A non-governmental organisation known as Search for Common Ground has appealed to media practitioners to amplify success stories in the Niger Delta to propel development in the region.
This is as the organisation has also urged Nigerian journalists to avoid spreading fake information that can put the country in danger.
The Head of Office/Programme Implementation of the organisation in the Niger Delta, Yacinthe Agbagadjan, gave the charge on the sidelines of a five-day training programme for journalists in Warri, Delta State, last Monday.
Tagged ‘Common Ground Journalism Training (CGJT)’, the training programme was anchored on community-based approach to curb criminality in the Niger Delta region through responsive reportage.
It was organised by the Community Centred Approach To Transforming Criminality And Violence In Niger Delta, in collaboration with its implementing partners, Foundation Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND), Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN) and Academic Associates Peace Works, and funded by the European Union.
Agbagadjan said the organisation’s mission was to ensure that the right information are sent out to the public by media practitioners.
He said, “We want visibility and the right information sent out to the public.
“Peace journalism is reporting what is responsive. All of you are our ambassadors, so avoid any kind of mistake or error in your reportage that would affect the image and reputation of Search for Common Ground. We expect that you communicate more and give visibility on everything that Search for Common Ground is doing in the Niger Delta.
“For this project, we want to work closely with you to increase visibility and the community communication around the project, and as such, expect all the actors, including donors, humanitarian and development partners, to know more about what we are achieving in Niger Delta, the success we are recording and to also learn more about the realities and the context of Niger Delta. It is only then that they can come to form or support or initiate a new project in Niger Delta as well as address all other issues.”
Agbadadjan emphasised that peace building is neither a one-day action nor one-person action, but requires everyone’s positive approach to report responsively.
“We need everybody’s hand to be on deck in peace building, community and criminality prevention.
“Our expectation is to have your full attention, presence, contribution, so that by the end of this training, you should have a better understanding of the activities of Search for Common Ground in the Niger Delta”, he said.
Speaking earlier during the workshop, the Mass Media And Information Management Coordinator of the organisation, Mr Sunny Dada, stated that the training programme was meant to adopt correct community approach of interventionist from bottom-to-top instead of top-to-bottom approach to enable information trickle down to the generality of the people at the grass roots.
Dada noted that a lot of issues such as violence, criminality, including oil bunkering, cultism, piracy, intercommunal conflicts and clashes, among others, were under reported.
He also noted that women and youths in the Niger Delta were not being carried along in peace and development process, adding that despite their systematic marginalization, many women and youths have continued to mobilise for peace and development.
“Search for Common Ground is the major partner and has the objectives to empower diverse community actors to address social exclusion, lack of economic opportunity, and environmental degradation.
“Young women and men, especially at-risk and marginalised youths, will be empowered to make their voices heard in their communities and be resilient to call for violence and criminality”, he said.
On his part, the National Media Specialist for Search For Common Ground, Mr Temisan Etietsola, while discussing on ‘My Identity: Using the Identity Flower’, explained the multiple facets of identity, adding that humans’ identities are complex, but in spite of these complexities, humans share some common analogies.
He said, “Adversarial and collaborative humans naturally are competitive, but we should also try to see that a win-win approach to situation is always good. I’m a winner or loser situation always ends up with one side feeling offended or not satisfied, so ensure you always work towards building trust so that you are able to collaborate with each other better.”
Etietsola advised that no one should see him or herself as an adversary, but should see themselves as allies in building peace to have a conflict-free society.

By: Susan Serekara-Nwikhana