Nigeria Seeks Global Backing For Proposed Information Literacy Institute   

The federal government has called for international support to establish a UNESCO Category 2 international media and Information literacy institute in Abuja.

Speaking at the 13th Global Media and Information Literacy Week in Jordan, the minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, emphasised the nation’s commitment to combating misinformation and enhancing media literacy locally and globally.

The minister, represented by his special assistant, Dr. Sunday Baba, urged UNESCO member states and global stakeholders to support this initiative. It builds on Nigeria’s leadership in media literacy since hosting UNESCO’s first MIL event in 2003.

According to a press statement by Okereke Ifeanyi, deputy director of UNESCO, the 13th edition of Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week was held on Wednesday in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The minister outlined the numerous efforts being made by the Nigerian government to advance Media and Information Literacy (MIL) initiatives in the country and the world.

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He explained that Nigeria was instrumental to the birth of the current celebration of Global Media and Information Literacy Week when it hosted the 1st edition of the UNESCO Media and Information Global Alliance in 2003, which metamorphosed into GMIL Week. Other initiatives included the proposed partnership with UNESCO to establish a Category 2 institute at the National Open University of Nigeria, Abuja.

He, therefore, called for the support of member states, UNESCO, and partners to support the efforts of the Nigerian Government.

Earlier, UNESCO’s Assistant Director General, Communication and Information, Dr Tawfik Jelassi, in his opening remarks, explained that the world currently faces a complex reality where truth coexists side by side with lies and misinformation and that Media and Information Literacy (MIL) has been identified as a potent tool to combat misinformation in all its forms.

Other speakers at the event included Princess Rym Ali, a member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Jordan and founder of the Jordan Media Institute, the government spokesperson of the Jordanian Ministry of Government Communication, Dr Mohammed Al-Minai, and ministers from other countries.

The Nigerian delegation, led by Dr Sunday Baba, also includes Prof. Olufemi Peters, vice chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria, other Academics from the International Media and Information Literacy Institute (IMIL), the Nigerian Delegation to UNESCO, and other government officials.