBLE POSTS

Stephanie Clems, Umuahia.

The Nigerian army on Tuesday organised a one day seminar for online active users on the need to be sensitive to the security of the nation in the posts and comments they make online.

The event which took place at the GIA event centre in Aba had journalists , bloggers, content creators, online influencers and vendors as participants.

The general commander 82 division, Hassan Taiwo Dada in his remarks said the army as the arm of the military charged with the responsibility of protecting the land borders of the nation also wants the cooperation of the civilians in securing the territories.

He noted the power of social media as a veritable tool for information dissemination though often abused by some users and advised participants to utilise the opportunity provided by the training to make reasonable posts going forward.

For his part, the representative of the chief civil – military affairs, Brdg Gen. Bola Stephen Keji said the army needs a symbiotic collaboration with civilians in order for the later to understand the importance of security.

He urged for conscionable posts that put the security of the nation into consideration.

A resource person, Dr. Ehiz Odigie in her presentation recounted how social media users often in a bid to trend and break news, post sensitive materials and unverified information capable of inflicting harm on a person, family or even country.

Other speakers at the event emphasised the need to put the interest of the nation first before making a post just to trend.

There was the interactive session where participants were given opportunity to ask questions and answers were provided.

The theme was“Enhancing national security through responsible use of social media.”

Some participants interviewed extolled the organisers for the thoughtful programme which they said would shape their future reports and posts .

Certificates were issued to participants at the end of the seminar which had over 200 participants in attendance.