BudgIT, Enough is Enough (EiE), and Paradigm Initiative (PIN) will hold the fourth edition of the New Media, Citizens, and Governance Conference (NMCG) on 20 and 21, October, 2020, the organisers have announced.
The virtual conference, themed ‘New Media and Voice: Hashtags, Action and People’, will focus on freedom of speech, virtual public hearings, digital economy amongst others.
Development Diaries understands that new media played an unprecedented role in the 2011 general election in Nigeria, as officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) welcomed the assistance of civil society volunteers with its Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as a new media situation room which received feedback from the public.
According to the organisers of the NMCG, the fourth edition of the conference will provide a platform for analysts, policymakers, and citizens to discuss key issues from various perspectives to proffer solutions and strategise pathways to mitigate challenges as the world grapples with Covid-19 crisis.
The Director of BudgIT, Oluseun Onigbinde, said, ‘Our reality is changing, and the pandemic has led to the emergence of a new culture of engagement in all spheres of life including civic and political matters.
‘There are other salient issues that are spin-offs from the pandemic and one of these includes the recent gag on freedom of speech and expression by governments across the world, the rising cases of sexual and gender-based violence across Africa have also become a ‘shadow’ pandemic.
‘The conference will provide a platform for analysts, policymakers, and citizens to discuss these issues from various perspectives with the purpose of proffering solutions and strategising pathways to mitigate some of the challenges posed by the new normal’.
As for the PIN’s Executive-Director, Gbenga Sesan, he said, ‘Although the pandemic has forced a new way of life for everyone, we must not lose sight of critical issues that affect how we engage in the digital age.
‘Clampdowns and violations of citizen’s digital rights heightened during the lockdowns.
‘The only way to preserve the rights and ability of citizens to use digital platforms for either activism or economic survival is to continue to assert the importance of these rights as a precondition to the desired gains of a digital economy for most African nations’.
While BudgIT, which is a civic organisation, uses technology to simplify the budget and matters of public spending for citizens, EiE is a coalition of Nigerian youth advocacy groups that promotes better governance and political accountability in the country; and on its part, PIN advocates digital rights in order to improve the livelihoods of under-served young Africans.
Source: Paradigm Initiative
Photo source: NMCG