At a moment when Nigeria’s security landscape has become as much digital as physical, the Federal Government, the Kaduna State Government, and the nation’s military have issued a powerful joint appeal for stronger inter-agency collaboration against fake news, disinformation, deepfakes, and cyber threats. Speaking on Tuesday at the ongoing Second National Symposium on Crisis Communication, organised by the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) in Kaduna State, senior officials made clear that the country’s challenges are no longer confined to the battlefield. The seminar, themed “Inter-agency Collaboration, Public Trust and Cyber Threat Management in Crisis Communication,” drew a striking picture of a country where guns and grenades are increasingly accompanied by manipulated videos, malicious rumours, and coordinated online deception. The message from all sides was consistent: Nigeria’s security agencies must learn to talk to one another, share verified information, and present a unified story to the public, or risk losing the very trust that underpins all crisis response. The symposium did not simply dwell on threats; it sought to build a roadmap for a coordinated response, one in which every institution understands the vital difference between communicating after a crisis and communicating to prevent one. In a country as diverse and digitally connected as Nigeria, the stakes are no longer only about who controls territory, but about who controls the narrative.
The Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, represented by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Malam Ahmed Maiyaki, opened the symposium with a strong endorsement of collaboration as the foundation of effective crisis management. He stressed that security agencies must work together to address emerging threats, arguing that coordination and information sharing are essential to identifying early warning signs and managing tensions before they escalate into full-blown crises. Governor Sani spoke directly from experience, noting that his administration had adopted a collaborative approach to managing security challenges in Kaduna State, particularly in eight local government areas identified as volatile. Through cooperation and early intervention, he explained, the state had been able to prevent emerging threats from developing into major security challenges. The governor also broadened the conversation beyond the military domain, insisting that insecurity cannot be defeated through a kinetic approach alone. He emphasised the importance of dialogue, intelligence sharing, effective communication, and community engagement as indispensable tools for achieving lasting peace. In a particularly notable appeal, Governor Sani urged the Centre for Crisis Communication to extend its training and awareness efforts to political actors, reminding everyone that responsible communication by political leaders is essential to reducing tension and promoting peaceful coexistence. He assured the Centre and all stakeholders of the Kaduna State Government’s readiness to work with relevant agencies to tackle misinformation, disinformation, and fake news that could threaten peace and stability. His remarks served as a reminder that in an era of rapid information flow, a single careless statement from a politician can undo months of painstaking security work.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Olatubosun Oluyede, delivered his keynote through his representative, Brigadier General Murtala Muhammed Abu, and his words carried the weight of a military institution increasingly aware that modern warfare is fought with narratives as much as with weapons. General Oluyede described the symposium’s theme as a reflection of the realities of Nigeria’s contemporary security environment. He pointed out that terrorism, insurgency, kidnapping, cybercrime, oil theft, and communal conflicts all transcend institutional boundaries, requiring a coordinated response involving not only government agencies but society as a whole. His most memorable observation was that operational collaboration without communication collaboration is incomplete. In his view, working together requires communicating together, sharing verified information, synchronising narratives, and presenting a coherent government position to the public. He also addressed the delicate issue of public confidence, describing trust as a critical asset in crisis communication. In his striking phrasing, public trust is not logic; it is the currency. No matter how well crafted a message may be, it will fail if the public does not trust the messenger or the institution behind it. The General assured Nigerians that the military remains committed to providing credible information, neither concealing security challenges nor unnecessarily heightening public anxiety. He acknowledged the growing use of artificial intelligence to create convincing but false videos, audio recordings, and images purporting to show military operations that never took place. This new frontier of deception, he warned, demands that security agencies strengthen digital forensics, engage in rapid fact-checking, deploy AI-enabled detection systems, and build strategic relationships with media organisations and technology platforms.
