Chairman/CEO of Arrowhead Global Communication LTD
Albarka FM has organized a workshop on good governance and transparency for media outlets based in Ilorin, Kwara State, in north-central Nigeria with participants drawn from radio, television, newspapers and online media.
The workshop which was held at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) hall in Ilorin was tagged “media independence and government accountability”. It was aimed at ensuring that the media get desired independence to allow them to perform their primary responsibility, without fear or favour, as agents of good governance and voice for the voiceless.
Speaking at the event, a Lagos-based media expert, Mr. Kayode Ogunbunmi, charged participants on the need to adhere to the ethics of professionalism, saying there is always a way of triumph for anyone doing the work professionally and clients as stakeholders would be forced to reckon with such media platform.
Another resource person, Akinlolu Akinpelumi, a political scientist, made a presentation on how to be independent and said that non-state actors with a special interest in good governance, and accountability are essential for a better society.
Akinlolu called on the participating media executives to identify their station’s core area of competence in order to attract resources from their core target audience and sustain their institutions.
He urged the media houses to always prepare annual reports and audited accounts saying this will give them an edge anytime applying for sponsorship.
In his closing remarks, Executive Director of Albarka FM, Dr Rasheed Adigun, thanked the participants and sought further collaboration that will enhance the capacity of media practitioners in the state and further bring good governance to the citizens.
He added that as a key voice in the media space, securing their buy-in and strategic partnership is of great importance. The workshop was held under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability (CMEDIA) Project, an initiative of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), funded by the MacArthur Foundation. The Project is aimed at strengthening media independence and presence, especially at state and local government levels and the private sector, in a bid to improve public awareness and the ecosystem for transparency, accountability and good governance.
