Fake News, Fake Impressions Are All Destructive

Have you ever been wrongly accused of? Have you experienced that dispiriting feeling, that emotional turmoil at having to hear of some totally untrue things about you- things that you have not done?

It is at this instance that you'll very well appreciate the sacrosanctity of what fact and truth are; the instance that would spur you to insist that stories, rumours and news are verified before you accept or even give in to spreading them.

The events of the past few days have got me thinking on this pedestal. And just yesterday, while taking my bath, I went meditative: brooding on the impact of fake news. I had brought in myself, just imagining how badly I'd feel if I was accused of something that I know isn't true. Of a truth, I know I'd feel devastated, regardless of how I may want to just dismiss it. Is it not said that a clear conscience fears no accusations?

So, it was in that realm that I thought of Pastor David Oyedepo, the General overseer of Winners Chapel and the ill-fated news of how he was denied visa to the United States. Some news agencies had gone excessive, "putting salt and pepper" by describing his 'explosive' reaction, which as we know was never it just as the action that could have incited it never happened.

But my question was how did he feel, realizing how this story and his purported reaction were just cooked up. Pastor Oyedepo, please sincerely how did you feel?

Oyedepo's case of false news would have easily had a much relaxing feel going by the fact of the largely innocuous impact of the news and how quickly it was debunked. But how about those who have been put in fix because of wrongful accusations that they just are unable to 'reasonably' deny or to get off the hook or whose cases just seem to be irrefutable.

The incident last Sunday at the Winners Chapel in Chikun, Kaduna state involving a suspected terrorist who was caught with materials alleged to be IEDs also stands out- of the probability of been falsely accused and being so overwhelmed to put up a denial. (Please no pun intended, the two Winner Chapel instances are coincidental).

Many story versions have been woven around it. While some had opined that his Christian appellation was foisted on him by men of the Nigerian Police that came to arrest him, others have voicibly expressed the view that the boy couldn't have done what he's accused of.

From whatever angle we look at it, there are elements of the belief of a wrongful raising of sentiments. Not dismissing entirely the incident and leaving the police to do their work in terms of investigation, I am forced to ask- and in line of my view here- what if this is a case of wrongful accusation? How would Nathaniel (or Sani) feel?

Let's also bring into consideration many probable cases of people who could have been hounded into jail, condemned to death or even killed for something they do not know- just for a wrongfully suspected accusations that they are wowed to or can't even defend themselves.

The impact of unverified rumours, of fake news could be so traumatic and devastating, I've come to deeply appreciate. Any untrue, unverified story peddled by you, or which you believe as to disseminate, goes to create a pool of devastating effect that you may not be able to curtail.

The eventual retraction of a fake news, no matter how solemnly done, does not exculpate the very effect that it has stirred. This is usually the burden of false accusations, of fake reports: that it creates a destructive ripple effect that goes on and on without a justifiable reprieve.

Fake news is destructive, and that's if we care to look beyond the immediate and into the future so as to have a view of its possible impact, which oftentimes are destructive. While some people have lost and possibly may not be able to regain their respect and value, others have been placed with a psychological burden that they cannot but self-murder.

But if we just take note of how apparently innocuous this destructive missile get to start, we might not consider its inherent and eventual harmfulness. Some people feel a fun in stirring and fueling rumours. To this people, they for all intents might not mean harm, and their penchant to see such as fun and harmless could be on their ignorance of the devastation that their actions could bring.

Fake news, fake impressions and unchecked  feelings, in whatever guise it is presented and for whatever motive is not helpful and destructive to not only the psychology of persons but to the larger society, and so must be curtailed.