- Safiu Kehinde
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris has, today, paid a visit to the London headquarters of the British Broadcasting Commission.
This was dicsclosed in statement issued by the Special Assistant to the minister on media, Rabiu Ibrahim.
As contained in the statement, Idris’ visit was part of a bridge-building and cooperation efforts between Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation and foreign and local media houses.
Meeting with BBC’s top management, headed by Mr Jonathan Munro, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the BBC News and Director of the BBC World Service, the minister advocated for fostering understanding as a key element in driving development.
He harped on the need for media houses with global reach to deepen their understanding of the socio-political, economic, and cultural characteristics of the societies they report on, while BBC to promote balance in their stories about Nigeria and also reports progress and accomplishments obtained in the country.
”The media plays an indispensable role in shaping the right narratives, fostering understanding, and driving development, and as such, it is incumbent on media houses with global reach to deepen their understanding of the socio-political, economic, and cultural characteristics of the societies they report on,
”Nigeria has a flourishing youth population with uncommon zeal to seize positive opportunities even in the face of immense challenges, a situation that warrants more emphasis on positive outcomes in Nigeria,” Idris posited.” The Minister said.
Meanwhile, Idris highlighted some of the challenges amongst Nigerian youths as related to information dissemination and management which include the rapid spread of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news.
These ,he said, hinders progress and erodes trust between government and the people.
Recall that the Minister also made similar facility visit to Nigerian media houses which include Channels Television and Arise TV Station earlier this month.