The Nigerian government has flagged off Global Media Literacy Week themed “Nurturing Trust: A Media and Information Literacy Imperative”. The event holding at Transcorp Hilton is to hold from Monday, October 24 to Monday, October 31, 2022.
At the opening ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, welcomed participants and declared the sessions open.
In his remarks, Mr Mohammed noted that the theme of this year’s event is apt and timely as the world and its leaders contend with the challenge of identifying what is true and what is false in media content.
“As I ponder on the state of our world and 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 evaluate and wisely use the information at their disposal,” he said.
He expressed optimism about the outcomes of the week-long event, which will be geared towards building trust among societies and individuals through media and information literacy.
The minister welcomed everyone and urged all participants to pay full attention as the world awaits the outcome of this Global MIL week.
Also speaking at the event, the Assistant Director-General of Communication and Information at UNESCO, Tawfik Jelassi, emphasised the need to deploy technology for the public good.
“We do not want the new digital pipeline to be harmful to societies; we need to ensure that digital technology is used for the public good,” he said.
As one of the media fellows, DUBAWA’s Silas Jonathan will provide updates on the week-long event.
The week will host several events on the intersection of media and information literacy and democracy, journalism, and media funding, among others.
Participants on the opening day will also visit the presidential villa where the presidency will host them.
