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CISLAC tasks journalists on balanced reporting to de-escalate conflicts

The essential role of the media as major stakeholders in conflict prevention, through conflict-sensitive reporting has been acknowledged in view of the ongoing high spate of violence and conflicts across the country.

Speaking at a one-day training organized for media practitioners by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC) Transparency International in Nigeria (TI-Nigeria) with support from Open Society Foundation Africa (OSF-Africa), the executive director of CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), challenged the media on the need to do their reporting objectively in other not to escalate a potential crisis.

In his welcome address at the programme which focused on ‘Early Warning, Early Response’ (EWER) reporting on imminent conflicts and attended by over 30 journalists across print and broadcasting media, the CISLAC executive director declare: “Information provided to the public must remain objective and devoid of sensations that are potential triggers to conflict or violence.

“As you are not unaware of, every part of Nigeria currently battles with evolving epidemy of multi-dimensional security threats. Lagos State, in particular, is bedevilled with clashes between indigenes and non-indigenes on the basis of ethnic differences and more intense is this challenge given the recently conducted general elections.

This situation calls for more collaboration, communication, coordination and collective support for early warning, conflict prediction and early response mechanisms amongst communities and security operatives, which are central to conflict prevention.

“Howbeit, an EWER system with the buy-in of communities and security operatives but without the commitments of journalists to conflict-sensitive reportage, cannot be as effective as it ought to be.

“This is because journalists are the mouthpiece of the civilian populace and where information provided to the public is conflict-prone, regardless of how dedicated communities and security operatives are towards early warning and early response, the triggers will always be there to ignite conflict. It is against this backdrop that we acknowledge the essential role of the media as major stakeholders in conflict prevention, through conflict-sensitive reporting.

“EWER systems are built to allow for trained community observers to carefully observe their environment and report indicators of conflict to community response networks who in turn are expected to apply professionalism in processing information provided and respond accordingly with an aim to de-escalate potential crises.

According to the executive director, under this project, CISLAC will be complementing the role of internal security agencies by building well-informed and vibrant Early Warning Community Observers in Lagos State, which will be representing the South-West, to enhance collaboration, build trust and ownership with state security institutions, community leaders and community security structures, using the EWER system as a vehicle, to prevent threats of conflict from escalating.

“We, therefore, call on the media to collaborate with CISLAC to improve the protection of civilians in Lagos State and in Nigeria through objective and conflict-sensitive reporting. We also call on the media to support the activities of EW Community Observers who have been trained to monitor and report EW threat signals under this project, to amplify these threats signals, to spur security operatives to respond speedily and with professionalism, as activities unfold in the state.

Lastly, we call on the media to own the EWER system by leveraging verifiable information and data that will be generated through Early Detection and to utilize same as caution signals, to prevent harm, loss of lives and properties and to de-escalate crises.”

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