Nigeria Youth SDGs Network champion Tracy Iyemene attended a two days workshop on Media and Information Literacy hosted by Light Up Africa Development Initiative with funding from UNESCO Abuja. The workshop had twenty young people who represented civil society organizations carefully selected across Nigeria.
The workshop began with the Executive Director of Light Up Africa Development Initiative, Mr Olushola Macaulay speak about the rising tide of misinformation and disinformation in Nigeria over the last year especially with COVID19, the Fulani herdsmen and rising ethnic tensions. He shared how social media has led to the proliferation of fake news as well as dissenting headlines from mainstream media. “When fake news is not checked, it threatens the fabrics of our society”, Mr Macaulay said.
Dr Olunifesi Adekunle Suraj of the University of Lagos spoke on the need to have a policy that will guide media and information literacy in Nigeria as well as organizational support for youth organizations working to reduce disinformation and misinformation. He encouraged policymakers to invest in understanding media and information literacy as its application will yield a lot of benefits especially in a country like Nigeria.
A creative writing session was organized to help participants understand how to be better at storytelling and understanding the role of media and information literacy in spotting fake news. The session looked at the various forms of creative writing and how participants can use new media to drive positive change.
During the workshop, organizations and individuals shared how they are using media and information technology to create change. Tracy Iyemene shared about the journey of Nigeria Youth SDGs Network leveraging on new media to create advocates for sustainable development in Nigeria.
The two days workshop ended with the announcement of the top three winners of an online competition on raising awareness against fake news.
