…Drive media professionalism
By Chinenye Anuforo
Media stakeholders and gatekeepers convened Tuesday in Lagos for a pivotal “Strategic Engagement with Key Media Operational Leaders,” an initiative under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN II) Programme. Organized by the International Press Centre (IPC) and the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), the event aimed to bolster media professionalism and collaboration to ensure fair, accurate, and ethical coverage of Nigeria’s electoral and democratic processes.
Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), delivered a welcoming address, emphasizing the media’s indispensable role in fostering informed choices during elections. “The critical role of the media in elections and in helping to consolidate democracy is universally recognized,” he stated, highlighting the media’s capacity to reach diverse audiences with diverse messages that enable the people to make informed choices.
He acknowledged the post-2023 election conflicts, noting that such conflicts have dominated post-2023 elections in Nigeria, underscoring the urgency of the program’s objectives.
Arogundade detailed the EU-SDGN II’s comprehensive approach, which supports various democratic institutions, including INEC, the National Assembly, the judiciary, political parties, civil society, and marginalized groups. For the media component, six key result areas are targeted: enhancing media professionalism, particularly for women; strengthening capacity to combat misinformation and disinformation; diversifying electoral coverage and civic education; improving FOI Act awareness and use; empowering the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); and promoting inclusive media representation for women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
He revealed insights from an EU external evaluation, which, despite acknowledging the substantial impact of past interventions, suggested that “the desired impact may not have been felt due to the challenges of the enabling environment.” This led to a crucial hypothesis: “If journalists are well trained and adequately empowered, and if they have the right opportunity to deploy the knowledge acquired through their reporting, then the media will make the desired impact on the electoral processes and elections.” This high-level event, he added, seeks to “foster collaboration among media executives and secure commitments towards consolidating the media’s role in promoting inclusive, fair and acceptable electoral outcomes.”
Mr. Akin Akingbulu, Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), addressed the attendees not merely as professionals but as “custodians of public trust, individuals who carry the heavy but noble burden of shaping what a nation hears, what a nation sees, and what a nation believes.” He stressed the heightened stakes for democracy, observing that citizens increasingly look to the media not only for information but for direction, for reassurance, for hope.
Akingbulu highlighted the significant strides made by IPC and CEMESO in empowering Nigeria’s media ecosystem through capacity building interventions across the country, from Lagos to Maiduguri.
Reiterating the program’s ambition, Akingbulu stated, “What we set out to do, the support provided was designed with a clear ambition, not to simply improve reporting but to strengthen the very fabric of our democracy.” He outlined three critical observations from their implementation: the essential commitment of stakeholders, the importance of capability translating knowledge into action, and crucially, the role of the environment. He urged media leaders to prioritize attention to the enabling environment, emphasizing that “the environment is critical to the extent that it must be addressed if media stakeholders are to seriously address bigger issues or the delivery of the role of the media in our democracy.”
The event, he pointed out, aims to move forward to producing an improved environment for the work in our industry and re-energizing the media industry to provide free, fair, accurate, inclusive coverage for our electoral processes and then also our democracy.
Mr. Timothy Bamidele, Programme Manager at CEMESO, provided a comprehensive overview of the EU-SDGN II project, explaining its origins in response to EU electoral observation mission recommendations and its alignment with Nigerian government priorities. He underscored the program’s overall objective: “to foster a functioning pluralistic, inclusive, participatory and representative democracy in Nigeria.” Bamidele detailed the five objective outcomes, including improving electoral quality, strengthening legislative and judicial reform, enhancing political party democracy, empowering media to provide fair coverage and combat hate speech, and increasing the participation of women, youth, and marginalized groups.
Highlighting the media’s unique constitutional recognition in Nigeria, Bamidele noted that the only profession recognized in Nigerian constitution is the media. However, he also pointed to challenges, stating that federal and state governments control the media institution through ownership and regulation, which can hinder fair electoral coverage. He stressed the importance of strengthening the legal and operational environment for media and ensuring the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) possesses the required capacity, independence, and autonomy to regulate the broadcast industry in a professional and non-partisan manner.
The ultimate goal, he reiterated, is for media, broadcast, print, and onlineto facilitate the key evidence of credible election through engagement and commercializing the coverage and reporting of electoral processes.