There’s a Lot of Misinformation in the Public Domain-Ndukwe

It is beyond human comprehension to have people who consistently advocate for the people most especially the most vulnerable in the society.

Chief Christie Oby Ndukwe, a Good Governance Advocate and the Founder and President of Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative, in an interview with ASPHERICTV, disclosed that Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative is an accountability advocacy group which concerns itself in holding government accountable.

She also disclosed that not everything said about some of the government officials are actually true.

According to Ndukwe, “We are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. And our mandate is such that we Identify good leadership, those who are doing well in government offices, government positions and we try as much as possible to speak up and let the world know and the citizens know what they are doing.

“We are also like a bridge between the citizens and the government. We speak for the people because oftentimes some of the people that are elected get to the assembly whether state or national and they seem to forget the mandate given to them by the people.

“So we go to the grassroots, to the locals, to the natives, to the citizens and we try to find out what their challenges are and we become their voice and then speak up.

Ndukwe further said Citizens Quest’s idea was conceived with the advent of social media that have given rise to the fake news syndrome.

“A lot of people have become journalists overnight that they don’t even understand the ethics of the profession. People don’t bother to investigate facts as they just put out things.

“Somebody comes and says Mr. Joshua who is the Minister for this is corrupt and everybody begins to trend the story. So, for us we said let us actually go and find out, is it true that Mr. A and Mr. B have actually done this thing?

“When we started our advocacy we realized that even some of these things that are being said about some of these government officials are not very correct.

“So there is a lot of misinformation out there in the public domain. So, we try to groom our team, we have teams in different states, not all the states for now though, because You can’t take all at the same time.

“So, we try to groom them in this leadership thing, where they begin to understand that if You must be for instance a reporter or You get involved in anything journalism whether social media or mainstream, You should be able to get Your source to give You correct information, You need to step up don’t sit at home with Your phone, laptop and begin to trend stories against people without verifying and the reason is simple, I particularly in person has been a victim of fake news. So for Me knowing that all being said about Me they are not true.

“I can imagine what is being said about other persons particularly those in government. There is this tendency for people to harbor anything government, once the person is in a government position people believe You are corrupt.

“So, we try to set up this in order for us to go out there beyond the comfort of our homes to find out what the government is actually doing, we search for the truth and we verify. We see things for ourselves.

“We don’t believe in handouts.

“You don’t come and quote figures for us, or tell Mr. A is doing well he has put a transformer in this community we want to go there and see the transformer, we want to go there and ask the people if it’s actually true that they didn’t have a transformer and suddenly this transformer has come.

“So, it’s like a bridge between the citizen and the government.

“That is basically what the Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative is all about. We are incorporated with the C.A.C, we have our certificates, we have our board of trustees and we have all our excos both at the national and at the state, for now, we have our members in the 9 states of the Niger Delta.

“Not because we are from Niger Delta base, but because that is where we started our advocacy even before we got officially registered. So, we are moving from Niger Delta to other regions of the country.

“We are also getting invitations from other quarters to come and help them and speak for them. Even the government sometimes, the MDAs they can’t tell their stories, it’s part of the fact that they have the corporate affairs department. You know sometimes those appointments are made based on who knows who so they even get the best.

“So, we now act as a bridge and speak for them to say look this is the reason why Mr. A is not able to this, because probably the budget he has made has not been passed, has not been approved, or has been slashed by the national assembly.

“And this is the reason why this is so, so it helps to tell the story and correct whatever perceived impression the people have against them.

“We, also like I said tell the story of the people, where there are bad roads, where the people need emergency attention, we also draw the attention of different agencies to them and say this is what the people need. She concluded.

Ayooluwa Joshua