President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said the world must come together to defend freedom of speech and uphold other cherished values despite the challenges posed by misinformation and hate speech.

This came just as the Federal Government, through the Minister of Information and Cul- ture, Lai Mohammed, criticised the unregulated use of social media and other digital plat- forms worldwide.

Buhari stated this at the opening session of the 11th edition of the UNESCO Global Media and Information literacy week at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

The theme of the Week is “Nurturing Trust, a Media and Information Literacy Imperative,”which focused on the use of MIL to address a fundamental element of human and national de- velopment, which seems to be waning in most societies of the World.

The President noted that trust is a key ingredi- ent of democracy and good governance, saying, “Without trust, our avowed pledge to deliver on our promises as leaders will be impeded by the lack of commitment from the governed.

”Represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, the President said, “As it is evident in our societies, getting reliable information is a constant battle. Media practitioners and stake- holders within the sector face the clear an present danger of misinformation.

“Misinformation has been used to aggravate conflicts and crisis, exacerbate insecurity, distort government efforts, fuel apprehension among the citizens and create distrust between the governments and their peoples.

“Concerning the use of social media which also underscores its potential to mould, shape, and form an opinion, we may note the following key statistics: 59% of the World population uses social media which represents three out of every five people on earth

“Average daily use is estimated to be about 2 hours 29 minutes which is approximately 149 minutes or 31 minutes shy of the equivalent of sitting and watching 2 consecutive football games of 90 minutes each

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“Over 70 per cent of the people who use social media are 13 years and older. Of the top 4 social media platforms, three are interactive sites Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram

“Here in Nigeria with a population of about 220 million people, 37 per cent is under 34 years and the country has about 100 million internet users, of which about 32 million are social me- dia users.”

Continuing, Buhari said with the above indi- ces, “We fully recognize and are cognisant that Technology and social media offer us nearly lim- itless opportunities which must be harnessed especially by the youth to strengthen the foun- dations of our society and our common values.

“However, in confronting challenges of rising misinformation and hate speech we must also come together to defend freedom of speech, whilst upholding other values that we cherish.

“We must continue to work for a common stand to keep the most vulnerable from harm and help strengthen and enrich our communities and most importantly strengthen trust and social cohesion by improving critical thinking
competencies to adequately assess the quality of the information received and shared which I believe is a key component of the MIL programme this week.”

The President observed that the MIL has over the years proven to be a veritable tool in build ties to learn, decipher, educate and effectively use data and information for the common good.

In this regard, he congratulated UNESCO and all key stakeholders for their efforts in develop- ing various initiatives and resources around the use of MIL to help in nurturing trust and coun- tering mistrust.

He also commended their efforts in promoting the teaching and learning of MIL in formal and non-formal institutions, as well as the establishment of the Global MIL institutes.

Buhari pledged his administration’s continued support for policies and plans aimed at advocat- ing the use of MIL to create a peaceful and co- hesive society where trust and respect for each other become a norm.

He further said, “Already, our collaboration with UNESCO and other partners has stimulated the development and promotion of MIL policies at all levels of government as well as strategies aimed at helping citizens to learn and
imbibe the skills of MIL.

“In furtherance of this mission, we encouraged the establishment of the MIL Coalition of Nige- ria (MILCON) in 2017, a Coalition established to facilitate coordination of interventions on MIL in Nigeria and promote synergy among stakeholders.

“These efforts have resulted in mainstreaming and domesticating the UNESCO MIL in the Curriculum of our Colleges of Education, by its inclusion in the General Studies Education com- ponent of the Nigeria Certificate in Education Minimum Standards curriculum, as a compul- sory subject.

“In addition to this, Information Science and Media studies, which is an adaptation of the MIL Curriculum, is now domiciled in our newly unbundled Mass Communication curriculum for all the Universities in Nigeria as recently
unveiled by the National Universities Commission.

“During the welcome session of the global media and information literacy week organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the minister noted the need for individuals to be adequately equipped with enough knowledge to manage the information at their disposal.

The Minister of Information said, “The theme of this year’s Global MIL week, which is ‘Nur- turing Trust: A Media and Information Literacy Imperative’ is not only apt but also timely as our world and its leaders contend with the challenge of identifying what is true and what is false, given the use of media and information.

“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.”

In his remarks earlier, the Director-General (DG) of Audrey Azoulay, represented by Mr. Tawfik Jelasi, Assistant DG, Communication and Information sector, UNESC, wondered how the world can ensure that information is a
public good is preserved as such.

She stressed the need to collaborate with tech companies, work on the demand and supply side, and as well, the users of the platforms to make them media and information literate.

The UNESCO DG counselled that people should authenticate the sources of information before liking and sharing, noting that the organization is embarking on awareness to integrate these into the educational system.

“We need to act now to make cyberspace, a place truly for information for the public good,”she affirmed.