Listening to the Director General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, speak at the Centre for Crisis Communication CCC event themed Managing Crisis in a Digital Age drove home an uncomfortable truth: the internet is no longer just a network. It has become a battlefield-vast, chaotic, and invisible-where the weapons are not bullets but information. One rumour can detonate faster than a grenade. One manipulated video can turn neighbours against each other. One cleverly worded headline can ruin reputations, tilt elections, or rattle entire economies.
The average Nigerian now stands inside this war with no choice but to fight. Elections have been swayed by viral narratives. Businesses have collapsed under coordinated online scams. Entire communities have panicked because of a single broadcast message that travelled far before anyone had the chance to verify it. In this new reality, the soldiers are no longer only cybersecurity analysts working in dim rooms. They are everyday citizens-scrolling, sharing, and forwarding-often unaware that they are on the frontlines of a conflict they cannot see.
