By Tony Okafor, Awka
Wikimedia Anambra Network, a subsidiary of the Wikimedia User Group, Nigeria, in collaboration with Anambra State ICT Agency, has commenced
mapping out of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), streets and Markets in Anambra state on Wikidata.
Speaking on Wednesday in Awka, the President of Wikimedia network in Anambra, Dr. Ngozi Osuchukwu ,
said the organization was committed to providing Anambra state with global visibility, attracting investment opportunities, and driving development advancements across sectors of the state.
She stated this at the opening of a two-week training titled, “Building the Repositories of Sectors in Anambra State for Knowledge and Sustained Data: Mapping out all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Streets and Markets in Anambra state on Wikidata.”
She said the decision followed findings indicating the state’s ‘conspicuous lagging’ in Wikidata, assuring the group’s effort in changing the narrative by showcasing the state’s wealth of information and opportunities on the world’s largest encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
She said the goal would be achieved through awareness creation on all the State’s MDAs, Streets and Markets through the Wikidata programme targeted at enhancing both the State’s economy and standard of living of the citizenry.
She said, “Wikidata is a repository of information where items, sectors, fields, organisations as well as their location pictures worth knowing are compiled so people can easily locate them on the Google map.
“Anambra State is conspicuously lagging behind in wikidata. As a big state and light of the nation, it should not be found wanting when it comes to visibility in the country and across the globe.
“Our target is to ensure that the state is prominent and visible for the world to know all that are in the state. Mind you, Anambra has the largest market in West Africa. These and more are what we want to showcase.
“Today is in-person training, which will be followed by online training for the remaining weeks. For this particular activity, we’re targeting a minimum of 150 markets out of the over 400 markets we have in the state.”
Expressing optimism over the trainees active participation in documenting all sectors of the state, Osuchukwu said the training would offer them opportunity to build their skills in Wikidata and ignite their interests towards adding more value to themselves and society.
Special Assistant to the Governor on MDA Support, Mr. Castro Ideke, who spoke in place of the MD/CEO of the Anambra State ICT Agency, commended the initiative, describing it as laudable and one that would undoubtedly place Anambra on the global map.
“On behalf of the MD/CEO, we will do our best to support this by ensuring that only correct and authentic data is put out there,” Mr. Ideke added.
