A don, Abdulmutalib Gambo-Dauda, on Tuesday called on the youths to use social media positively to promote peace and ensure speedy development in Nigeria.
Gambo-Dauda a lecturer with the Department of Vocational and Technical Education, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, made the call in a paper:”Social Media Ethics, Security, Unity and Agitation for Sustainable Development”.
News reports that the round-table discussion with theme:”Bridging the Divide, Youth as Agents of Construction, not Destruction,” was organised by the National Youth Council of Nigerian(NYCN), Toto Local Government.
”There is positive anecdotal evidence that social media can contribute to peace-building by improving knowledge for conflict prevention and increasing contact and understanding between opposing groups.
”Social media can facilitate peace by encouraging valuable dialogue between people from different ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds.
” However social media can also be used to create divides when people abuse it,” he said.
Gambo- Dauda called on the youths and other Nigerians to use the social media wisely in their interest and for the overall development of the country.
He urged the youths to embrace education and other meaningful ventures in order to contribute their quota to the development of the society.
The don also charged social media handlers not to deviate from its ethnics but validate the legitimacy of messages sent across by acknowledging the sources of the information to avoid causing chaos.
He urged Toto elites to provide jobs to the teeming youth population, as well as unite the people irrespective of their affiliations for development to thrive.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Yakubu Galadima, a legal practitioner and Alhaji Mohammed Musa- Maikaya, President, Toto Development Association commended the youths for organising the discussion.
They said that the event would promote unity and peaceful co-existence among the youths and other people of the area.
Earlier, the Chairman, NYCN Toto Local Government, Mr Musa Bashir said the discussion was organised to educate youths on using the social media to promote unity and peace among all ethnic groups.