National Capacity Building Workshop for Media Professionals on Security And Security Sector Reform/Democratic Governance Issues For Nigeria

The concepts of security sector governance and reform (SSG/R, or SSG and SSR) in its inchoate stage still requires wide dissemination to and discussion with the public. To this effect relevant stakeholders have been working extremely hard to build a firm bridge which is the media between the public and the security sector. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung gathered 25 media professionals from various media houses cutting across print, broadcasting, and social media to educate them on relevant concepts and actors of security sector governance. The training was aimed strengthening the capacity of media professionals to monitor and oversee the Defence, law enforcement and justice institutions and better inform the public.

The 3-day event is jointly organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung – Nigeria, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Peace and Security Centre of Competence Sub-Saharan Africa (FES PSCC), European Union, and Centre for Higher Defence and Security Studies (CHEDS). During the event, participants were exposed to key concepts in security sector reform/governance including security challenges and strategies they can adopt in certain agenda, among others. More specifically, participants were trained on several practical models that could be adopted to further promote security sector reform in their profession.

Journalists and other members of the media often acknowledge the importance of strengthening their role in security sector reform/governance. However, media practitioners still encounter several challenges when reporting security-related topics, such as blocked or restricted access to information that is considered sensitive or of ‘national security’, lack of trust between security institutions and the media, insufficient working knowledge of media laws and legislation, as well as an underdeveloped awareness of their own role as the fourth estate of the realm. This training aims at better providing media professionals with the requisite knowledge and skills to positively impact their profession in connection with Security Sector Reform/Governance.

To further strengthen the participants learning experience, participants shared on-ground experiences of promoting security sector reform in their everyday pursuit of 'the story'– including the challenges and successes.