President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed the need for the regulation of social media platforms, labeling them as a societal menace during his representation of Tinubu at the public presentation of Babatunde Fashola’s book, “Nigerian Public Discourse:
The Interplay of Empirical Evidence and Hyperbole” in Lagos.
As reported by PUNCH, In a statement released on Thursday by Tunde Alao, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Media), Office of the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Gbajabiamila emphasized the escalating dangers posed by unbridled social media interactions.
“The social media has become a societal menace and must be regulated. As many people do not understand that once the send button is hit, there is a potential to reach millions of people around the world which is capable of causing a great danger not just in the society but even unintended consequences to the individuals that are receiving information which may include security of life,” Gbajabiamila stated.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, represented by his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, echoed similar sentiments at the event, emphasizing the critical need for evidence-based discourse and data-driven decision-making processes in governance.
Tinubu’s administration, according to Gbajabiamila, prioritizes engagements grounded in factual data to facilitate better policy formulation and execution. “As citizens become more interested in governance, it is the government’s obligation to ensure that engagement with citizens springs with shared agreement on what the truth is, what is real and what is not,” he remarked.
Addressing the audience, Hamzat stressed the ole of accurate data in devising sustainable solutions to the myriad challenges facing the nation, emphasizing its significance in national development initiatives.
“For a developing country like us, part of the problem we have is that we don’t have data, which is very crucial for policy formulation for national development,” Hamzat remarked.