By Musa Yaro, Calabar
Media practitioners at a one-day capacity building organized by Women’s Situation Room Nigeria (WSRN) have been charged not to overheat the polity through sensational reportage.
Held at Native Restaurant, Calabar, the founder of WSRN, Prof Joy Onyesoh argued that the media holds the key to the forthcoming elections which is anchored on peace, hence the need to ensure that the key is used to unlock only the right padlock.
“The polity is heated, hardship everywhere, a lot of people are frustrated due to financial crunch, unavailability of fuel and issues of insecurity.
“I know we like to use very sensational headlines in reporting because it grabs the attentions of the readers quickly, but let us be mindful of what is at stake before we use that sensational headline.”
Onyesoh maintained that it is no business as usual as this is the first time the nation will be experiencing an election where three major ethnic groups will be competing against themselves.
Explaining that the economy is very fragile and any little thing can trip it to the other direction, WSRN Founder averred, “if we are not careful people will start going through the ethnic lines and that will be very easy to take us to other direction,”
Admitting that fear is real even as it can force people to do a number of things, Onyesoh cautioned against voters apathy resulting from unverified violence reports and stories before publication.
Cross River coordinator of WSRN, Mfreke Asigbe, intimated that the group hope to set up a situation room on the eve of the elections through the day after the elections, in order to monitor happenings including the timely reports of election violence across the 18 local government areas of the state.
On the relationship established between the group and the media, Asigbe said “we hope that the relationship is sustained and to see how the media can change the narrative when it comes to women political participation in Cross River.
“The training featured presentations by Mrs. Diana Mary Nsan, on ‘effective gender reporting through understanding the dynamics of SGBV and VAWIP in elections,’ where she advised media practitioners to see everyone as human, challenge traditional and social laws and norms about women and the need for journalists to partner with lawyers as their activities could provoke existing norms, among others.
Women’s Situation Room Nigeria is a women civil society-led initiative that seeks to increase women substantive participation in political process and conflict prevention in accordance with UNSCR 1325.
Its goal is to ensure that all elections in Nigeria are peaceful and women and youths play a substantive role in sustaining and building peaceful communities, state and nation.
