A non governmental organisation, Christian Blind Mission has organised a two-day training workshop for media practitioners in the state on environmental and climate change reportage.
The workshop which took place recently at Green Belt Hotel, Makurdi, the state capital with the theme “Enabling Resilience to Climate Change Related Risks Through Local CSOs’ Strengthening (ER2CC) Project” featured environmental experts who drilled participants on factors responsible for environmental degradation.
In a lead paper presentation, a lecturer in the Department of Geography, Benue State University, Makurdi, Dr. Elizabeth Jeiyol who took participants on “climate change and sustainable development nexus as well as media and climate change reporting”, harped on the need for people to avoid practices such as carbon emission, deforestation, building on water channels, blocking of drainage channels among others.
She said when gas is emitted into the atmosphere, it depletes the ozone layer, a situation she maintained has been responsible for general global warming.
According to the environmental expert, indiscriminate felling of trees without replacement, has accounted for flooding, erosion and other forms of environmental degradation. She advised the people to be wary of practices that are detrimental to environmental safety.
The officer in charge of Communication and Branding (CB), Mr. Hilary Chwuku, in another presentation tagged “Visibility” educated participants on the importance of visibility in any project undertaken by the foundation.
He said any organisation that enjoys funding from any foreign donor, especially the European Union on any project, was duty bound to acknowledge such a donor, revealing that failure to acknowledge in most cases discouraged such donors from offering further assistance.
Earlier, Programme Manager of the foundation, Mr. Emmanuel Egbodo while presenting a historical overview of the foundation, gave some of the foundation’s core values which include honesty, faithfulness, commitment, diligence, diversity, inclusion, integrity, respect, love, empathy, equity and fairness.
State coordinator of the foundation, Mrs. Mimi Rachel Dzever who told participants some of the projects the foundation has undertaken in some communities in the state including tree planting campaigns in some communities in Konshisha and Gwer West Local Government Areas emphasized the need for the media to be part of the foundation in propagating her activities.
