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| conclusion, as published by The News Digest Press |
Mazeed Mukhtar Oyeleye writes,
On Thursday, February 10 2022, a Fact-check written by Olokooba Abdulwasiu and published by The News Digest Press and Informant247 uncovered a fallacy many held on to, keeping their mouths agape. The publication titled, ‘Fact-Check: Is UDUSOK the third Nigerian University verified by Facebook?’, indeed answered the question it begged, disabusing the popular notion initiated via the official Facebook handle of the university.
The respective publications, which were shared widely on social media platforms, especially Facebook and WhatsApp, concluded, based on findings the reporter made, reportedly through Open Source Intelligence searches, that the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto is not the third Nigerian university verified by Facebook. The report also asserted that UDUSOK is among the top-five Nigerian universities to be verified by Facebook.
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| conclusion, as published by Informant247 |
The conclusion read, in full;
“Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUSOK) is not the third Nigerian university verified by Facebook as claimed based on the findings.
“Meanwhile, from the facts and information available as at the time of filing this report, it would be correct to say that UDUSOK is among the top-five Nigerian universities to be verified by Facebook.”
In this publication, PEN Press appraises the accuracy of the findings made and conclusions reached by the reporter.
VERIFICATION
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| findings, as published by The News Digest Press |
Firstly, the reporter disclosed his findings whilst assessing the first claim fact-checked in his reports for the respective media outlet thus;
findings, as published by Informant247
“Through Open-source intelligence (OSINT) searches carried out on Thursday, 3nd of February, 2021, it was gathered that before Wednesday, 2nd of February, 2022: the day UDUSOK's Facebook page was verified, three other Nigerian universities had already gotten their pages verified on Facebook.
“These universities are Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State, Covenant University (CU) in Ogun State, and American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Adamawa State.”
PEN Press confirms the veracity of this finding, but insists that the manner of disclosure is misleading.
In a bid to verify the information shared via the official Facebook handle of UDUSOK on the eve of Thursday, February 3 2022, before reporting it, PEN Press came to know that there were at least six universities with verified Facebook handles as at that date, comprising a trio of private and likewise public universities.
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| FUTA's Facebook homepage |
The public universities include Federal University of Technology, Akure, in Ondo State, Osun State University, Oshogbo, in Osun State, and the University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State.
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| UniOsun's Facebook homepage |
The private universities include Anchor University in Lagos State, the American University of Nigeria in Adamawa State, and Covenant University in Ogun State.
UniPort's Facebook homepage
Similarly, the concluding paragraph of Olokooba’s report maintained that the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, is among the top-five Nigerian universities to be verified by Facebook.
Anchor Universiry's Facebook homepage
“Meanwhile, from the facts and information available as at the time of filing this report, it would be correct to say that UDUSOK is among the top-five Nigerian universities to be verified by Facebook,” it concluded.
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| American University of Nigeria's Facebook homepage |
Based on investigation made by PEN Press, as disclosed earlier, there were at least six universities with verified Facebook handles on Thursday, February 3 2022. This establishes, unequivocally, that Usmanu Danfodiyo University is not in the top five list of Nigerian universities with verified Facebook handles.
Covenant University's Facebook homepage
VERDICT
The Fact-Check written by Olokooba Abdulwasiu and published by The News Digest Press and Informant247 is both misleading and misinformed.
There was a minimum of six Nigerian universities with verified Facebook handles as at the time UDUSOK announced its Facebook verification.
Therefore it is not among the top-five Nigerian universities to be verified by Facebook.
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