Brand Specialist and Consultant, Lanre Phillips has urged Youths not to give up on Nigeria but do their best in rebuilding the Nation. Philip gave the advice while speaking at a two-day Capacity Building Workshop for journalists in Lagos which was organized by the British Council.
Philips stressed that little efforts by youths and teamwork would achieve a great feat rather than complaining and doing nothing.
Philips, who spoke to the journalists on the ‘value of storytelling and branding in reportage’ used the opportunity to enlighten them on the best ways of engaging audiences using storytelling and shared global best practices and trends.
Also at the workshop, Lauratu Umar Abdulsalam, Communication Specialist and Media Engagement Advisor, Palladium emphasised the importance of ‘Conflict Sensitivity in Journalism’. Abdulsalam noted that the actions and inactions of journalists during conflict could lead to crises and urged journalists to be ethical, conflict sensitive and avoid hate speech while reporting about the forthcoming elections in the country.
CNN/Multichoice African Journalist of the year Arukaino Umukoro, who spoke on upholding journalism ethics in the age of social media – sifting facts from fake news’ explained that “verifying facts before publication in the media is of utmost importance.” He urged journalists not to be under any pressure to break a news item or publish a story because they might be pushing out wrong information.
Mr Adejuwon Soyinka, Editor BBC Pidgin Service, sharing some practical tips for collaboration, prompted the journalists present at the session to leverage collaboration through the exchange of expertise, infrastructure, manpower and finance across their different organisations and internationally.
Director of Operations, British Council Nigeria, Stephen Forbes while speaking on the role of the British Council in creating opportunities and developing the media, he mentioned that “the British Council is the UK’s International Organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities; we are constantly seeking ways of creating opportunities by providing platforms where knowledge is shared amongst keys stakeholders. This workshop is timely to develop the capacity of journalists around conflict-sensitive reporting and sifting facts from fake news as the election period approaches”.
Also, speaking on the reasons why the training was designed, Edemekong Uyoh, Head of Communications, British Council Nigeria, explained that “Considering the crucial role played by the media in the society, the British Council has found it necessary to develop the capacity of journalists to deliver optimally and professionally in their career. In the last two years, we have trained over 300 journalists in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt and we hope this will enhance the quality of their delivery going forward”.
The two-day capacity building workshop in Lagos built on the knowledge from the first edition on ‘Conflict-sensitive reporting’, collaborations in the media space, Equality Diversity and Inclusion in the Nigerian media and Child Protection. The two-day workshop featured thought leaders in the field of journalism, branding and marketing.
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