The European Union, EU, and the International Press Centre, IPC, on Monday 14th June, 2025, organized a one day interface to engage Online and Print Media Executives from five of the Southwest States of Osun, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun and Ekiti, on critical issues involving women, electoral reforms and beaming searchlight on outputs of various public office holders elected over two years ago.
This is just as the Online media Executives described as laudable and beneficial, the intervention by the European Union and IPC in building capacity of journalists in Nigeria towards strengthening democracy and ensuring gender equity.
The interface gave an opportunity to the IPC management and the Media professionals to brainstorm on challenges facing online media executives in the Southwest states in reporting highlighted and how sustainable solutions can be achieved.
In an address while welcoming the participants during the interface held in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, the Executive Director of the International Press Centre, (IPC), Mr Lanre Arogundade, pointed out that journalists should get more acquainted with fact checking, regular writing of editorials on electoral and gender issues.
Arogundade listed the areas of focus to include the need to improve professionalism; increase awareness in the use of the Freedom of Information bill; strengthening the Broadcasting Code; combating misinformation/ disinformation in the media; educating and encouraging members of the public to participate in voters registration as well as ensuring the increase in participation of women in politics as 2027 draws nearer.
He said the interface was organized to examine some of the challenges facing online/ print media executives in pushing report on the focused areas, “we have trained a lot of reporters on different areas but we realised that the results are not as expected as most of the reporters are not only decision-making desk or gatekeepers sometimes have no interests in those reports.”
Arogundade charged media professionals to hold public office holders elected two years ago accountable and examine their performances, noting that journalists should not wait till 2027 general election before making them accountable to voters.
The IPC Boss also encouraged the media to do more reports on potentials and challenges of the female public office holders as a way of pushing more women to get elected.
Speaking at the one day training and workshop, the Chairman of the Southwest Guild Of Online Publishers, SWEGOP, Mr Bisi Oladele; expressed the readiness of the body to partner with the International Press Centre, IPC, by ensuring Online Publishers, most especially upcoming ones are well trained and tutored to be self sufficient on the job.
Oladele also assured the International Press Centre and its international sponsors of its readiness to align itself with its component 4 objectives which focuses on both Online and Print, with the exception of broadcast media which is now in the purview of CEMESO.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in Ondo State, Prince Leke Adegbite, who is an online News Editor, hailed the European Union and the International Press Centre for their various efforts at making sure professionalism and sound ethical standard are entrenched in the journalism profession by its practitioners, by ensuring regular trainings nationwide.
The Publisher of Parrot Xtra Magazine and PMParrot, Mr Olayinka Agboola used the opportunity to appeal to both the European Union and the International Press Centre to continue to organize similar trainings and workshops to upgrade the ability and quality of journalists across the Country.
