By Binta Shama
Abuja
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), in collaboration with the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), yesterday commenced a two-day training on gender equality for journalists, 3rd edition, in Abuja.
National President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Odusile of Abdulwaheed, said as professionals, when a team of reporters was sent out on the field gender was not considered as long as the desired results would be achieved.
“Gender is created by God and it is not just about women only but consists of both sexes. The women folk are the strong arm of NUJ; whenever we send our female reporters to the field we desire results and make sure their safety is well- assured.
“It is a capacity programme; so far it has trained 60 of our colleagues and we hope to do more because we value our reporters and wish to assure their safety,” he said.
Also speaking, the CEO, Startimes, Mr. Justin Zhanga, said the attention given to the security for journalists was part of its social responsibility which had to be taken seriously.
He said: “Working in Nigeria for over five years and having visited over 60 cities, including Maiduguri, Borno state, has made me to appreciate security and liberty when carrying out duties. As soon as the proposal came to sponsor this programme, there was no hesitation to support our journalists. We hope to have a better partnership to encourage and support the security of journalists.”
Earlier speaking, the Chairman of the Council, Mr. Paul Ella, said the NUJ president “is a gender-sensitive person to have continued with this training in such a positive way and also circulating reporters from different mediums to make sure all journalists achieve from this goal.”
