The United States Embassy in Nigeria is sponsoring the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) to train 120 journalists, including social media influencers and civic actors from the country’s six geopolitical zones, to push narratives blaming #EndBadGovernance protests borne out of inflation and insecurity on foreign influence.
The true intent of the training was exposed by West Africa Weekly’s Editor-in-Chief, David Hundeyin after the ICIR announced shortlisted candidates for the “Countering AI-Enhanced Malign Influence in Nigeria” project, which involves training these participants for one year to push paid propaganda by the US government. One notable aim of the programme is to portray the #EndBadGovernance protests of last year as “malign influence,” that is, Russian and/or Chinese foreign influence.
Following the disclosure of the training purpose, ICIR disabled links to the call for applications and the shortlisted candidates; however, West Africa Weekly obtained a copy before it was pulled down.
However, this is no surprise, as the ICIR’s funding partners include the United States Embassy in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, the George Soros-funded Open Society Initiative for West Africa, and the C.I.A. front organisation National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
This project is coming at a time when Donald Trump’s second administration is cutting down on foreign aid and the revelation that USAID has been funding terror groups and civil society organisations to facilitate regime change around the world.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have taken to social media to question the extent to which Western governments influence Nigerian and African media.
According to Cornell University, malign influence refers to “hostile efforts by foreign entities to affect another country’s political, military, or economic policies, often through covert or deceptive means. This can include disinformation, propaganda, or coercive actions to manipulate public opinion or influence democratic processes.”
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