By Izunna Okafor, Awka
A one-day training on how to create, edit, or improve contents on the Wikipedia, has come to an end in Awka, Anambra State, with a call on the participants to keep contributing to the growth of Wikipedia and its contents.
The event, which held over the weekend, was organised by Wikimedia Anambra Network (WAN), in collaboration with the Nigerian Library Association (NLA), Anambra State Chapter, and Development Initiative for Technology and Empowerment (DITEm).
WAN, which is an arm of Wikimedia User Group Nigeria (WUGN), was inaugurated in September, 2022 in Awka, and has, since its inception, organized different Wikimedia programs on Community-driven initiatives. DITEm, on the other, is a non-government organization (NGO), registered with CAC since 2018, and has been involved with development practices on community, health, literacy and Wikimedia. NLA, Anambra State Chapter, is a Professional Association for Librarians, which belongs to the National Library Association, and which operates on all sectors of information engagement and sharing.
The event featured training on how to edit or improve existing articles on the Wikipedia, create new ones or translate existing English articles into Igbo language. It also featured brief sensitisation on cancer, and practical session on editing, creating, and improving some Wikipedia articles on cancer-related topics.
Speaking at the event which was held the same day with the 2023 World Cancer Day, the Coordinator, Wikimedia Anambra Network and Chairperson, Nigerian Library Association (NLA), Anambra State Chapter, Dr. Ngozi Perpetua Osuchukwu said the gathering was aimed at creating awareness on cancer, its symptoms, treatment and management; even as she also used the medium to dissect the theme of this year’s World Cancer Day, and harped on the need to care for cancer patients and to regularly examine oneself.
Dr. Osuchukwu, a lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said the aim of the event also include to contribute Cancer knowledge through Edit-a-thon on Wikimedia, which involves creating articles, improving articles, adding photos, adding Wikidata and translating articles.
While expressing gladness with the turnout at the event, she revealed that the Edit-a-thon will run for one week, even as she advised the Wikimedians to continue contributing by adding accurate and authentic sources to Wikipedia articles.
“Everyone should care for cancer scourge. We all should learn to close the care gap by visiting cancer patients, helping them take care of their needs, supporting their treatment, loving them and praying for them. They are still alive and passing difficult moments. We should show them love and care,” Dr. Osuchukwu advised.
She appreciated all the partners and the participants for being part of the success story of the program, while also specially commending Dr. Nkem Osuigwe, Mrs Peace Chinwendu Anyanwu, and the mother group of Wikimedians in Nigeria, the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria (WUGN), for all their supports and advice which helped to make the event a success.
One of the participants at the event and former Director of the Anambra State Library Board, Dr. Nkechi Udeze commended the groups for putting up the event, while also urging them and other participants to sustain the good work, even as she re-emphasized the need for regular examination of one’s body and caring for cancer patients.
