Female Journalists have been advised to serve as catalysts for credible elections in the 2023 general elections.
The Executive Director International Press Center (IPC) Mr Lanre Arogundade gave this advice in his address at the two-day skill enhancing and capacity building/ mentoring workshop for female journalists by the International Press Center in collaboration with the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ).
Mr Arogundade said the workshop is one of the activities being implemented by IPC, as the lead partner and the institute for media and society (IMS) under component 4: support to media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN11) project.
According to Mr Arogundade “the training is aimed at enhancing the professionalism of media practitioners especially women, strengthening of media professional capacity to deal with electoral misinformation and disinformation, improving media engagements in promoting women, youths and marginalised groups in politics”.
He also urged participants to make use of the skills acquired in the next two days to combat fake news, provide civic and voter education and inspire other forms of engagement with the media that encourage the people particularly the underrepresented groups like women, youths, and persons with disabilities to vote and be voted for.
He however expressed gratitude that the workshop is being organised in partnership with NAWOJ which he said underscores their joint commitment to building the capacity of female journalists so that they could be change agents in Nigeria’s democratic process.
In her address, the president of Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) comrade Ladi Bala said the training is indeed a milestone achievement because it is the first time NAWOJ is being officially recognised and engaged on an EU-funded project through its media partners in Nigeria.
According to her “this training, therefore, is aimed at exposing female journalists to the rudiments of effective reportage and mentorship preparatory to reporting the electoral process”.
“As we move closer to 2023, the critical role of the journalists in the conduct and promotion of peaceful electoral processes in Nigeria is key and must not be handled carelessly”.
She, therefore, appealed to participants to utilise the opportunity and learn new skills that will improve their capacity and enhance the quality of news reports.
More than 40 female journalists drawn from broadcast, print, and online media of states in the South East, South West, and Southern Nigeria attended the two-day skill enhancing and capacity building workshop in Port Harcourt, Rivers State Capital.
Dominica Nwabufo
