For UNESCO, illiteracy is a social media ‘war’

Moved by what appear like a slow response to the global campaign for inclusive literacy, the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation, brought the world together on social media on Tuesday for a conversation on the cause, saying everybody deserves a life-long learning opportunity.

As the world marked the International Literacy Day, its five tweets on #LiteracyDay, #InternationalLiteracyDay, #LifeLongLearning and #RightToEducation received far-reaching endorsements on social media with the hashtags trending across the world.

Few hours after UNESCO’s posted its remarks and infographics, #InternationalLiteracyDay went viral, topping worldwide Twitter trends and those of other countries, including Nigeria.

The commission, by its tweets, may have proved the effectiveness of social media in championing a social cause.

Apart from the engagements generated by its tweets, illiteracy was among the most discussed issues on the Internet on Tuesday. Individuals and corporate entities used the opportunity to test their popularity on the cyberspace, publishing self-generated campaigns on the cause. 

Locally, a few corporate organisations, especially the multinationals, responded to UNESCO’s call for action. At least, they sent messages to Nigerians via their social media profiles.

Some of the Nigerian companies that participated went into their corporate social responsibility files to pull out their flagship initiatives to support education.

Yet, the online buzz around illiteracy might have exposed the weakness of some critical industries in terms of response to traffic-pulling trends. For instance, local banks, even though a few of them have education-support programmes, did not put their brands behind the campaign.

  

According to UNESCO, two-thirds of global illiterate adults are female. It insisted that education was a fundamental human right every individual should have access to. Both genders, it said, should be given equal opportunities to learning.

“Literacy is a fundamental human right. Fifty-nine per cent of the world’s youth illiterate population are female. Sustainable development begins with education, and education begins with literacy,” it tweeted.

                                                            

Canvassing for a life-long learning, UNESCO said everybody, at every stage of life, should be given an opportunity to acquire education.

While civil society groups and concerned individuals rallied round the organisation to draw support for eradication of illiteracy, the political class seemed to distance themselves from the cause. From the United States President, Barack Obama, to the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, who are quick to share their support for similar campaigns on social media, there was no message of hope for millions of Africans, Asians and Latin Americans who are denied the opportunity to get education.

Also, some Nigerian political office holders had not make statement to support the global efforts towards reducing illiteracy.

Coincidentally, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Monday, unveiled what he called Saraki Pension Scholarship Fund during which he called on privileged Nigerians to support education. According to a post on his website, the scholarship is a fulfilment of his promise to give back his pension as a former governor of Kwara State to his people.  

   

Saraki said, “It is my belief that the best resource Nigeria has to propel its development is its human resource. The best brains in the world are in this country.