INTRODUCTION
Arrangements are in top gear to conduct the Eighth Edition of Students Acquiring Media Skills (SAMS) for peacebuilding. The event is scheduled for June 6, 2018. Discussions have started with Television Continental News of Nigeria (TVC), which has been approached to host the event as it did for the Third Edition of SAMS on May 10, 2012, and for the 2012 International Day of Peace (IDP). TVC is located at Ikosi-Ketu in Education District II of Lagos State.
OVERVIEW OF SAMS
SAMS, a student mentoring program in acquisition of media skills, is one of the signature programs of African Projects/Foundation for Peace and Love Initiatives (APPLI/AFPLI). A tripartite program, SAMS was built on the spirit of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) existing among APPLI/AFPLI, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, and the Lagos State Ministry of Education. SAMS is targeted at senior secondary school students with the objective of cultivating media and communication skills needed to address growing social issues affecting young people in Nigeria. By providing senior secondary school students the opportunity to acquire media skills for future careers in peace journalism, SAMS has become entrenched among school-based initiatives being used to promote youth peace and nation building in Nigeria. In this regard, therefore, about 120 students of senior schools are brought together to receive training in media skills at a chosen media house every year since 2010. SAMS is also an offspring of Peace Media Parley (PMP), another signature program of the organization, which encourages media practitioners of various backgrounds, callings, and institutions to discuss current affairs and issues communiques on an annual basis.
THE THEME OF SAMS 2018
The theme for the 2018 SAMS is PROMOTING NATIONAL COHESION THROUGH MEDIA ENGAGEMENT. This theme, extensively discussed and deliberated, is a reflection on the ongoing conditions of the country, Nigeria, and the target audience, the youths of Nigeria. The need for constant dialogue and discourse on our continued nationhood—and the much anticipated unity, bonding, and cohesion—is imperative. Social cohesion ought to be an ongoing process of developing a community of shared values, shared challenges, and equal opportunity based on a sense of trust, hope, and reciprocity.
COUNTRY CONDITIONS AND PROJECT ENVIRONMENT
On its website weekly report, 8–10 May, Food West Africa claimed that Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa, and the seventh most populated country in the world. A country with 774 local governments, over 254 ethnic persuasions, Nigeria, more importantly, ranks among the most diverse countries of the world, including India, Pakistan, United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, and China. Like the USA, Nigeria’s population and diversity give her a huge potential for growth and development for the foreseeable future.
With such potential for growth and development, however, comes the propensity for social challenges. Since Nigeria gained independence in 1960, attainment of a cohesive and inclusive society has largely eluded the country. The Nigeria case is one where growth in population is not synonymous with development, a country where the trappings of democracy do not check lawlessness and corruption. The acts of leadership during successive government administrations in Nigeria (military and civilian) spanning 57 years have left much to be desired. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Nigeria is still grappling with growing civil unrest, terrorist attacks, kidnappings, and lack of consensus and patriotism. All of these result from lack of love and mutual respect coupled with brazen social, communal, religious, political, and economic dichotomies.
THE CONDITIONS OF THE TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for SAMS is senior secondary students. These students fall within our Youth Peace and Nation Building purview. They are also members of the Youth Peace Alliance Clubs (Y-PAC) targeted at junior and senior secondary schools. Because schools are a microcosm of the larger society, SAMS, as a mentoring program, is relevant to the growing curiosity of young Nigerians dealing with issues of national dichotomy. There is a need to show young Nigerians how to use acquired media skills to resolve conflicts and promote national cohesion and unity.
PHASES OF 2018 SAMS
Five stages will be involved in the one-day program of SAMS, and they are as follows: (1) Plenary, (2) Print Media, (3) Presentation Skills on Radio and Television, (4) Radio Production, and (5) Cartooning.
- Plenary Session: The program will open with a plenary session during which the guest speaker will deliver the keynote address on the topic “PROMOTING NATIONAL COHESION THROUGH MEDIA ENGAGEMENT.” This time period also will be used to familiarize participants with the rest of the day’s events. Participants will move directly from the auditorium where the plenary session is conducted to their individual classrooms/studios. The students will be divided into the five thematic areas with renowned professionals to tutor them.
