UNESCO Media Literacy Institute will curb falsehood, fake news – Minister

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, says the UNESCO Media and Information literacy institute will help address falsehoods and trace malicious campaigns.

Idris stated this at the Progressive Governors Summit for APC states’ Commissioners of Information in Maiduguri, which has the theme “FGN Synergy 2025: One Message, One Future.”

According to the minister, the upcoming UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Institute in Abuja will equip teams to forensically debunk falsehoods, trace malicious campaigns, and saturate the digital space with credible, engaging content that reclaims our national story

“Central to this effort is the National Values Charter, a critical agent of change and national reorientation that will soon be unveiled by President Tinubu.

“The Charter, a creation of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) is structured to infuse patriotism, protect the country and citizens, and unify around one indivisible country.”

Idris further explained that the National Values Charter will be the most potent counter-narrative to negative foreign mischaracterization of Nigeria.

According to him, the Charter defines who we are: a people committed to unity in diversity, resilience, and mutual respect.

He urged stakeholders to ensure the Charter is made the foundation of all state-level communication, by using it to actively promote a narrative of shared identity that renders divisive labels meaningless.

“Fellow party men and women, we must proclaim the great performance of the APC administration under President Bola Tinubu, a reformer second-to-none, who is gradually leading us towards economic efficiency.

“This is translating policies into measurable impact, in relation to industrialisation, infrastructure, competitiveness, inclusion, sustainable institutions, and unlocking investment.

“In other words, we are talking about the Renewed Hope Agenda, which first started with the emphatic removal of the rentier oil subsidy and the floatation of the naira,” Idris said.

Our correspondent reports that the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Institute, sited in the National Open University of Nigeria would be certified in November at the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.