Over 50 journalists in Kano State Nigeria’s North-West region are being trained on activities relating to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in collaboration with the Media Awareness and Information For All Network (Main).
The two-day training which started on Monday, March 21, 2020, is to enlighten journalists about their role in the reportage of SDGs.
According to Oluseyi Soremekun, UNIC National Information Officer who represented UNIC Director, Ronald Kayanja, journalists need to be trained to have a deeper knowledge of SDGs framework for them to be in a position to hold government accountable in the implementation of the Agenda 2030 for sustainable development.
“This training underscores the critical role of the media in accelerating the decade of action towards achieving the sustainable development goals in Nigeria,” Soremekun said.
Also, speaking about the training, Professor Umaru Pate, Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State, affirmed the importance of the training and urged UNIC and its collaborators – MAIN to scale upgrade the workshop involve Editors and Management staff of media organisations.
As the Nigerian government intensifies efforts to meet the target, it has added three components into the SDGs – economic, social and environmental – an extraction from the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) 2017-2020, according to Dr. Zakariya Muhammed of the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs OSSAP-SDGs Nigeria.
“Core areas such as food security, agriculture, energy, infrastructural development, industry, macroeconomic stability and inclusive growth are given special attention,” he said.
The training will further be extended to the six geo-political zones of the country – Abuja, Uyo, Enugu and Lagos are the other locations in the plan, according to Professor Lai Oso, chairman of MAIN.
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