I’m a retired missionary who lived and worked for 34 years in West Africa. Some of the ministry I was involved in was in Nigeria, supporting peace building, trauma healing, HIV-AIDS prevention and church-based widows and orphans programs. I have worked with pastors and lay church leaders from about 30 different language and ethnic groups. I have seen burned villages and church facilities and spoken with people whose families were killed. I have friends who survived kidnappings. And I have worked with brave people who served on peace committees and led successful community reconciliation programs.

​

The problems in Nigeria are not new, but the explosion of social media that enables people to spread falsehoods that become viral has made the problems worse. We know that social media unfortunately works by algorithms to make people angry and afraid so they will keep clicking. I am now joining with friends in Nigeria to try to educate people about what is really happening and to correct the falsehoods.  Our approach will always be to give objective information that we get from first-hand observers and not to enrage people or inflame emotions.  As Christians we feel responsible to seek out and to tell the truth. We are all volunteers doing this to serve God, not to earn money. Whole Truth Nigeria is not an organization; it is a social media campaign by an informal group of like-minded people.