Journalists in Nigeria’s financial sector have been advised to advance their skills and knowledge to meet up with evolving systems in the financial sector to build a sector fit for the future.
The charge by Saturday, Editor of THISDAY Newspaper, Obinna Chima, came in a paper delivered at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-organised 34th Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors in Abuja.
Chima said Nigeria’s financial landscape had changed fundamentally, and the media must prove it is keeping pace.
“Nigeria cannot build a genuinely future-ready financial system without future-ready financial media,” Chima said.
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He further said the stakes were high because financial systems depend on public confidence.
“Financial systems operate on trust, and the quality of information available to the public, investors, depositors, businesses and policymakers has a direct bearing on that trust. The journalist stands between highly technical financial institutions and the public, who mostly do not speak the language of banking, monetary policy or financial markets.
The journalist, through information dissemination, connects the ordinary man on the street, the bankers, the banks, the market women on the street, the students, teachers, politicians, etc., together.”
He said Nigeria was “building a financial system that is fundamentally different from the one financial journalists covered a decade ago,” pointing to banking recapitalisation, tax reform and the fintech revolution.
Chima traced the transformation from digital banking to fintech, mobile payments and new financial services, a progression he said has blurred industry boundaries and placed new demands on financial journalism.
He said reporting must go beyond simply relaying data to uncovering what drives financial performance.
“The focus must shift from what institutions say to what the numbers reveal. The future financial journalist must be an interpreter, investigator, educator and watchdog.”
Under the pressure to publish quickly, Chima drew a firm line, stating that “In financial journalism, credibility is more valuable than being first.”
The editor also cast the media as a champion of financial literacy, tasked with explaining financial reforms, connecting policy to people and driving financial education.
He said the media’s influence could be measured through financial news reporting, investigative journalism, fact-checking and misinformation control, as well as accountability.
Chima listed regulation, the role of the media, innovation-regulation balance, capacity building and a future-ready financial journalist as the pillars of a future-ready financial system.
“The future of Nigeria’s financial system depends not only on technological innovation but also on credible media that builds trust, promotes accountability and helps citizens understand a rapidly changing financial landscape,” he said.
