By: Ajadi Sodiq
A media society, Students’ Media and Information Literacy Club (SMILC) has on Wednesday, 19th April 2023 organized a training session on media and information literacy for students at the University of Ibadan.
The event which was sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was held at the SRC Chamber, Kunle Adepeju Students’ Union Building.
The gathering had in attendance the presence of the Coordinator, Women’s Research Center, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Dr. Sharon Omotoso; Community Manager, One Young World, who also doubles as the Coordinator, UNESCO Youth MIL Committee, Mr. Daniel Nwaeze; and Founder/Executive Director, Educaind Education Initiate (EEI) Ayotunde Ikulamberu as the facilitators of the training.
Speaking about the initiative, the co-founder of the SMIL Club, Mr. Josiah Ubong Josiah spoke about the ideas that led to the formation of the organization, which started from a conversation between the two founders in a political science class during their days as students at the University.
“Students’ Media and Information Literacy Club (SMILC) is an African youth-led organization empowering young people across different disciplines with media and information literacy skills and the capacity to advocate for media and information literacy in their various communities to fight against misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories through a variety of initiatives, including conferences, workshops, and university-based chapters.”
He noted that the aims and outlook of the organization and the spread to other institutions in Nigeria UI, UNILAG, LASU, and many other schools were to spread the essential knowledge of media literacy.
“To ensure people practice sincerity in media literacy, to be sure before they share; and train the trainer about media literacy in every part of Africa and globally. UNESCO usually organizes such every year and this program has been funded by different countries like Germany and many others,” said Mr. Josiah.
Given the huge impact of the media, the training focused on disseminating enlightenment to students on the need to subject the media to critical thinking and safe consumption of information from the media.
