The Penlight Centre for New Media Innovation, in collaboration with PRNigeria, has organized a one-week workshop for select youths from Bauchi State on new media strategies.
The participants were trained on Pitching, Concept Note drafting, Journalism Writing Skills, Social Media Engagement and Strategic Communication.
In his welcome address, the Executive Director of the Center and Publisher Daily Nigerian, Jaafar Jaafar, explained that the centre was established to give youths and women, especially from Northern Nigeria, a voice by leveraging social media technology and trends.
Mr Jaafar also stressed the importance of research and investigations, especially in the North in order to track developments and expose corruption.
He said: “The center provides new media training to communities with the aim of empowering them to make effective use of social media to improve their lives as well as seek accountability on projects.”
Also, in his remarks, the Publisher of PRNigeria, Yushau A. Shuaib, who is also a director at the Penlight Centre, urged the participants to make good use of what they learnt during the training.
Mr Shuaib challenged the participants to step down the skills to other participants who could not have the opportunity to attend the workshop.
The special Guest of Honour at the occasion and a Director at the National Gallery of Art, Saleh Bature commended the Centre for designing capacity training programme to enhance the journalistic skills as well as best strategic communication practice in the era of Social Media.
A participant at the training programme, Adamu Mai-Bodi, commended the centre for organizing the training which, according to him, has equipped them with basic research methods, facts assembling, proposal and concept note drafting, among many others.
Another participant, Ibrahim Mohammed Doji, while acknowledging the hospitality of the organisers, described the training as apt, lamenting however that, “majority of the Northerners are left far behind in terms of New Media innovations and the opportunities therein to explore”.
The resource persons at the training included: Yushau Shuaib, seasoned PR expert; Chidi Omeje, Head of research, Planning & Statistics at the Centre for Crisis Communication; Ajefu Ewache, Editor of Economic Confidential Magazine and Ibrahim Ramalan, Associate Editor of Daily Nigerian.
