To honour Oso, others at confab

The Association of Communication Scholars & Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) has urged the Nigerian media to strengthen its capacity to understand Artificial Intelligence (AI), detect misinformation and disinformation, and promote electoral integrity ahead of the 2027 general elections.

National President of the association, Prof. Rotimi Williams Olatunji, gave the charge yesterday at a media briefing to herald the 2026 ACSPN yearly conference scheduled to hold at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Abuja.

Olatunji said the rapid transformation of the communication environment through AI, social media, digital platforms, algorithms and data-driven political communication had created new challenges for democracy and electoral communication.

He said the theme of the conference, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication,” was designed to address the emerging challenges.

The ACSPN President stressed the need for closer collaboration between communication scholars and media professionals to ensure that citizens had access to credible information before, during and after the elections.

According to him, the media has a critical responsibility to promote fact-based public discourse, challenge misinformation and disinformation, and provide citizens with reliable information to make informed democratic choices.

Olatunji described ACSPN and the media as “two wings of one bird,” stressing that neither scholarship nor professional practice could effectively address the challenges confronting electoral communication in isolation.

He, however, urged media organisations to interrogate the implications of AI, social media, algorithms, data analytics and digital platforms for the 2027 elections, while calling on scholars to make research findings more accessible to journalists, policymakers and the public.

Olatunji also appealed to the media to partner with ACSPN in taking the discussions at the conference beyond the academic community and making them relevant to citizens across the country.

He said the 2026 conference would contribute to the national conversation on the future of democracy in an increasingly digital Nigeria and Africa, adding that the association would use the conference to generate evidence, interrogate assumptions and propose solutions capable of strengthening the relationship between scholarship, professional practice, policymaking and citizen participation.

He said the association would also introduce its Fellowship and Special Awards to recognise outstanding contributions to communication scholarship, professional practice and national development.

The ACSPN President disclosed that posthumous fellowship awards would be conferred on the pioneer President of the association, the late Prof. Lai Oso; a founding member, the late Prof. Dayo Alao, among others.

He said the awards would help to preserve the association’s institutional memory and promote continuity and intergenerational mentorship.