‘The Africa We want,’ UNILAG Lecturer, Olunifesi Suraj Inaugurates African Chapter of UNESCO MILID University Network
Dr. Olunifesi Suraj, a distinguished Scholar of Strategic Communication and Disinformation and one of the foremost global thought leaders on Media, Information and Digital Literacy in his capacity as the Co-Lead of the UNESCO global network of Universities (UNITWIN) on Media and Information Literacy has inaugurated the African Chapter of the UNESCO MILID Universities Network on 9th December, 2024.
The event which was hosted online attracted a lot of participants from African Universities in the different regions of Africa, the UNESCO Regional Offices including the headquarter office in Paris, UNESCO National Commission Office and other UN agencies.
In his concept note titled the “Africa We Want”, the highly referred University Don expressed in no ambiguity tone that it is high time Africa as a continent takes her own destiny in her own hand. The Don who is highly sought after in regards to Media and Information Literacy believed that: “It has become imperative that the African Chapter of the UNESCO MILID UNITWIN University Network be inaugurated in order to harness all the Media and Information Literacy initiatives within the continent to help address the challenges peculiar to African development. The University Don stated that, “The need to address a regional and continental challenges while also collaborating with global partners to address common challenges justify the establishment of African chapter of the UNESCO MILID UNITWIN University Network as presently being conceived”.
Reiterating the words of Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, on the need to radically change course and shape alternative futures for Africa and humanity, Dr Olunifesi Suraj said “The newly inaugurated African Chapter of the UNESCO-MILID University Network is posed to provide indigenous solution to solve African peculiar challenges by shaping alternative future for Africa”. The University Don believed that “the African chapter of the UNESCO MILID UNITWIN University will cultivate Media and Information Literacy initiatives in Africa and harvest it for the continent’s common needs and universal good.
The University Don, who emphatically stated the need for African Media Right Agenda as the Right to development during his presentation on the Declaration to Right to development in University of Dayton, Ohio, USA emphasized the collaborative nature of the African Chapter of the network: “By focusing on ‘Transforming Knowledge for Africa’s Future’, the newly inaugurated African Chapter intend to collaborate with policymakers, academics, industry leaders, and international partners to strengthen interdisciplinary research and collaboration across Africa while fostering mutually beneficial global partnerships”.
Collaborating the words of Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Information and Communication on the ability of Media and Information Literacy in improving understanding of key topics for sustainable development, Dr Olunifesi Suraj stated that: “The African Chapter of UNESCO UNITWIN UNESCO-MILID network intend to promote Media Information and Digital Literacy to address the challenges of the 21st century including Africa information integrity, the decline of trust in media and digital innovations notably Artificial Intelligence while addressing the African Stainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda”
According to Dr Olunifesi Suraj, the African chapter of the UNESCO University network will help to harness all the African developmental initiatives by localizing the global solutions using Media and Information literacy strategy. In his words, “Having taken into consideration, the Operational Strategy for Priority Africa 2022-2029, the evaluation of the previous Strategy 2014-2021 conducted by the Internal Oversight Service, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 “The Africa We Want”, Kampala 2020 “MOULD” Action plan, the various activities of UNESCO Africa Group, programme sectors at Headquarters, field offices in Africa and the Bureau of Strategic Planning, the African Chapter of the UNESCO MILID University Network will work towards actualizing the Agenda 2063 renew vision for “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens, representing a dynamic force in the international arena”.
The African chapter which is to be headed by Prof. Olunifesi Suraj (who equally double as the co-lead of the global UNESCO University Network on Media and Information Literacy), will have her headquarter in University of Lagos, Nigeria while having its regional offices in other four regions of Africa.
Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue University Network (MILID) is an international university research network set up by UNESCO and the United Nation Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), with a deep commitment to promote media and information literate societies on a global scale. The UNESCO MILID Network was set-up within the framework of the UNESCO University Twinning and Networking programme (UNITWIN), which serves as a platform for building the capacities of higher education and research, and for facilitating the integration between academic world, civil society, local communities, research and policy-making. Its broad areas of activities include Research, Education and Participation. Underpinning the Network is the need to give impetus to research that can inform policies on MIL and Intercultural Dialogue. The UNESC MILID Network seeks to ensure that the collective knowledge and expertise are not only shared, but are also reflected in the elaboration of strategic projects at national, regional and international levels.
