Farmer/Herder Conflict:Taraba Govt Salutes NGO over Training of Journalists on Reporting Techniques
By Christiana Babayo
The Taraba state Government has commended the Search For Common Ground’s Project, Contributing to the Mitigation of Conflicts over Natural Resources Between Farmers and Herders in Adamawa and Taraba states, (COMITAS II) over the initiative to train Journalists on the techniques of reporting Farmer/Herder conflicts in their respective states.
The Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr Jeji Williams who made this commendation while addressing journalists during the experience sharing workshop organized by the NGO in Jalingo last week, equally applauded the contributions of the European Union and other developing partners in the course of promoting peace.
Dr Jeji took the time to charge journalists to also adhere to ethics and emphasize mutual coexistence when reporting Farmer/Herder related conflicts at all times.
The COS explained that as journalists, projecting the state and even the nation at large to the outside world is a duty that falls on our shoulders and it must not be taken lightly.
“The role of journalists is to ensure that societies coexist peacefully and ensure that the government provides support to the various demographics, and in this case, farmers and herders, to flourish.
“We should emphasize mutual coexistence rather than discharging our duties in ways that would exacerbate division among farmers and herders” He said.
During the Workshop the Project Manager, Project Coordinator and Media Coordinator of the COMITAS II Project Mr Gambo Wada, Mr Dubi Sonam, And Mr Victor Okpanachi respectively urged journalists to share the stories of the progress made on the Farmer/herder clashes in both Adamawa and Taraba states.
They noted that progress has been made since the launch of the COMITAS project in both states and since then, the project has worked in tandem with the media to ensure that journalists are equipped with the right techniques to report these conflicts in a way that will promote peaceful coexistence between the waring factions.
The participants on their part commended the Search For Common Ground COMITAS II Project for the initiative to collaborate with the media on the project while sharing their experiences and restating their commitment to providing their expertise whenever neccesary.
Femi Bolaji of the Vanguard Newspaper, one of the Participants from Taraba state said the journey with SFCG over the past year has been adventurous, interesting, and educational, adding that the COMITAS II project has exposed him to the little things we have overlooked over the years that have continued to create animosity between farmers and herders.
“For us, it’s always just been news reporting, but for Search for Common Ground, it goes beyond that. I was able to unlearn and adopt new methods, especially in terms of framing news reports in ways that would not raise further tensions.
“With this new approach, my reports are more reassuring, less alarming, and tilt towards a collective resolve to understand what is at stake and what both farmers and herders can do to live peacefully together” He said.
As the Search for Common Ground rounds up the COMITAS II Project, the organization, having put in a lot of efforts into achieving the target of the project, has began moves to ensure sustainability of the project in both states.
