Introduction

Background to the Study

The increase of fake news is becoming a worldwide issue (McGonagle, 2017). Though fake news
is not novel, however, it is now worrisome because of social media popularity which permits
interaction and diffusion of new ideas (Zhou & Zafarani, 2018). Consequently, social media users
can advance ideas or spread the news through shares, likes or retweets; hence, they are invariably
exposed to an uncontrollable type of information especially news that is coming from independent
authors. As such, social media is now a place to disseminate misinformation and fake news rapidly
(Rampersad et al., 2019). It has been shown that social media is an influential device for the
spreading of large amount of unfiltered content (Lazer et al., 2018), authorising a misinformation
phenomenon and consequently aggravating the possibility of manipulating the public’s perception
of reality through the dissemination of fake news content (Ireton & Posetti, 2018). Duffy et al.
(2019) defined fake news as concocted content that copycat legitimate news, presented subtly to
lure the public into believing it is legitimate.

Fake news sharing has become rampant in today’s digital world. This suggests that even some
government officials and individuals engage in the proliferation of misinformation to a large
audience to suit their agenda (Rampersad et al., 2019). Thus, fake news has touched virtually every
aspect of our life (Wasserman & Madrid-Morales, 2019), and the most worrisome in recent months
is the circulation of false content in this period of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
outbreak (Hou et al., 2020). In December 2019, a novel virus called COVID-19 was reported in
China, and in recent months the virus has spread to other parts of the world, killing many people.
Initially, it was alleged to be transmitted from animals to humans. However, it is now transmitted
from human to human via fomites, contacts, and droplets (Sahu et al., 2020). Report shows that as
of May, 14, 2020 the cases of COVID-19 were over 4.4 million globally. More than 1.6 million
recoveries were reported, and about 298,000 deaths (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020).
According to recent research, many rumours and false news stories are circulating about the
COVID-19. It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish fake news from reports whose
veracity should not be questioned (Huynh, 2020). Consequently, misinformation in social media
has fuelled panic among members of the public regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting
governments and authorities to urge citizens to confirm the genuineness of news stories before
circulating them (Huynh, 2020, Hou et al., 2020). In this view, research has found that as the
urgency to find a treatment for COVID-19 continues across the globe, fake news proliferation has

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intensified on social media, which many experts believe is contributing to the threats of the
pandemic (Lampos et al., 2020).

On the other hand, in 2020 a massive protest was carried out by Nigerian youths against the
Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigerian police force. The Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigerian Police Force was created in 1992 to combat violent crimes.
Unlike other police officers, SARS operatives were allowed to work in unconventional ways and
to be tough in their fight against organised crime. However, allegations of abuse ranging from
extortion, kidnapping, rape and extra-judicial killings by SARS operatives have been documented.

The allegations led to the #EndSARS movement which began on Twitter in 2016 as a protest
against police brutality. The most recent round of protests began on 3 October 2020 after a
video was shared on Twitter purportedly showing SARS officials killing a man and fleeing with
his vehicle in the Delta region, Southern Nigeria. Before long, decentralised and youth-led protests
against police brutality spread within and outside Nigeria.

Facing the possibility of sustained national protests, the police chief, Mohammed Adamu,
announced the dissolution of SARS on 11 October 2020. The protesters did not back down,
however, as they were sceptical of the dissolution given that the SARS unit had been “banned” on
four previous occasions. The protests culminated in the Lekki shootings and Nigerian military
officers have been accused of firing at unarmed protesters.

During Nigeria’s October 2020 #ENDSARS protests, disinformation disseminated by both pro-
police and anti-police sources made false claims of violence amidst the real conflict, spreading
mistrust amongst the population, and aggravating an already regrettable situation. For example,
notable Northerners hold the view that #EndSARS is driven by Southerners looking to discredit
Buhari rather than legitimate grievances of the youth. A picture circulated of a woman named
Ugwu Blessing Ugochukwu with an accompanying caption that stated three of her brothers had
been killed by the police. Whilst Ms Ugochokwu had briefly been detained by the SARS, it was
simply not true that her brothers had been killed. Disinformation in this vein has exacerbated
tensions in Nigeria and contributed to violence as well as making it more difficult to call out real
acts of injustice. On the other hand, pro-police sources suggested that verifiable acts of police
brutality were actually fake in attempt to suppress criticism. It is extremely difficult for ordinary
people to know what is real and what is not.

