The Oak Centre has launched AbegNaLie, a grassroots fact-checking initiative aimed at tackling the spread of disinformation and misinformation in Nigeria’s communities. By drawing on the popular Pidgin expression “Abeg, na lie”, the programme makes truth relatable, trusted and shareable, particularly in places where rumours and false claims travel fastest.
The initiative recognises that in many Nigerian communities, trusted voices are not always journalists or government officials, but local influencers such as young leaders, market women, religious figures, community volunteers and social media personalities whose voices carry weight in everyday life. AbegNaLie therefore trains these influencers, alongside active citizens in Kano, Kaduna, Borno, Benue, Lagos and Nasarawa, to build fact-checking skills that can stop misinformation before it spreads further.
Crucially, these influencers are not left to work in isolation. They are connected into the Oak Centre’s wider network of civil society organisations and journalists, creating a chain of accountability and verification that strengthens grassroots resilience. This link ensures that local concerns feed into national conversations, and that corrections are not only accurate but also trusted by the very communities that need them.
“Community influencers are our first line of defence,” said Samuel Ter Vincent, Training Coordinator at the Oak Centre. “They are the people neighbours listen to, the ones who can challenge a rumour before it becomes accepted as truth. By equipping them with fact-checking skills and linking them to CSOs and journalists, we are creating a living network where trust and truth reinforce each other.”
Amplification is provided through Mu San Gaskiya (“We Know the Truth”), a weekly radio segment broadcast on Freedom Radio. The programme takes issues flagged by communities and brings them into the public space, allowing misinformation to be openly discussed and corrected. Listeners are encouraged to call in, challenge claims and hear verified facts in their own languages.
According to Samuel Ter Vincent, this combination of trusted community influencers and mass-reach radio ensures that AbegNaLie has both depth and scale. “When a rumour spreads in a village, we can counter it through the influencer who is respected there. When a narrative spreads more widely, Mu San Gaskiya gives us a platform to set the record straight. It is about making sure truth has both a local champion and a megaphone.”
By blending grassroots engagement with accessible media, AbegNaLie seeks to build long-term trust, empower communities to resist false information, and create a culture where truth is not distant or abstract, but part of everyday conversation.
