From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhamamdu Buhari has decried the use of misinformation to aggravate conflicts, exacerbate insecurity, distort government efforts, fuel apprehension among citizens and create distrust between governments and their peoples.
He stated this, yesterday, in Abuja at the official opening of the 11th session of the Global Media and Information Literacy Week organised by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, he described misinformation as clear danger for both media practitioners and stakeholders, saying getting reliable information had nowbecome a constant battle.
The President said social media offered the populace nearly limitless opportunities which must be harnessed, especially by the youths to strengthen the foundations of society and common values.
He, however, said in confronting challenges of rising misinformation and hate speech there was need for all to come together to defend freedom of speech, while upholding other values that people cherish.
“We must continue to work for a common standard that balances rights with responsibilities 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 information received and shared which I believe is a key component of the MIL programme this week. The MIL has over the years proven to be a veritable tool in building the capacities of individuals and communities to learn, decipher, educate and effectively use data and information for the common good.”
Buhari while underscoring the importance of the use of social media which also underscores its potential to mould, shape and form opinion, noted that 59 per cent of the world population uses social media which represents three out of every five person 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 two consecutive football games of 90 minutes each, over 70 per cent of the people who use social media are 13 years and older; of the top four social media platforms three are interactive sites Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram,” he said.
He said Nigeria had a population of about 220 million people, 37 per cent under 34 years and that the country had about 100 million internet users, of which about 32 million were social media users.
Buhari said Nigeria’s hosting the Global Media and Information Literacy Week depicts the country’s commitment to the promotion of media and information literacy.