Goup partners traditional rulers on Peace Journalism

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

A Group under the auspices of Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF) is to partner traditional rulers on its Peace Journalism project.
The Executive Director, the Group Iliya Kure stated this when he led a delegation on a visit to the District Head of Doka, Alh. Bala Mohammed Tijjani Bunun Zazzau and the District Head of Kufana, Mr. Titus Dauda Marafan Adara, yesterday.
Kure said AMDF in February 2017 introduced the peace journalism project which trained 10 journalists to adequately report issues of peace in Kaduna state.
He added that as the organization scales up the project, it became imperative to involve the traditional leaders who are the gate keepers.
He thanked the two District Heads for their endless support to AMDF in carrying out its projects, especially the just completed Girls Education Project, which led to the formulation and adoption of policy on Free and Compulsory Education for Girls in Public Secondary Schools in Kaduna State.
Mr. Kure also commended their efforts and support to journalists reporting on development issues in their communities, he said issues of peace cannot be discussed except with the fathers of the land and that is the reason for this visit.
He stated the fact that Kaduna state has been experiencing unrest for a while now and there is need for journalists to be trained on reporting such issues. Journalists need to be sensitive and not bias when reporting on peace, and as such he appealed with the traditional leaders to avail themselves whenever the organization and journalists approach them for interviews.
Responding, the District Head of Doka welcomed the team and commended their efforts on taking up such issues as Kaduna state has been experiencing unrest for quite a while, and there is no better time than now to train journalists on reporting such issues. He also commended the effort of the team on their work towards achieving press freedom.
Also responding, the District Head of Kufana expressed gratitude towards the work AMDF has been doing in engaging journalists to highlight development issues in his community and encouraged them to continue.
He however expressed dismay over the insecurity that has affected Kaduna state and especially his area Kajuru. He said even with the strategies put in place, the attacks remained consistent. He promised to keep working with government in deploying different tactics till a solution is found to address the problem.