Three finalists, on Thursday, emerged in an essay competition organised for the young people at the 5th Social Media Digest Summit (SMDS) in Abuja.
The finalists are Joshua Inioluwa, a Medicine and Surgery Student from University of Ibadan; Deborah Ikiriko, a Law Graduate from Rivers State University and Leah Akanga from Niger State, who is awaiting admission into a tertiary institution.
The 3-day summit, which is titled: “Social Media: A Tool for Development in a Renewed Hope Era,” will come to an end on Friday.
The Convener of the SMDS, Mr Jacob Wuese, said the Annual Chief Sebastian Hon, SAN, Essay Competition was part of the activities to keep the youths engaged in meaningful and productive venture.
Wuese, who said that the title of this year’s essay was “How Has Social Media Fostered Development in Nigeria in the Year 2024?”
He said the competition was opened to individuals between the ages of 16 and 25, and it excluded relatives and staff of SMDS.
He said the winner of the competition, who would be announced on Friday, would go home with a star prize of N250, 000; the first runner-up with N150, 000 and the second runner-up would be given a N100, 000.
According to him, Social Media Digest Summit is a non-governmental organisation, working hard to promote impactful and positive use of social media platforms by users.
“Our vision is to project the benefits of social media to the teeming population of Nigeria- especially the youths, Africa and entire world at large,” he said
Wuese said the sole purpose was to leverage to the maximum, the many benefits of social media and had so far enlightened millions of social media users on its positive use through collaborative efforts with government, individuals and non-governmental organisations.
“This summit again will be discussing ways social media can be used as a means for development in a renewed hope era of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the world at large.
“It is our hope that at the end of the summit, we shall have engendered both social and behavioral changes which could lead to positive growth of the nation and the entire earth,” he said.
Mr Ibrahim Aminu, the Mandate Secretary, Social Development Secretariat in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), described the occasion as an epoch-making event.
Aminu said social media has become an indispensable tool for driving development, disseminating real time information, fostering a culture of hope and collaboration, transmitting and streaming events, activities and programmes as they occur.
He said the advent of the social media, no doubt, had revolutionised “the way we tackle development in a renewed hope era using platforms like Facebook, X (former twitter), Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, where individuals, organisations and even the government can amplify their impact, mobilise communities and drive meaningful change leveraging on their use.”
Aminu, represented by Mr Saka Sunday, said the event was geared towards discouraging the youths from using social media for propagating fake news, unverifiable and unsubstantiated contents, propaganda, peddling of false narrative, blackmail, cyber bulling among other negative vices.
He expressed the readiness of his secretariat to partner with SMDS in training and re-training the different information handlers and managers to achieve a more robust information dissemination mechanisms.
Mr Abdullahi Suleiman, Mandate Secretary, Youth Development Secretariat of FCTA, urged the youths to leverage on the opportunities that social media provide to advance the country’s technology.
Suleiman advised the youths to desist from circulating fake news to promote peace and tranquility for national development.
The Director of Tourism Development in FCTA, Mrs Ann Dogo, described the summit as a welcoming idea.
“I am glad that it has been sustained for the last five years because it is very needful.
“Young people need to know how to leverage on social media positively rather than using it for wrong reasons and giving us bad names and giving themselves bad,” she said.
Dogo called on the youths to take advantage of the summit to better their lives.
Mr Sebastian Hon, SAN, who said the power of the social media space can not be underestimated, advised the youths to redirect their attention to those positive things it brings.
He said the essay competition was part of his contribution to the development of the youths in the country.