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Chairman/Publisher of The Guardian Newspapers, Lady Maiden Alex Ibru, (MFR) and Nigeria’s first female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Folake Solanke, (CON) will be chairpersons for the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) conference billed for the 4th and 5th of November, 2021.

The 2021 conference which also marks its 20th anniversary aptly themed ‘Celebrating Legacy’, also features an interesting line-up of iconic events and other legendary personalities to grace the week-long celebrations specially curated to spotlight the non-profit’s 20-year contribution to elevating the status of women in Nigeria and Africa.

Other personalities for the conference are Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Economist and Founder, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Atedo Peterside, CON; former Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, Ibukun Awosika, as well as founder, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (now GTCo) and FATE Foundation, Fola Adeola.

For the first time in the history of WIMBIZ, five pre-conference events will be rolled out as part of its 20th anniversary. They include Legends Ball, Art and Fashion Exhibition, Golf Tournament, Virtual Masterclasses and a special edition of its Big Sister (a corporate social responsibility programme).

The Chairperson of the Executive Council WIMBIZ, Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo at a recent briefing stated: “We are excited to reflect on the WIMBIZ story and our journey thus far, it has been an awesome run; but where do we go from here? We are still very challenged. When we look at the numbers of representation, particularly in politics, we are still significantly underrepresented. So, on the one hand, we are celebrating progress, on the other hand, there is still a lot to be done. We encourage everyone to join us so we work as a collective to build a new narrative for women; the power is in our hands,” she enthused.

Speaking to the WIMBIZ legacy and its impact on the wider community, Executive Director, WIMBIZ, Hansatu Adegbite, said, “WIMBIZ is focused on nation-building and one person or group can’t build a nation, we all have a role to play in the development of our nation especially as it concerns gender parity and inclusivity.”

The 20th WIMBIZ Anniversary and Annual Conference will tell the stories of pacesetters and celebrate women who have shattered ceilings, overcome adversity, broken stereotypes, enabled empowerment and creating opportunities for all. To be a part of the exciting activities follow our online platforms, more importantly as a hybrid conference you can register to attend online or offline on www.wimbizannualconference.com.”

Source: Guardian NG

The move is coming in a project tagged “CrossCheck Nigeria’’, a collaborative information verification initiative powered by First Draft, a United Kingdom organisation fighting misinformation globally.

CrossCheck Nigeria, due to be launched on Wednesday, will be coordinated by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), an independent and non-profit news agency in the country.

To this end, a two-day boot camp (training programme) opened in Lagos on Monday for about 46 journalists drawn from the participating media organisations.

Addressing participants at the opening session, the Executive Director of First Draft, Dr Claire Wardle, said the project was aimed at improving the quality of information available to the voting public.

Wardle added that CrossCheck Nigeria would also help to debunk misinformation and fake news and sanitise the media space in the run-up to the elections.

She explained that the boot camp was designed to teach the participants about the new verification technology to be deployed for the project, and how to work in the media coalition.

According to her, the project will help the public to understand not only what to trust, but also why.

In his address of welcome, the Executive Director of ICIR, Mr Dayo Aiyetan, expressed concern about the “weaponisation of information either to deceive the public or injure the reputation of opponents’’.

Aiyetan stated that recent local elections in the country had shown that “the social media, including Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, have become avenues for politicians to spread misinformation, rumour, falsehood and fake news.

He noted that the media had a responsibility to verify information being churned out on social media to ensure that they were true.

Journalists need to learn the skills to verify and fact-check such misinformation and debunk them before they mislead people or cause harm,” he stated.

The ICIR boss explained that under the project, the participating organisations would work together in disproving fake news or misinformation for greater impact on members of the public.

The participating organisations are NAN, The Guardian, Punch, Daily Trust, The Sun, Tribune, Thisday and The Nation.

Others are Freedom Radio, Premium Times, The Cable, Sahara Reporters, ICIR and Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Source: Pulse News