By News Express on 27/10/2018
Views: 640
• Cross section of participants at the event
Citizens and experts have assessed the important role new media plays in entrenching democratic practices in Nigeria. They spoke on Wednesday, October 24, at the New Media, Citizens and Governance (NMCG) conference in Abuja.
In his keynote address, Chidi Odinkalu, the former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), praised the role new media has played in ensuring dissemination of information and demystifying the aura around power.
“The power of new media has made it easy to access the innermost corners of Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja. Places like the Presidential Villa where people are being barred from taking pictures already exist in Google Maps,” Odinkalu said.
Speaking during the session titled “Are Elections Won on the Timeline?”, Demola Olarewaju, a digital media expert and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), considered digital tools as crucial to the success of Nigeria’s democracy, saying “by leveraging the tools of the internet, we can confront rigging and limit its impact on our elections.”
Sesugh Akume of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) said the Nigerian people can further use the power of social media to “counter the APC-PDP dichotomy that has dominated political discourse in Nigeria. If active Nigerians decide to expand the discussion beyond APC and PDP, they can easily do these with social media.”
Speakers at the conference also spoke about the limitation of social media and the new challenges its deployment has thrown up.
Odinkalu said: “One of the major problems with new media today is influence without responsibility. So, social media is today driving up violence and other vices. I know some people who have almost been driven to suicide because of bullying that goes on online.”
Supported by Facebook, MacArthur Foundation, Luminate & Palladium, the NMCG is a biennial event that was last held in 2016. The 2-day conference is hosted by Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE), Paradigm Initiative and BudgIT to discuss the theme, “Government, New Media, and Civic Spaces.”
Tope Ogundipe, the Director of Programmes at Paradigm Initiative, said the organisers are pleased with the turnout on the first day of the conference and hope “the conversations will help provide clarity to the issues raised here while also energising citizens to take their role in the democratic process more seriously.”
Source News Express
Posted 27/10/2018 05:19:48 AM
CLASSIFIED ADS
FG probes alleged tax evasion by NNPC, international...
Gowon should think again
NiMet says to expect sunny conditions today in...
Sit-at-Home: We know nothing about attack on NDLEA...
Ogoni threaten to boycott 2015 elections
Yobe Govt. drafts document against open defecation
Boko Haram: UNDP intensifies training of Civilian JTF,...
Man remanded in prison custody for defrauding Chinese...
Shocker: Parents donate children to Boko Haram for...
Atiku visits PDP Secretariat, reiterate commitment towards a...
Northern groups seek declaration of state of emergency...
Court orders arrest of Imo Commissioners, Directors
Anxiety over Buhari’s failure to constitute cabinet
Fear grips lawmakers as FG begins probe of constituency projects
Kogi 2019 Guber: 20 APC governorship aspirants move against Yahaya Bello
Ihedioha suspends Imo LG chairmen, councillors, appointees; dissolves ISIEC, statutory boards, all government agencies
Why we can’t disclose asset declarations by presidents, governors — CCB
Insecurity: Police to install CCTVs nationwide
Magu warns LG chairmen, councillors against corruption
UNICEF condemns use of children as human bombs in Nigeria’s North-East
10,665 killed in Nigeria in 2018: Report
Prevail on FG to convoke a constitutional conference, Intersociety begs EU, US, Canada, others •Identifies 8 missing points in EU Report on 2019 Polls
Akeredolu sacks three commissioners
No court order stopped investigation into Kano Emirate funds, says anti-graft agency
NUDE PHOTO OF OMOTOLA JALADE-EKEINDE surfaces online (494,664 views)
Nigerian female sex addict opens up, says ‘I like it with both men and women’ (425,603 views)
Shameless Genevieve Nnaji exposes breasts in public (365,449 views)
Finally named: The full list of friends of Nigerian female sex addict who prowled Facebook (312,079 views)
OLUMBA OLUMBA OBU (the one who called himself God) IS DEAD (276,343 views)
Igbo scholar disgraces Femi Fani-Kayode •Demolishes claims on Igbo/Yoruba history with facts and figures (244,057 views)
Breaking News: POPULAR REVEREND CONVERTS TO ISLAM in Kaduna (Nigeria) (234,050 views)
OBJ’s son reported dead in Lagos plane crash •Names of more victims emerge (215,937 views)
10 cars more expensive than Jets (212,924 views)
My wasted years in Olumba Olumba Obu’s Evil Brotherhood (204,519 views)
Lagos plane crash: Journalist releases victims’ names (184,584 views)
THE FINAL DISGRACE: Igbo scholar unleashes more facts about Igbo/Yoruba history, finishes off Femi Fani-Kayode with second article (183,901 views)