The office of the Minister of Defence, represented by Senior Special Adviser Major General K. A. Ibrahim (rtd), reinforced this sense of urgency by framing the symposium as timely and essential in the face of Nigeria’s multifaceted security challenges. Ibrahim enumerated the threats geographically: insurgency in the North-East, kidnapping in the North-West, secessionist agitations and serious criminality in other parts of the country. His central argument was simple but profound: no single security agency can effectively address the challenges that Nigeria faces today. Drawing on studies and experience, he observed that strategic communication remains an area where the country could significantly improve. He called for a coordinated, whole-of-society approach, one that treats security not as the exclusive business of soldiers and police officers, but as a shared responsibility of every citizen, every institution, and every level of government. This perspective is particularly important in a country where misinformation can inflame ethnic tensions, distort public understanding of security operations, and erode confidence in democratic institutions. The Minister’s representative made clear that stronger cooperation is not just a matter of administrative efficiency; it is a matter of national survival. When security agencies operate in isolation, they create gaps that adversaries can exploit, not least through disinformation campaigns designed to create suspicion and confusion. By contrast, a unified communication strategy helps build public trust, makes operations more transparent, and ensures that citizens receive accurate information in real time.
The Chairman of the Centre for Crisis Communication, Major General Chris Olukolade (rtd), added a reflective and forward-looking perspective. In his welcome address, he argued that effective communication has become central to national security, public safety, and stability. He warned that delayed or contradictory official statements create a vacuum that rumours and misinformation are all too eager to fill. Olukolade cited sobering statistics to illustrate the scale of the digital challenge: DataReportal estimated that Nigeria had approximately 109 million internet users by the end of 2025, while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that the country lost an estimated 1.1 trillion naira to cybercrime between 2017 and 2023. These numbers, he suggested, should serve as a wake-up call. Security threats are increasingly being fought in the information space, where manipulated narratives can heighten public anxiety, undermine confidence in institutions, and complicate military and police operations. He outlined the Centre’s guiding philosophy as “one crisis, one coordinated response,” a simple phrase that captures the need for unity in the face of adversity. Its principles of preparedness before a crisis, inter-agency coordination, transparency and accountability, and resilience against cyber threats and disinformation were presented as the foundations of a more secure information environment. Olukolade also proudly announced the unveiling of the Nigerian Journal of Crisis Communication, as well as the international recognition earned by the crisis communication hub established after the inaugural symposium, which had won the 2026 Golden World Award of the International Public Relations Association. In a warning aimed squarely at bureaucratic inertia, he cautioned government institutions against allowing institutional rivalries to undermine collective efforts. No institution, he said, should be so protective of its territory that it becomes an obstacle to collective progress.
Looking ahead, the symposium’s closing messages carried a clear and urgent warning: the coming months will demand even greater vigilance, especially as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 general elections. Olukolade cautioned that disinformation, deepfakes, and impersonation could be weaponised to erode public confidence in democratic institutions and destabilise the country. The solution, he and others argued, lies in sustained collaboration among security agencies, government institutions, the media, and technology platforms. By ensuring timely, accurate, and consistent public information, Nigeria can strengthen public trust and prevent misinformation from worsening its security challenges. The symposium was not merely a gathering of officials delivering speeches; it was an attempt to create a shared language and a common purpose in the battle for truth. It acknowledged that the enemy is no longer only a visible insurgent or a kidnapper hiding in the forest. It is also a manipulated image shared thousands of times, a false rumour that spreads faster than the truth, a deepfake video designed to provoke outrage and violence. In such an environment, the first line of defence is not a single agency, but a network of trusted institutions communicating honestly, quickly, and together. The human dimension of this challenge cannot be overstated. Behind every statistic about cybercrime or internet penetration are real communities whose trust in their leaders is shaped by what they see on their phone screens. The hope expressed at the Kaduna symposium was that by embracing collaboration, transparency, and resolute truth-telling, Nigeria can meet this challenge not with confusion and fear, but with clarity, confidence, and a shared determination to protect both its security and its democracy.