Another “BREAKING NEWS” of mischief, spread of fake photos, articles against Sultan, Northern Emirs: A Reporter’s Diary
By KEMI KASUMU
“I would like to draw your attention to the shared stuff that the Fulanis (in the so called photos) aren’t of Nigeria’s extraction. Their dialect isn’t ours and double-check and see very very well, there are a lot more factors that suggest this content and context isn’t of Nigeria.”
I cannot say it is shocking that somebody just woke up on one morning and peddled via social media platforms that scrap he titled “BREAKING NEWS: “Don’t Joke With History — Nigeria Didn’t Defeat the Igbos, It Was a Global Alliance,” Sultan of Sokoto Warns Yoruba Elders”.
It is not shocking and can never be a surprise because that yet circulated tale by the moonlight is not fresh but an old story by mischief makers. It was a fiction that either lacks substance or is connected to no family of commonsense but exists as an Island that is pure lie from the pit of hell.
In the posting it was said that, “In a statement that has sparked widespread reactions, the Sultan of Sokoto has cautioned Yoruba elders and political leaders against provoking tensions with the Igbo people, reminding them of the resilience and strength the Igbos demonstrated during the Nigerian Civil War. According to the Sultan, it’s misleading to claim that Nigeria “won” the Biafra war purely by its own strength.”
As a journalist, who has related well and has dined, slept, traveled by both land and air as well as have followed the Sultan’s pathway for over 15 years, I am better positioned to know and speak or write about him, what he can say and things he more naturally can be trusted not to say. Thhis sitting Sultan of Sokoto Caliphate, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, did not say that things that this purveyor of mischievous report peddling.
While it is not in my trusted character to help to quote the lies of the liars in my effoet to explain a disclaimer to evils of evil writers, it inevitability that warrants doing so here is simply to point out things for better understanding of good minded Nigerians and followers of event on the international scene to be able to detect and nip the evil lies of the liars in the bud.
The statement said, “Let’s be truthful — Nigeria did not fight the Igbos alone. Britain, America, and five other world powers joined forces to suppress them,” the Sultan was either erroneously or mischievously quoted, with a purported addition that attempt to quote him saying, “On their own, no African nation could have defeated the Igbos in battle. These are people born to fịght and survive.”
As if that was not enough, they are also circulating pictures of some terrorists they tagged Fulanis parading Armoured jeeps and sophisticated guns and were quick to wrap these things against the “APC government, Sultan and Emirs from Northern Nigeria” and they presented this like it is all the propaganda, lies and blackmails they need to do to achieve their freedom of Biafra and release of Nmamdi Kanu from continuing to undergo his trial for wanting to collapse Nigeria in the past.
However, let me acknowledge that we still have some Nigerians with probing minds who sent me some of these reports and “social media posts” that are not but a park of mischiefs and asked, “How true is this statement credited to Sultan?” Let me simply put: There is no truth anywhere in this because the Sultan did not say such a thing to anyone.
Since keeping silence over any information in circulation means endorsement or confirmation, let me simply say that the Sultan is not known for engaging in ethnic discussions. I have been with him all through and so nothing like this happened with by him at any function or said on behalf of him by anyone.
One of straightforward thinking Nigerians, responding to another post of this nature on another platform, went further to even educate these evil agents. Because I do not seek his permission, I would need not mentioning his name here. He sent a reaction to the aspect linking the leadership terrorists sponsorship saying, “I would like to draw your attention to the shared stuff that the Fulanis (in the so called photos) aren’t of Nigeria’s extraction. Their dialect isn’t ours and double-check and see very very well, there are a lot more factors that suggest this content and context isn’t of Nigeria.
“I however advise you read more on DeepFake, as well as other AI tools used in unmasking video contents, such as; Amazon Rekognition Video, Clarifai, OpenCV AI kit (OAK), Insight7, Google Cloud Video Intelligence and Microsoft Azure Video Analyzer, etc.
“We need to go beyond alarmists and be more diligent, because anything posted here is seriously taken for further scrutiny and prompt action where necessary. Thank you,” he sent as response to the post on the same platform, according to him.
Sometimes, when I criticised the way some Southerners make mockery of themselves in the marriage called Nigeria, some people think that I am a betrayal of my part of the country. Many of them certainly are unable to attack me because they know that as one of them who would not talk without fact, I could not have seen nothing and claim that I do.
This refutation from a journalist point of view should serve as response to continue to nullify many more such devilish posts that may be circulated through either online, print or social media in the future and which may be considerably injurious to the peace, unity of Nigeria and well-being of the good people of the country that is reputed for being the world’s most populous black nation.
How can some people, in the name of tribal and religious hatred, sit in one corner of their room and cook untraceable story to lie against anyone else? ENOUGH.
