The Managing Director of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Alkali, has tasked journalists to play a pivotal role in highlighting the humanitarian crisis in the North-East region.
Alkali made the call in Maiduguri on Monday while declaring open a three-day workshop organised by the commission in collaboration with RANLAL Global Services Nig Limited for journalists and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
The workshop aims to rebuild their capacity on non-kinetic approaches to fighting insurgency in the North-East region.
The MD stressed the need for journalists to shed light on the plight of people affected by over a decade of Boko Haram insurgency, which has devastated the region.
According to Alkali, the media has a critical role to play in promoting peace and stability in the region.
He appealed to the media to continue supporting the commission’s peace-building and rehabilitation strategies. The MD also urged journalists to report on issues affecting the people of the Northeast, enabling the commission to take action to solve their problems.
“I call on the media to continue to support us in our peace-building efforts,” he said.
Also speaking, Abba Musa, Head of Corporate Services, said the workshop is a deliberate effort by the NEDC to build the capacities of journalists and CSOs in the post-insurgency recovery phase.
Musa was represented by Naomi Abwaku, noted that the training aims to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote peacebuilding and its sustainability by the North East Stabilisation and Development Master Plan.
The workshop, which brought together 100 participants, including journalists and CSOs from the six states of the North East region, has in attendance the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Kashare in Gombe, Prof. Umaru Pate, Muhammed Kudo Abubakar, Hamisu Rogo among other veteran journalists.
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