Nigeria Pledges Timely Launch of UNESCO MIL Institute in Abuja

 ….President Tinubu has approved release of all required funds for operationalization — Minister

Nigeria remains fully committed to seeing the full operationalisation of the Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Institute for which it has been awarded hosting rights by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, fnipr, stated this in Paris on Thursday during a meeting with the UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, on the sidelines of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s State Visit to France.

Recalling his previous meeting with Dr. Jelassi, in 2023, Minister Idris reiterated Nigeria’s gratitude to UNESCO for the honour of hosting a Category 2 MIL Institute, the only one of its kind in the world.

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He said that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been very supportive of the take-off process, and has approved the release of all funds required for the immediate operationalisation of the Institute, which will be located in the Federal Capital Territory.

Responding, Dr. Jelani expressed his eagerness to see the Institute take off in Nigeria. He described the imminent take-off of the institute as being very timely, given the growing impact of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech around the world, as well as the increasing importance of a safer and trusted internet, among UNESCO’s priorities. The goal of the guidelines, he explained, is to promote critical thinking and platform transparency, whilst also safeguarding freedom of expression.

Additionally, the Assistant Director-General informed the Minister about the UNESCO MIL Cities initiative, which seeks to integrate and embed the concept of Media and Information Literacy into the design and daily operations of cities around the world, including transport systems, community activities, culture, billboards, and so on.

Minister Idris welcomed the initiative and pledged to ensure that Nigeria takes prompt advantage of it, and presents a city that will be among the inaugural set of MIL Cities in the world.

Discussions also touched on UNESCO’s new Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms, published in 2023 following a multi-stakeholder consultation that assembled more than 10,000 submissions from 134 countries. Dr. Jelassi presented copies of the document to Minister Idris, who assured that Nigeria will work with all relevant stakeholders to domesticate the guidelines and ensure a safer and more responsible internet for all Nigerians.

Minister Idris was accompanied to the meeting, which held at the UNESCO Headquarters, by Nigeria’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Dr. Hajo Sani OON.