2023: CISLAC, COMPPART Foundation train journalists on ‘prioritizing anti-corruption, accountability’ reporting

2023: CISLAC, COMPPART Foundation train journalists on ‘prioritizing anti-corruption, accountability’ reporting

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peace- Building, with support from the MacArthur Foundation have concluded a one-day training for journalists in Akwa Ibom State on prioritizing anti-corruption and accountability issues ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The training, held on Wednesday, August 24, 2022 at Rosmohr Gold Hotels, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo, had seasoned facilitators who took journalists through various anti-corruption and accountability-related issues across Nigeria to deepen their knowledge and understanding of such areas of reportage.

Areas such as techniques in investigative reporting and how to build stories, major challenges gaced by journalists, and how to effectively navigate challenges faced by journalists in Nigeria were extensively discussed with the participants who were drawn from the print, electronic and online media.

Speaking on the theme, “Prioritizing anti-corruption and accountability issues during the 2023 elections”, the Executive Director, CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani, said the training was designed to equip journalists in Akwa Ibom on the need to collaborate with CISLAC and COMPPART Foundation in exposing corruption and holding leaders accountable to the people, with particular reference to the crop of leaders vying for positions in next year’s elections.

Rafsanjani said as the 2023 general elections approach, journalists must raise fundamental questions about the credibility of leaders who are preparing to lead and the agenda that they have towards running a transparent government.

The CISLAC Executive Director, who reminded the journalists of their role as watchdogs of the society, urged them to perform this role effectively, saying that it would help in the institutionalization of anti-corruption process in the forthcoming elections and even beyond.

Mr. Rafsanjani however decried a situation where some politicians indulge in vote buying, an act he described as corrupt, calling on the media to use their position as the cornerstone of democracy to sensitize the citizenry against this menace.

He blamed the political class for the high level of corruption being witnessed in the country, and attributed it to failures of accountability on the part of the leaders.

“The reality is that we cannot watch our country die like that. We don’t have any other country than Nigeria. So, we must make sure that corruption and corrupt people do not take over, because they do not have our interest at heart and are not patriotic Nigerians.

“Journalists are in the best position to help sensitize, mobilise and educate Nigerians so that Nigerians would know the consequences of such kind of thing that is detrimental to our development”, Rafsanjani said.

While giving insights into the operations of CISLAC since its establishment in 2006, Mr. Samuel Asimi, a member of the organization, enumerated them to include; reducing corruption in Nigeria and strengthening politics and programmes; promoting reforms and institutionalization of anti-corruption in Nigeria, training of journalists in partnership with other NGOs, among others.

He further revealed that CISLAC whose operations cover seven states in Nigeria, including Akwa Ibom, was involved in the struggle for the passage of Freedom of Information Act, Procurement Act and other Bills that were passed into law.

In his remarks, the Executive Director of COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peace building, Mr. Saviour Akpan, said a time has come for a paradigm shift where the citizenry must do things differently so as to have different results.

“Talking about anti-corruption and accountability reporting, we need to change what we have been doing if we must achieve the desired results. If we do what we always do, we will get what we always get. If we do what we did in 1999, 2015, 2019, we will get the same results.

“We have to change the narrative. And to be able to change the narrative, the citizenry must be educated and properly enlightened on issues of anti-corruption and accountability as as to stay informed with the policies and programmes of the government, vis-a-vis the country’s democratization process. And the only Estate that can do that for us in Nigeria are the media.

“Today in Akwa Ibom State, we are listening to the news of alleged certificate forgery (of a governorship candidate). This wouldn’t have happened if the media are not able to bring it to the fore”.

Akpan therefore, called on the media to do more in asking the candidates of political parties critical questions pertaining to anti-corruption and accountability to enable the citizenry choose leaders who would eschew corruption in all its ramifications.

One of the facilitators, an Editor in charge of investigations in PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Taiwo Adebayo Hassan, urged journalists to always go beyond ordinary dissemination of news to the point of verifying such stories.

This, he said, would differentiate a professional journalist from those who only disseminate information without verification.

Hassan, who stressed the importance of investigative journalism to a professional journalist, said facts cross-checking could compel even people like security officers to sit up and do their work.

The investigative editor noted that the present realities in the world where citizen journalism has been aided by social media platforms, journalists owed themselves a duty to strive to remain on top of their profession.

Dr. Bridget Onochie, the Bureau Chief The Guardian, Abuja, said for journalists to navigate challenges confronting them, they must build capacity by acquiring more education.

She observed that the world of media today had given rise to a lot of imperatives which, she noted, must be taken into cognizance by journalists who desire to surmount challenges associated with the profession.

Onochie therefore, expressed optimism that the journalists who participated in the training would practice journalism with the applications of the knowledge gained and the understanding of the social dynamics of the present-day Nigeria where the media have found themselves.

The training provided journalists the opportunity to ask questions and also share experiences garnered in the course of the discharge of their duties to the society.

Journalists separately interviewed by this reporter shortly after the training exercise said that the lectures were an eye-opener for them, particularly as it relates to anti-corruption and accountability issues reporting.

For Celestine Udoekim, a Journalist who writes for TheEyes newspaper in the state, “the different sessions, especially on anti-corruption and accountability reporting, were informative, valuable, and delivered in a relaxed and friendly manner. I have had a number of takeaways myself”.

He added: “The training has taught me new trends in investigative reporting. I have also learned how to approach sources to get the best out of them for my stories as well as how to carry out fact checks to ensure that whatever I put out is factual”.