US-based communication expert establishes media literacy centre in IMT Enugu

A US-based Nigerian and media expert, Uchenna Ekwo, has established a Media and Digital Centre at the Mass Communication Department of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Enugu State.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Ekwo, an alumnus of the institute, also presented certificates to some staff members of the department trained on media and literacy in Enugu on Monday.

Speaking at the event, Mr Ekwo, who is the president of the Consortium for International Education and Development (CIED), New York, urged staff members and students to embrace digital and media literacy to adapt to the changing world.

He said that as an alumnus of IMT, he decided to give back to his alma mater by establishing the centre.

Mr Ekwo emphasised the need for both staff and students to be trained in the necessary digital and media skills to adapt to the changing world and combat misinformation.

The media expert, who was once a chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Enugu Council, noted that from social networks to news platforms, mobile phones to artificial intelligence, media now mediates how people see reality itself.

He said that digital and media literacy was no longer optional but a civic skill, a professional competency, and increasingly, a survival skill in modern society.

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“Nigeria and across Africa’s future of democracy, development, and social cohesion will depend on citizens who can interpret information responsibly, tell their own stories authentically, and use media as a tool for empowerment rather than manipulation.

“To be digitally and media literate is not merely to know how to use a smartphone, create content, or navigate platforms, but also about who created this message and why.

“What assumptions does this content make? Whose voices are amplified, and whose are silenced? How can technology be used for development rather than division?

“This programme has equipped our graduates not just with technical skills, but with critical awareness, ethical judgment, and civic consciousness,” Mr Ekwo said.

He explained that the certificates received by the staff members represented resilience in committing to learning in a rapidly changing digital environment and readiness to participate responsibly in the digital public sphere.

“It also represents responsibility, to combat misinformation, disinformation, and harmful narratives as well as relevance, in a global economy where digital skills open doors to opportunities,” he stressed

Mr Ekwo challenged the staff members to use their skills to promote truth, not falsehood, build digital communities rooted in respect, inclusion, and empathy and apply their knowledge to solve local problems with global tools.

He commended Consortium for International Education and Development for its vision and commitment to using education as a bridge between knowledge and development, between local realities and global opportunities.

Mr Ekwo thanked the IMT for providing not just physical space, but intellectual partnership in nurturing digitally empowered citizens.

He explained that out of 13 staff registered for the training, only five graduated due to the rigorous nature of the programme, explaining that they were the first cohort that had completed their basic course.

‘Very good initiative’

In his remarks, the Rector of IMT, Gozie Ogbodo, described the digital and media centre at Mass Communication Department of the institution as a “very good initiative”.

He said the initiative aligned into new IMT project, whereby the school had been campaigning that every student should key into one skill before graduation.

“So we expect that our students should take advantage of many of these opportunities which we have provided them to acquire a skill, so that when they graduate with their diploma, they would, in the same process, acquire a life-sustaining skill,” he advised.

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Thanking Mr Ekwo for giving back to his former school, Mr Ogbodo, a professor, pledged to continue to support the centre to ensure it was sustained.

A beneficiary, Jonah Mamah, while thanking the Consortium for International Education and Development and IMT for the training, said that it was a life-changing initiative while the digital skill he and others acquired would assist them in life.

(NAN)