Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser (NSA) to the president will lead a high-level meeting with leaders of the security sector and other stakeholders on enhancing journalists’ safety and strengthening civic space on Thursday, 21 November 2024, in Abuja. The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will deliver the keynote address at the high-level meeting organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).
The meeting between senior representatives from Nigeria’s security agencies, judiciary, media organisations, and civil society organisations in Nigeria is designed to address critical issues surrounding journalists’ safety, press freedom, and other civil liberties. It plans to enhance journalists’ safety and strengthen Nigeria’s civic space by encouraging mutual understanding and respect between security agencies, the judiciary, and the news media. Participants will develop actionable solutions at the end of deliberations.
This convening is part of the Civic Space Guard project, launched by WSCIJ in December 2021 to provide journalists with the essential resources, training, and support required to perform their work safely and effectively. The 2024 Journalism and Civic Space report by WSCIJ presented to the public last month titled ‘Hushed voices in an election year’, highlights the importance of this gathering. It shows that security agencies and political actors were responsible for nearly 70% of civic space infringements, with journalists, media organisations, and citizens being the main targets, especially at protest sites and polling stations. Additionally, it indicates that 90% of attacks on journalists occur while they are on duty.
This high-level meeting is part of the ‘Leveraging the power of the media to fortify the civic space and tackle malinformation’ programme, implemented by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) in partnership with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) is supported by the Netherlands Embassy. It aims to highlight the media’s critical role in safeguarding democratic freedoms. The programme reinforces the media’s vital function as an independent guardian of civic space through dialogues, research, capacity development, psychosocial support for journalists, fight against misinformation and recognition of journalists who bravely expose impunity and defend fundamental human rights.
Since its launch in December 2021, the Civic Space Guard project has equipped journalists with the resources, training, and support to perform their duties safely and effectively. This project supported by the Netherlands Embassy also enhances the media’s capacity to promote an inclusive, transparent, and democratic society in Nigeria.
Signed
Motunrayo Alaka
Executive Director/CEO, WSCIJ
