By Nkechi Eze
The power of words cannot be understated, and throughout history, women have used their words to educate, inspire and challenge societal norms.
In view of this, women Journalists have been called upon to magnify issues concerning women, to bridge the gap of inequality in their chosen profession.
The call was made by Chief Isiguzo Ikechukwu Christopher, the National President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), during a training exercise for women journalists, tagged bridging the gap in gender based reporting in affiliation with Actionaid, to commemorate the 2024 international women’s day celebration in Abuja.
Whilst complimenting the leadership of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), for the well thought-of training, the NUJ National President postulated that it is very crucial to close the gap in gender reportage, adding that too much attention is been focused on male led issues at the detriment of women.
“Women should begin to march in equity with the men, they should stop lamenting and do the do, that way, the men will see that the women have come of age and are ready. Enlightenment should be sustained, sensitization, training and re-training programes should be leveraged on by women” he said.
According to the NUJ President, “about two years ago, when gender based reporting was brought on board by the NU National, NAWOJ keyed into it and have since then ran with it. It is my believe that you will continue to run with it, to continue to empower women, for them to know their rights and this is achievable.
When we talk about equality, equity, priority and all, they cannot exist if the women have not accepted to make them exist. He opined that women should stop keeping away and should put to rest the idea of saying it’s a man’s world, stating that it is not a man’s world but our collective world.
In an interview, Comrade Chizoba Ogbeche , the Vice President zone D, Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), explained the basis of the training exercise and averred that it is an intentional and calculated approach to sensitize and re-orient women journalists, who perform the duties of communicating women issues.
She further stated that the training was timely, as it will aid in restructuring the magnitude of women journalists to issues reportage in an appropriate and professional manner.
“We are all aware of the issues surrounding women and we have continued to speak about them. Just as the NUJ National President has said, the time for lamentations is over; the issues have been brought to the front burner, yet no solution. It is time for us to bridge the gaps. If we bridge the gaps, we would probably get solutions. Some of the issues setting us back have been highlighted, we have tasked our members and female journalists as a whole to always be gender sensitive when reporting issues, irrespective of their beats” she said.
The Vp zone D enjoined women journalists to always endeavour that their reports always portray gender, as it is not an affair of only those covering the women affairs beat, it should be all encompassing, she said.
Mrs Fransisca Ogar, head programmes, Independent Television (ITV), one of the training facilitators, urged members to take advantage of the training and see it as an opportunity to enhance their knowledge on gender reporting.
In her lecture, she stated that “women are significantly under-represented and even misrepresented in news media coverage, prejudices and stereotypes surrounding women in different professions needs to be broken as it is a moral duty to do the right thing by women, by preventing injustice, discrimination, and drop in quality of work. She further highlighted some of the reasons women are under reported and urged reporters to amplify women voices in their reportage. Fransisca Ogar highlighted some gender related issues and urged reporters to be abreast with the proper parlance used in reporting gender based issues. Furthermore, she encouraged women journalists to read up and be well acquainted with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law (VAPP), as it will help them understand the variations of gender issues.
Presenting a paper on Gender/Women related issues, Mrs Ene Oshaba Development journalist (Blueprint Newspapers) Gender Equality Advocate, stated that addressing gender and women-related issues are very crucial for human rights, health and well-being, sustainable development, economic development, innovation, capacity, peace and security amongst others. She urged women to be able to go to the grassroots to get first-hand information on issues as this will help them to be able to stand side by side with the men.
Highlighting the milestones for the fight for gender equality, she said “while progress has been made in advancing gender equality in Nigeria, significant challenges persists across different sectors which requires sustained efforts from the federal and state governments, civil societies and other stakeholders to arrive at significant and long-term change.
The training purveyed women journalists the chance to speak on their experiences in the cause of their jobs and also proffer solutions to work place challenges.
Also present at the training was Comrade OsaretinOsadebamwen, Chairman NUJ FCT Council,Comrade Bassey Ita, NAWOJ FCT Chairperson, Amb. Rebecca Bolanle Ukpevo, Vice Chairperson NAWOJ FCT, Comrade Jide Oyekunle, ChairmanNUJ FCT Correspondent Chapel and Comrade Anne Daniel, former NAWOJ FCT Chairperson, amongst others.
