FG committed to fostering well-informed, critically-aware population – Idris

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said the federal government had remained steadfast in its commitment towards fostering a well- informed and critically-aware population.

He said this at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Thursday through a Director in the Ministry, Mrs. Comfort Ajiboye, at a one-day symposium jointly organised by the university, the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in collaboration with the International Media and Information Literacy Institute as well as UNESCO.

It was on the theme, ‘Blogging, Artificial Intelligence and the Credibility of Social Media Contents: A Hybrid Resolution Approach.’

The minister said, “Nigeria, like every other country, faces the era of digital information flow at an unprecedented pace, the reason for which the importance of media and information literacy cannot be underestimated. This is why the Ministry is working with UNESCO to make a Category 2 Institute under the auspices of UNESCO.

“By supporting platforms such as this symposium, we aim to encourage constructive dialogue and collaboration. Together with our partners, we are confident that the outcome of today’s discussion would contribute to advancing media literacy and responsible use of information technologies.”

The vice-chancellor, NOUN, Prof. Olufemi Peters, whose speech was read by the Head, Department of Mass Communications, Dr. Adelabu Hakeem, noted that due to the proliferation of media abuse, the need to redefine media tools was inevitable.

This, according to him, is because there are several victims of media and blogging fraud. Therefore he said the objective of the institute is to engage relevant stakeholders in meaningful dialogue towards media orderliness in the society.

A publisher/blogger, Abdullahi Haruna, while discussing the topic, noted that it was true that the introduction of artificial intelligence was actually a threat to constructive journalism, but “blogging appears to pay better than the traditional media; therefore, efforts should not be made to damage blogging, but should be incorporated into mainstream journalism.”

Qasim Olalere Akinreti, another discussant from the Voice of Nigeria Office in Lagos, said in the 4th Industrial Revolution that “we are in, the use of artificial intelligence is inevitable.”