Skip to main content

Tackling Violence and Criminality in the Niger Delta with Television Designed Content; A SEARCH Initiative



In a bid to tackle violence and criminality in the Niger Delta, Search for Common Ground and its consortium of partners have introduced several components that examine the role of the government and government institutions, security agencies, community representatives, civil society organizations and the media, to foster an inclusive approach in creating a new face for the Niger Delta.

Due to its wealth in natural resources, the need for resource control has generated decades long battle that have defaced the oil rich region, even as the communities and people of the Niger Delta strive towards peaceful coexistence, to drive peace and progress in the region.

For this cause, SEARCH in collaboration with Foundation for Partnership in the Niger Delta (PIND) and Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN) embarked on a peace building project which was funded by the European Union with the theme, “A Community Centered Approach To Transforming Violence And Criminality In The Niger Delta” which is being implemented in 60 communities, across 33 local government areas in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers State.

In recognition of the role of the media in enforcing behavioral change messaging through strategic storytelling and reporting, SEARCH engaged over 30 journalists, reporters, content creators, social media influencers and media personalities in an intensive 3-Days Workshop, which held from the 3rd to 5th of December, 2024.



While introducing the participants to SEARCH, its project objectives and the expectations from the media towards the project goal, Mass Media and Information Management Coordinator of the project, Sunny Dada stated that..

Sunny Dada also took participants on discussions that enabled a better understanding of the Niger Delta, its history and socio economic challenges that will help participants to properly understand the complex issues of the region, to educate participants on how these dynamics can be fused into reporting.

Another facilitator, Afolashade Seye-Ojo who is the Mass Media and Information Management Officer of the project also engaged the participants with interactions and discussions around Designing Common Ground Media Contents for Behavioural Change Messaging, which equipped participants with the tools needed to design and implement media programming that influences positive change, in other to build peace and dissuade the audience from violence or other negativities associated with the Niger Delta region.

National Media and Digital Peace Building Specialist for the project, Temisan Etitesola also facilitated sessions on Understanding Identities and how Identity roles come to play in transforming conflicts. He also took the participants through discussions on Adversarial versus Collaborative Approaches in Conflict prevention and resolution, while exploring the difference between conflict and violence, and establishing the visible and invisible dynamics in conflict.

The workshop also featured group works and presentations by participants on identifying target audience, framing formats and angles for storytelling, script writing and practical demonstrations of strategically designed content.

At the end of the workshop, the project has recruited the media as another set of peace building agents, with the vital role of producing conflict sensitive reporting, a reformation of the Niger Delta image and contributing to the peace building efforts of the European Union, SEARCH and its partners. 

Read, comment and share with friends

Comments

Post a Comment

Elvira’s Pen

Popular posts from this blog

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THE 23 INDIGENOUS ETHNIC GROUPS OF NASARAWA STATE AND THE FCT (Photos)

Source: Plateau Gurara Gongola COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF THE 23 INDIGENOUS ETHNIC GROUPS OF NASARAWA STATE AND THE FCT 1) AFO (Eloyi/Ajiri) -           With an estimated population of 400,000 - 500,000 natives. They are one of the 5 largest ethnic groups in Nasarawa state.       They make up the largest ethnic group in Nasarawa LGA and are also found in large numbers in Kokona and Keffi LGAs.   Some Afo are also Indigenous to Agatu LGA in Benue state, but most of them there identify ethnically as Agatu.       They speak a Plateau (Benue-Congo) language which has been heavily influenced by neighbouring Idomoid (Volta-Niger) languages like Alago and Agatu.     Their neighbours are the Alago, Agatu, Gwandara/Toni, Gbagyi and Bassa Kwomu.     They are predominantly Christian with a significant Muslim and Traditionalist population.      The major towns/communities they are found include ...

DREAMS AND VISIONS ARE FREE - Elvira Jordan

DREAMS AND VISIONS ARE FREE - Elvira Jordan Good Morning Beloved 😊 A few days ago, I stumbled on a video where Apostle Femi Lazarus spoke about “Seeing” and it inspired my message today. Even as a child, I have always lived in a fantasy world and sometimes I feel like I take the fantasy thing too far because at some point, everything around me could be on fire and I will just create an alternate reality in my head where I am dancing in the snows. Everyone else could be worried or fearful about a dire situation and I will just picture  the best possible outcome of that situation and allow myself to remain there, while others bugger their minds off on how serious the matter is. Some people have always seen my view as “Toxic Positivity” and that has never been a problem to me. There are times when I would agree that I took the dreaming thing too far, but more often than not, it was the ideal thing for me because while others are worked up over the situation and worried sick about a p...