The title of this post was the subject matter of a two-day Bootcamp by WAY4Nigeria (Women & Youth for Nigeria), supported by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). The Bootcamp was held online between the 25th and 26th of September 2026. I was one of the four 'Core Trainers'. The method employed for the training was heavy on interactive engagement with the participants in real time. That was why even online, we were able to fit the patticipants into three 'rooms' for the practical illustration of the delivered concepts. Ms. Jennifer Stephen, Director Communication, WAY4Nigeria was the effective and efficient anchor for the two-day event...
There were four major topics for the training programme, representing the critical threads germane to the interaction viz; Understand (AI & Information disorder)/Connect (AI, Governance & Democratic Resilience)/Participate (AI, Inclusive governance, Women & Youth's participation)/Act (Verification, Fact checking & Information integrity)
*Harnessing AI to counter information disorder & strengthen democratic resilience in Nigeria - Dr. Dayo Oluyemi-Kusa
*AI, elections, governance, algorithms & public trust - Rev. Samuel Nixon
*AI for civic engagement, advocacy, political education & inclusion - Emmanuel Ami-Okhani
*Verification framework, source checking & AI-generated content - Columbus Tabuo
Each of the four themes actively engaged the participants.
In my presentation, I outlined the distinction between Misinformation, Disinformation & Malinformation. I then requested that participants simulate these different types of information disorder during group work in their various 'rooms'. The first exercise was for Group 1 to come up with '2 truths and 1 lie'. The other groups were to fish out the truth vs the lie, while corroborating same with Group 1, the originator of the scenario. They then had to determine which truth or lie was misinformation, disinformation or malinformation.
The second exercise was the transmission of an 'original message' from the first person who coined it through five others who received the message. Each person was to say what he/she heard. This was to bring out in bold relief how messages change when transmitted from one person to the other with or without malice. Were the various versions of the original message Misinformation, Disinformation or Malinformation?
What exactly was taught?
Misinformation is false or inaccurate information shared without any intention to cause harm. Disinformation is false or fabricated information deliberately created and spread to deceive, manipulate or cause harm to a person or country. Malinformation is genuine, real information that's shared out of context or leaked deliberately to inflict harm, damage reputation or attack an individual, e.g. doxxing or shared private emails. AI is the ability of computers and machines to simulate human learning, reasoning, proble-solving and decision-making...For more about the specific contents of the training, contact the organisers...
At the end of the two-day Bootcamp, participants were able to:
*Understand AI and its relevance to information integrity, governance, civic engagement and democracy
*Strengthen their knowledge of misinformation, disinformtion, deepfakes, synthetic media and AI-generated content
*Participants armed with practical AI tools for research, verification, civic education, advocacy and responsible communication
*Develop skills in fact-checking, source verification and digital investigation
*Promote ethical and responsible use of AI especially in civic, political, media and governance contexts
*Explore AI, elections and AI-generated political content. This should be related to the political influence of same on public opinion and electoral processes
*Examine the relationship between AI, governance and public decision-making, access to information, citizen-government engagement and democratic accountability
*Demonstrate how responsible AI use can strengthen civic participation, advocacy, political education, community organising and public engagement
*Explore how women and yound people can use AI responsibly to increase their participation in governance and decision-making
*Prepare highly engaged participants for advanced in-person training and future participation in the WAY4Nigeria Fact-checking Operations Room
On the whole, the Trainers' approaches were interactive, practical and participatory. I look forward to the in-person training...