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Statement of the Problem

It has been found that false information regarding health issues and conflicts constitutes a probable
threat to public health. However, the motivations for sharing such false information has been less
well developed (Waszak et al., 2018). Thus, the explosive growth of fake news sharing,
particularly during pandemic and conflict requires extensive research to comprehend the
perception and reasons behind fake news proliferation via social media. Presently limited
knowledge is known about perception of fake news proliferation. Moreover, studies focusing on
fake news are limited, but the literature is growing (Apuke and Omar, 2020). It is yet to be known
the perception and why individuals disseminate fake news content during this COVID-19 outbreak
and ENDSARS protest. Hence this study is set to determine the perception of Lekki Ajah residents
on fake news circulation on COVID 19 and ENDSARS protest in Nigeria.

Objective of the Study

1. To examine the perception of Lekki Ajah resident’s on fake news during the COVID 19
outbreak and ENDSARS protest in Nigeria.
2. To ascertain the reason for circulation of fake news during the COVID 19 outbreak and
ENDSARS protest in Nigeria.
3. To ascertain if social media play a major role in circulation of fake news during the
COVID 19 outbreak and ENDSARS protest in Nigeria.
4. To examine the effect of fake news during the COVID 19 outbreak and ENDSARS protest
on peaceful coexistence of Nigeria.
5. To profound useful ways fake news can be eliminated in Nigeria.

Research Questions

1. What is the perception of Lekki Ajah residents on fake news during the COVID 19
outbreak and ENDSARS protest in Nigeria?
2. What is the reason for the circulation of fake news during the COVID 19 outbreak and
ENDSARS protest in Nigeria?
3. Do social media play a major role in circulation of fake news during the COVID 19
outbreak and ENDSARS protest in Nigeria?
4. What are the effects of fake news during the COVID 19 outbreak and ENDSARS protest
on peaceful coexistence of Nigeria?
5. What are the ways fake news can be eliminated in Nigeria?

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Scope of the Study

This study would cover Lekki Ajah resident’s perception of Fake news during COVID 19 outbreak
and ENDSARS protest in Nigeria. The study is restricted to only Lekki Ajah residents.

Significance of the Study

From this research, the public would better understand the extent of damage which fake news is
doing to the society. They would get to know why they should rely on credible sources of
information rather than embellishing what a user posted on the social media as a source of news.

The study has both academic and policy justification. Through this study, scholars and policy
makers will construct an understanding and policy formation for fake news in Nigeria.

In sum, this paper would restore the image of the pen profession as it will afford other researchers
a basis to build upon or a support for their work.

Definition of Terms

Perception: This refers to the way human beings use any of their senses to think about or come to
terms with whatever they are exposed to. Pate & Dauda (2015, p.wrote that, “People’s perception
wield an enormous influence over their behaviour. If people perceive something in a certain way,
even if they are incorrect, in their minds, it is that way, and they often base their behaviour on that
perception.”
Fake News: Fake news means “false information deliberately circulated by those who have scant
regard for the truth but hope to advance particular (often extreme) political causes and make
money out of online traffic. Or it could be false information circulated by journalists who don't
realise it's false” BBC (2017, March 12).

COVID 19: Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses transmitting between animals and
people that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle
East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV).

ENDSARS: is a decentralised social movement, and series of mass protests against police
brutality in Nigeria. 

Protest: a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something.

Nigeria: An African country on a coast of West Africa

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Theoretical Framework
Perception Theory

The theory was propounded by B. Berelson and C.A Steiner in 1964. The scholars established that
the process of interpreting messages is complex and difficult to achieve. According to Berelson
and Steiner (1964:pg.83), perception is assumed to be a process by which people select, organize
and interpret sensory stimulation into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. Benett,
Hofman and Parkash (1989:pg.724) opined that perception is notably active, it involves learning,
updating perspective and interacting with the observed. The theory identified two forms of
influences on people perception - Structural and functional - respectively. Structural influences on
perception emanates from the physical aspect of the stimuli to which we have being exposed,
while functional influences are the psychological factors that influences perception and hence
introduces some subjectivity into the process.

This theory is relevant to the study because the way a an individual understand the ENDSARS
protest may differ from other individuals for example, a learned person may notice some news
circulating during the ENDSARS protest as fake news while others might perceive it as being truth
and real. However, the way people perceive the COVID 19 outbreak differs from individual.
However, some individuals perceived COVID 19 as fake news while others may see it as being
real. Some Nigerians believed that COVID 19 is not in Nigeria thereby promoting fake news about
the disease while others believe that the virus is existing in Nigeria.

