By Oluwaseun Sonde
Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
assured of the successful hosting of UNESCO's 2022 Global Media and
Information Literacy (MIL) Week, scheduled for Abuja 24-31 October.
The Minister gave the assurance in his speech at the opening session
of the Media and Information Literacy Series of the 3rd World Higher Education Conference in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday.
''I pledge the commitment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria toward
hosting a successful conference, and I solicit the support of UNESCO and partners, as well as governments and the organized private sector, in order to ensure a successful hosting.
''I also wish to pledge the commitment of the Federal Government to providing a smooth and safe environment for all delegates and officials, who will be coming to our beautiful country and its glistening capital city in October 2022 for the event,'' said the Minister, who participated virtually at the opening session.
He commended UNESCO for the good job it is doing in advancing and
promoting the knowledge of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in the world, saying: ''Evidently, the use
of MIL in strengthening democracy and good governance, as well as
creating a more stable and informed society, cannot be over-emphasized.''
Alhaji Mohammed described the conference, which seeks to draw the
attention of stakeholders to the relevance of establishing the
International Media and Information Literacy Institute, as a significant milestone in the efforts of UNESCO and its partners, the members of the UNESCO-UNAOC Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue University Network, to entrench MIL as a field of study.
''Please permit me to state that Nigeria identifies with UNESCO’s
efforts in this regard and has in fact laid the foundation for the progress being recorded here today.
"You would all recall that Nigeria had in 2013 successfully hosted the first Global Forum for Partnership on MIL in Abuja. The event, tagged Abuja 2013, gave rise to the creation of UNESCO MIL Alliance and other initiatives on the importance of MIL for all and by all,'' he said.
The Minister used the occasion of the conference to announce that
Nigeria is exploring the possibility of establishing a UNESCO International Media and Information Literacy Institute, in view of the importance that Nigeria places on Media and Information Literacy.
''To actualize this, of course we will collaborate with UNESCO. As Nigeria explores this initiative, we invite other countries around the world to partner with us to realize a UNESCO International Media and Information Literacy Institute,'' he added.
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