Journalists covering conflict, insecurity, and governance in Nigeria have been advised to reclaim their role as the shapers of public record and accountability.
This was as they were asked to use their work to influence laws, budgets, institutions, and public programmes.
The Executive Director of the Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), Akintunde Babatunde, made this plea while speaking on Thursday in Abuja during a two-day Capacity Building for Journalists on Public Safety Reporting.
According to him, the training forms part of the centre’s efforts towards promoting qualitative journalism in Nigeria.
He urged all to rethink how public safety is reported, adding that journalists should shift away from episodic incident counts to people-centred and policy-relevant journalism.
Akintunde Babatunde said the training forms part of the People-Centred Public Safety Project, which responds to growing concerns that dominant security narratives often obscure systemic failures, dehumanise victims, and fail to influence the policies that shape safety outcomes at the community level.
He noted that CJID is keen to see a clear shift in how conflict and public safety issues are reported following the training.
The ED said, “We hope that by the end of this training, participants will not only be equipped with the tools required for people-centred conflict reporting, but will also have the drive to produce journalism that meaningfully shapes public understanding, strengthens accountability, and influences policy outcomes.”
Participants at the training all agreed that there is actually a need to stabilise community policing, particularly as provided for
under the 2020 Nigeria Police Act.
Participants at the training also examined the historical and structural foundations of policing in Nigeria, including its colonial origins and enduring elite orientation.
Discussions highlighted how persistent gaps in policing capacity, accountability and training have contributed to the emergence of community-driven safety mechanisms.
Throughout the programme, journalists were urged to prioritise rigorous fact-finding, avoid borrowed or sensational language, and challenge dominant stereotypes by producing reports grounded in lived realities, community relationships, and historical context, rather than reinforcing fear-based framings.
Participants were also introduced to emerging national patterns of violence, including geographic diffusion, high recurrence driven by delayed or absent state response, security vacuums, and retaliation cycles – dynamics often missed in headline-driven coverage.
Beyond documenting violence, journalists were encouraged to highlight peacebuilders, community resilience, coping mechanisms, and reform efforts, without denying the reality of insecurity.
At the end of the programme, participants left with clearer tools to interrogate public safety failures, identify patterns behind violence, elevate community-defined notions of safety, and produce reports capable of influencing policy and public action.
The training, which was organised by CJID with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), brought together Journalists from Bayelsa, Benue and Abuja.
