NIGERIA CELEBRATES WORLD MEDIA AND INFORMATION LITERACY WEEK

The Nigerian government launched World Media and Information Literacy Week on Monday. At the opening ceremony in Abuja, Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed welcomed the participants and declared the breakout sessions open.

The global event themed “Caring for Trust: A Media and Information Literacy Imperative” will be held in Nigeria from October 24th-31st in Abuja.

In his remarks, Mr. Mohammed noted that the theme of this year’s event is appropriate and timely as the world and its leaders are challenged to identify what is true and what is false in media content.

“As I reflect on the state of our world, the enormous challenge it faces, especially with the unregulated use of social media and other digital platforms, I see the urgent need for every person to be equipped with the ability to critically access and use the information intelligently at your disposal,” he said.

He expressed his optimism about the results of the week-long event that will be aimed at building trust between societies and people through the use of media and information literacy.

Speaking about the importance of MIL week, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Tawfik Jelassi, said that “we don’t want the new digital pipeline to be harmful to societies; we must ensure that digital technology is used for the public good.”

He noted that it is important to make citizens media and information literate for them to be successful in the digital age.

This is significant since digital platforms have become the main sources of information for citizens.