- Print Media: This segment will help articulate to the students the potential and practicality of the print media and how it can be used effectively to advocate for a peaceful and just society. Such tools as laptops, projectors, dummy sheets, biros/pens, cameras, and others will be available for the students to use during the program. Participants from the different schools will come with stories, articles, poems, cartoons, news items, and comments that revolve around the core message on proactive peacebuilding that the young people would like to get into the print media. Participants will be taught the varied techniques of producing their material for newspapers and/or magazines.
- Radio and Television Presentation: This class will expose participants to presentation skills that are needed in the broadcast industry. Necessary qualities for media personnel include creativity, innovativeness, resourcefulness, depth of understanding regarding issues, interviewing skills (including the ability to frame questions), appropriate seating arrangements (depending on context), and understanding one’s audience. Cultural dimensions of issues will be handled by professionals from TVC NEWS NIGERIA with support from staff of AFPLI. It will be a practical session as the students will be able to take relevant tests for skill appraisal.
- Photography: A picture, it is said, is worth a thousand words; thus, it has the capacity to create a huge impact on society. This session is aimed at showcasing the power of pictures. The students will be taught by professionals how to capture images of people, places, and happening in a way that build bridges of love, oneness, and mutual understanding. Participants will be exposed to various methods of visually engaging individuals and institutions on various societal issues. Professionals will be on hand with cameras and other relevant tools needed for the training. Basic knowledge of cameras and how they can be effectively used to promote peace will be addressed in this workshop.
- Cartooning: Cartooning is a form of journalism that covers news or nonfiction events using the framework of comics—a combination of words and drawn images. This session will help elucidate to the participants the art of using drawing, illustration, and images to promote peace. The cartoon is a powerful instrument to tell a story and describe the world (often in a clever way), and young people are encouraged to use it to breed peace and love instead of hate, war, and violence. Participants will be taken through the art of drawing cartoons, instruments required, and the creativity needed in conveying messages of peace. There will be practical sessions where the participants will develop their own images and drawings at the event.
OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTATIONS OF 2018 SAMS
The main objective of 2018 SAMS Eighth Edition is to encourage young Nigerians to engage popular and modern media platforms to promote national unity, mutual respect, and cohesion. In this regard, the event will empower the youths to critically evaluate media content and context, develop media competencies, promote collective decision making, and deepen understanding that could avert violent extremism and increase nonviolent resolution of conflicts. Invariably, the participants will gain insights into how to use the media to promote proactive peacebuilding, along with ethnoreligious and ethnopolitical harmony, for national cohesion and unity.
COORDINATORS AND FACILITATORS
There will be five phases to this one-day event. The plenary session shall be a joint session, with the guest speaker selected from the media industry. The remaining sessions of the event shall be organized as breakout lecture sessions and hands-on workshops. These breakout sessions will be arranged that every participant would have opportunity to attend each session. Facilitators to these sessions may come from within and outside the TVC station. Coordinators and other facilitators also will come from the AFPLI organization, the education districts, and the Lagos State Ministry of Education.
STATIONERIES AND COSTUMES
AFPLI will provide appropriate stationeries and costumes for the 2018 SAMS Eighth Edition. Certificates of participation also will be issued to all students. If possible, memorabilia will be given to each participant to commemorate 2018 SAMS Eighth Edition.
THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA
To achieve a more cohesive society, the media have an important albeit (on occasion) onerous role to play. Although primarily the role of the media is to report news and current happenings in society in a most educative and entertaining manner, its greater role of setting agenda for any society at any given point in time is vital for Nigeria’s nascent democracy. Through programs and initiatives like SAMS, media opportunities are created for young people to promote the narratives around national cohesion and unity.
THE ROLE OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND EDUCATION DISTRICTS
The Lagos State Ministry of Education and the Education Districts also have a significant role to play in preparing young Nigerians for national cohesion and unity. It would be rewarding and beneficial if students at public and private schools could participate in programs that would increase their awareness for national cohesion and unity, such as SAMS. Working in tandem with the organization and the media to build SAMS and other proactive programs into a channel for sustainable peace education in Lagos state schools also would be a welcome role of the state government.
THE ROLE OF AFRICAN FOUNDATION FOR PEACE AND LOVE INITIATIVES
From 2003 till the present, APPLI/AFPLI has engaged various initiatives, concepts, and themes to promote proactive grassroots peacebuilding for ethnoreligious and ethnopolitical harmony in Nigeria. The organization will continue its role of promoting youth peace and nation building by using this year’s SAMS to create national cohesion and unity through media engagement.