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From Christopher Oji, Joseph Obukata, Lagos
The Director General of the National E,emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Habib Ahmed, has implored media practitioners to always act as gate-keepers against misinformation, particularly while reporting disasters and emergencies.
Ahmed spoke on Friday in Lagos during a one day awareness creation and capacity building workshop with the theme; “NEMA’s Workshop for Media Practitioners on Disaster Reporting” for publishers, seniors Editors and other selected journalists drawn from the broadcast, print and online media.
The NEMA’s DG who was accompanied by a high powered delegation of NEMA management team, said that the workshop was package for NEMA to interact with media practitioners, share impactful ideas and knowledge that would help in their reportage of the agency’s activities.
Besides, he said that the workshop was geared toward mediating misinformation, disinformation and fake news while building the capacity of practitioners.
The workshop was package by NEMA in collaboration with Impact Pointe Consultancy Limited, Vista, Radi8 and The Media Training Room.
In his keynote address, the agency’s DG noted; “we intend to foster collaboration and networking between media practitioners and NEMA. Our shared goal is to facilitate effective information dissemination during emergencies, By working together, we can ensure that timely and accurate information reaches the public, creating much needed awareness and enabling them to mate informed decision and take necessary precautions where applicable”.
He said the workshop was necessary to enable media practitioners to gain more knowledge on the activities of NEMA and project her as the apex disaster management agency in Nigeria.
“The objective is to provide a clear understanding of NEMA’s remit, Nigeria’s triple response structure, and NEMA’s relationship with subnational actors”.
He said that it is also to create awareness for media practitioners for NEMA’s information dissemination and emergency protocol.
“Therefore, I enjoined media practitioners to act as gate-keepers in this era of disinformation, we trust you to act as the bulwark against misinformation and fake news and the shenanigans of citizen journalists and fifth columnists’ ‘, he added.
The workshop featured technical presentations, panel discussions and robust interactions.
NEMA’s Director, Special Duties, Dr. Onimode Bandele Abdullahi, in his technical presentation, explored the history of NEMA, the agency mandate and efforts in disaster management in the country.
The panel discussion moderated by Dayo Alao focused on “Navigating Challenges in Disaster Reporting: Insights from Media Practitioners”, and had as panelists; NEMA’s Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, Dr Daniel Obot; Head, NEMA Lagos Territorial Office, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, Managing Editor, Daily Trust, Mr. Hamza Idris and Publisher, Eagle Online, Mr. Dotun Oladipo.
The second technical presentation entitled; “Collaborative Approaches in Disaster Reporting Strengthening Partnerships for Effective Communication” was led by Communication Management
Commending NEMA for the initiative,, Maureen Chigbo, President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) and Publisher of renewsmagazine.net, said that the workshop was insightful and timely, saying it would help to enhance reportage of disasters and emergencies from the perspective of the well-informed media practitioners.
NEMA, established via Act 12 as amended by Act 50 of 1999, was set up to manage disasters and coordinate resource towards efficient and effective disaster prevention, preparation, mitigation and response in Nigeria.
The agency is currently conducting nationwide awareness campaign and capacity building campaign focused on the downscaling of disaster, early warning measures to grassroots for effective live-saving.
