The Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede has noted that the war in the Twenty First Century, though fought in battlefields, are won or lost in the media domain.
Lieutenant General Oluyede admits that the Nigerian Army and military in general have recorded commendable successes in joint operations across the nation through effective media collaboration.
And this is because the media shapes not only the public perceptions and narratives, but influences and galvanizes public support that is vital to operational success.
The Army Chief stated this at the Directorate of Army public Relations study period and the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information Workshop 2024 holding in Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment, Giri Abuja.
Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede who was represented by the Chief of Civil Military Affairs, Major General Nosakhare Ugbo, the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces continously rely on the support of the public through the media to perform their statutory roles as enshrined in the constitution.
According to the COAS, "This media workshop was designed in line with the schedule of the Nigerian Army training activities, with the aim of harnessing the potentials of the media for effective military operations, while tackling head-on the various security challenges facing our dear nation" stated COAS.
The Directoror of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, in his address emphasized the critical role of Information managers in galvanizing suport for the Armed Forces in tackling the contemporary security challenges confronting the nation, as well as the place of public support and understanding.
He said the workshop is part of efforts at enhancing the existing relationship between information managers and security operations geared towards attaining national security objectives.
"The ability of social media to spread fake news to deliberately misinformed, to promote cinister motives have become problematic, as misinformation affects national security, peace and development of the nation"
The DAPR Director used the medium to commend the media, bloggers and online publishers for their timely reportage of the successes and achievements of the military in its operations.
While caustioning social media users, and fake news peddlers, he said "Nevertheless, the burning issue of inaccurate reportage of events, that more often than not, degenerate to sheer fabrication of fake news has reached an alarming rate and therefore, calls for candid attention by all for the sake of national security, peace, unity and development of our dear nation"
"The ability of some social media influencers to deliberately spread hoax or distorted information with the aim of intentionally dis-informing, misinforming and misleading members of the public on the activities of the military thereby causing palpable fear and anxiety to promote other sinister motives has become a potential threat to our national security and a menace to the global information space" stated Nwachukwu.
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