Kano 2025: Catholic Communicators Vow to Combat Fake News with Truth at Northern Nigeria Conference

-By Ruben Mario Brodrick 

Kano, Nigeria – Catholic media practitioners from Nigeria's Northern Region gathered in Kano from November 4th to 6th, 2025, for their 10th Annual Conference. The event, held at St. Thomas Royal Parish, focused on the critical theme of "Peace Journalism and Interfaith Dialogue in a Divided Society," underscoring the media’s role in fostering stability amid national challenges. The conference was hosted by the Diocese of Kano, whose Bishop, Most Revd Dr John Niyiring Namaza (OSA), along with the clergy and laity, extended a heartfelt welcome to the participants.

Vicar General Urges Truth as Antidote to Fake News

The conference was officially declared open by the Vicar General and Cathedral Administrator of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Cathedral, Very Reverend Father Michael Adefemi Adegbola. In his keynote address, Father Adegbola stressed that Peace Media must embody "a journalism for peace in response to the threat of fake news," set against a backdrop of lies and deception, which he characterized as "the prevailing atmosphere of lies, deceptiveness, fraudulent impressiveness, apparent false pretensions and counterfeit appearances."

Key points from his address included:

Truth as the Antidote: Referencing Pope Francis's 2018 World Communications Day message, he called for a "journalism that is truthful and opposed to falsehoods," serving all people, especially the voiceless. 

He emphasized that this peace journalism is not a "saccharine kind of journalism" that ignores problems, but one that focuses on "exploring the underlying causes of conflicts" to promote deeper understanding and resolution.

Media as a "Gift of God": The Church views the media as a divine gift that should be participatory, prophetic, and serve the common good by providing information based on truth, freedom, justice, and solidarity. He also cited Holy Scripture, particularly Numbers 6:26 ("The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace") and Romans 14:19 ("So, let’s strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up") to underline the divine source and mandate for peace.

 Combating Intolerance: Fr. Adegbola expressed deep concern over "growing religious and racial intolerance" globally and called on communicators to actively combat hate speeches, negative stereotyping, and incitement to violence through Peace Media.

 He listed specific concerns, including increasing religious fundamentalism, the exploitation of women and youth in the sex industry through deceptive advertisements, and the twisting of truth by "ungodly and unscrupulous leaders." He also made a plea for the release of journalists and writers who are political prisoners.

 Journalism as a Mission: He asserted that the work of journalists is "not just a job; it is a mission," emphasizing the need to challenge falsehood and prioritize Christian values, ethics, and principles to create a more just world order. This mission is seen as crucial in finding peace amidst global issues like leadership problems, environmental crisis, financial woes, and relationship troubles.

He concluded by declaring the conference officially open, urging attendees to be "ambassadors of truth and peace."

National President Highlights Journalism's 'Leviathan' Role

Sir Chimdi Oluoha, National President of the Catholic Media Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CAMPAN), further elaborated on the conference's theme.

 He described journalism as playing a "leviathan role" in society by providing stability through its established functions: watchdog (checking excesses of leaders and the led), agenda-setting (bringing critical ideas and issues to public discourse), and dissemination of information (lubricating economic, social, and political life).

Sir Oluoha noted the "deeply and dangerously divided" state of Nigeria, which he said poses a great challenge to practitioners, resulting in a fragile condition he termed the "peace of the grave yard." He advocated for Peace Journalism that focuses on Positive Peace, which goes beyond merely the "absence of conflict."

 Positive Peace: He defined this as proactively providing conditions that organically remove triggers for conflict, such as good governance at all levels of society, respect for human rights, freedom of expression and media rights, creating an enabling environment for the private sector, and respect for people's culture and traditions.

Challenge to Journalists: The challenge for journalists is to deploy their time-tested skills to "truthfully identify the cause of the problem" and highlight measures for "mutual trust and genuine communication; reconciliation and healing" to stabilize the society.

The National President expressed optimism that the conference would "proffer practical ways" for journalists to promote Positive Peace and also come up with measures to enable CAMPAN to participate positively in the "on-going initiative to reposition the communication apostolate" in the Catholic Church in Nigeria. He concluded by wishing the attendees fruitful deliberations under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.