By Zulaiha Danjuma
The phones went down first. Then the talking started.
For 3 days at Tahir Guest Palace, 30 TikTokers, Facebookers, X Users, Bloggers, Content Writers, Producers and Online Communicators from across Northern Nigeria sat in a room learning one rule; Check Before You Post.
The training, implemented by FIAP in collaboration with FactCheckAfrica under the #CheckBeforeYouPost campaign, comes 6 months ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 elections. The goal wasn’t to tell influencers what to post. It was to teach them how to spot what’s false before it spreads.
The event is FIAP and FactCheckAfrica Northern edition of the #CheckBeforeYouPost: Gen Z Creatives for Electoral Integrity campaign.
The timing is deliberate. Nigeria’s 2027 elections are 6 months away.
“Misinformation moves in WhatsApp groups”
The first lesson wasn’t about Facebook or X. It was about where misinformation actually lives.
Muhammad Zuwaira Manzo from Gombe said mapping out digital micro-communities was an eye-opener.
“It became clear that misinformation doesn’t just stay on public timelines; it moves quietly through private WhatsApp groups and hyper-local channels where official fact-checks rarely reach,” he said.
That’s the problem the training was trying to solve. During Nigeria’s 2023 General Election, 127 false or misleading claims were tracked and verified. 83 of those claims were recorded during the presidential and National Assembly elections in February 2023, and the remaining 44 were recorded in March 2023 during the governorship and state elections.
If false posts travel in places fact-checkers can’t see, then the people inside those groups have to become the first line of defense.
The 3 “categories” that decide everything
In the hall, facilitators kept coming back to one question: What kind of false information is this?
“In fighting false information, the first question is about its category. Is it misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation. The answer decides the response,” facilitators told the room.
Misinformation is a mistake. Disinformation is a lie. Malinformation is real information used to harm.
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“Sometimes, correcting false information the wrong way can make it spread even further,” said Hadiza Shatima, a participant from Kano.
Hannatu Billyaminu from Jigawa said the session changed how she thinks.
“The training strengthened my understanding of how misinformation spreads and the responsibility we all have to verify information before sharing it,” she said.
“Check before you post”
For Owoicho Grace Ojo, also from Kano, the takeaway was simple and urgent.
“This is why as youths and Gen Z it is important we pause, check and verify information using online verification tools to disallow the spread of false news,” she said.
Grace said the #CheckBeforeYouPost campaign reminded her that everything shared online can benefit, harm, or prevent harm.
Abubakar Surunbai Naziru from Kano said the 3 days also did something else, it connected him to other creators.
“The training has strengthened my commitment to using my platform to educate, inspire, and encourage people to check before they post,” he said.
Beyond the scroll
30 creators were selected for the camp. They represent audiences on Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other emerging platforms.
Hadiza described the experience as challenging.
“The training has challenged the way I think about the information we consume and share everyday,” she said.
That was the point. Not to tell influencers what to post, but to teach them to think before they hit send.
Because in 2027, the election won’t just be won at the ballot. It will be fought in the scroll