Technological Determinism Theory

This theory was propounded by a renowned Canadian communication researcher, McLuhan

(1962), who Baran and Davies (2012, p.273) cited as stating that “changes in communication
technology inevitably produce profound changes in both culture and social order.” According to
Adler (2006), Technological determinism theory is the idea that technology has effects on our
lives. The bearing of this theory to this work stems from the fact that internet as technological
inventions are making dramatic influences on the users’ communication today. In a nutshell, the
new media are transforming the manner Nigerians’ interact and exchange feelings, experiences and
ideas. So, apparently, they go a long way to determine how and what the users communicate.
McLuhan as cited by Agba (2002, p.255) asserts; The medium is the message…each medium
activates a particular mixture of the senses, which makes the form of the medium, rather than the
message, determine ways of perceiving and articulating understanding.

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The internet are exerting influences on their users. That is, means of exchanging messages,
information and ideas. This could be seen in the interactive characteristics of the social media; as
such they give the users a different taste of communication other than what has been. The above
study found out that the internet has some effects on their users’ use of other media. In general, the
younger generation’s use of traditional media, particularly newspapers, radio, and television has
dropped as a result of emerging internet.

The internet commands a unique perception in sending and receiving of information, messages and
ideas. This would be different from the perception other mass mediated messages could ignite in
their audiences. The significant immediate effects of the new media on the lives of the people is
not in doubt. This could redefine credibility of the social media publications as alternative news
sources. This was why the technological determinism theory was applied in this study as a relevant
theoretical pedestal or base befitting it. Hence technology determines the way individual reasons,
people that believe whatever they see on social media have the tendency to circulate and promote
fake news while those that don’t dwell much on social media are otherwise.

Research Methodology

The research method to be used for this project is a Survey Research. Daramola (2011:21) puts it
that survey enables us to scientifically analyze an issue without too much human error. It aided the
researcher in measuring effectively the characteristic, opinions of the populations by studying a
small sample from the specified group, then generalizing the population being the group under
study (Fagbohungbe, 1993:32).

The Survey Research method would be used for this study. It is a commonly used communication
research strategy that involves selecting individual respondents, asking them questions, analysing
their responses, and then inferring how the findings apply to the entire population of interest to a
researcher.

Area of Study

This study will be carried out in Lekki Ajah, Lagos State.

Research Instrument

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The instrument for the study will be a questionnaire. The instrument will be made of structured
questions. The questionnaire will comprise of two sections (A & B): Section A will contain the
general demographic information such as gender, age, marital status and religion of respondents.
Section B will contain psychographic information with 20 questions each on key issues dealing
with the research topic.

Population of the Study

According to Sobowale (1983:15), a research population is generally a large collection of

individuals or objects that is the main focus of a scientific query. It is for the benefit of the
population that researches are done. However, due to the large sizes of populations, researchers
often cannot test every individual in the population because it is too expensive and time-
consuming. According to Wikipedia, the total population of Lekki Ajah residents is over 401,272

Sample Size

In determining the sample size for the population Rasoft sample size calculator would be used.
Using the Rasoft sample size calculator, the sample size for the study is 384. Therefore simple
random sampling technique would be used to select 384 residents of Lekki Ajah.

Sampling Technique

The sampling technique adopted for this research will be the Simple Random Sampling Technique.
In a simple random sample ('SRS') of a given size, all such subsets of the frame are given an equal
probability. Each element of the frame thus has an equal probability of selection: the frame is not
subdivided or partitioned. Furthermore, any given pair of elements has the same chance of
selection as any other such pair (Ohaja, 2003). This minimizes bias and simplifies analysis of
results. In particular, the variance between individual results within the sample is a good indicator
of variance in the overall population, which makes it relatively easy to estimate the accuracy of
results (Adepate, 2007).

Validity and Reliability of Data Gathering Instrument

An instrument for data collection in research is said to have ‘validity’ when that “instrument
measures what it is supposed to measure” (Nwankwo 2006). Thus, validity has to do with ensuring
that an instrument is complete, congruent, coherent and comprehensible (RSUST Mass
Comm.,2013). Nworgu (1991) states that one of the standard procedures for validating instruments

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is ‘giving it to a panel of expert for validation’. Thus, to ensure that the questionnaire questions
have validity i.e. it can elicit the needed information, the researcher will take the following steps:

Copies of the draft questionnaire will be given to my supervisor. To ensure the effectiveness of this
exercise, I will provide him with the project topic, statement of the problem, objective of the study
and research questions to determine whether the items on the instruments will be capable of
eliciting the needed information in terms of their clarity, appropriateness of language, as well as
the overall adequacy of the instruments.

Choice of Statistical Analytical Tool

The data will be analyzed using frequency and simple percentage where necessary chart will be
used for easy understanding.

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