By Mu’awiya Ibrahim
The Global Environmental and Climate Conservation Initiative GECCI has trained journalists in Bauchi on how to report Social Ecological resilience as part of their engagements in keeping the environment safe and conducive.
GECCI is an independent global campaign organization that aims to be global leader in environmental and climate conservation, it activities spanned over 90 Countries with over twenty two thousand team across the globe
The organization in collaboration with African Climate Reporter and Bauchi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Journalists received the workshop aim at creating an enabling working environment for Journalists and Environmentalists to ensure that the safety of environment.
Speaking at the occasion, the Permanent Secretary Bauchi State Ministry of Information and Communication Shehu Yahaya Jalam who stand in for the Commissioner commended journalists in the State for their effort in broadcasting within the perimeter of professional ethics appealed them to maintain the tempo.
“I must confess that, Journalsitd in Bauchi make a difference by putting ethics at frontline when exercising theie professional tasks” said the Commissioner.
Jalam however charged the media houses in the State to embark on Environmental reporting to play their part in maintaining a conducive environment by way of educating the heterogeneous audience about environment and climate change as well ways to provide healthy environment.
Remarking, the Chief Executive officer GECCI Dr. Abdulhamid Tahir Hamid who spoke on the Journalistic efforts and implications on Global climate change called on the journalists to key in to the environmental reporting, saying the aim.
He said the workshop is targeted at bringing in journalists and environmentalists together to acieve a desired aim.
“Knowing the roles journalists can olay in that aspect made it damn necessary to organize such workshop to bring them on board” Dr. Tahir chipped
Dr. Abdulhamid then called on the general public to join hands and play their part in maintaining our natural conducive environment.
Also speaking, the Director General Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency BASEPA Dr. Ibrahim Kabir said if 30 percent of journalists will work in the environmental sector by reporting genesis of climate changes, implications and remedies, in few years to come the environmental problems bedeviling the earth will be a history hence the need for two sectors to work in synergy to achieve that.
While the Chairman Bauchi State Council of the NUJ Umar Said ably represented by his Secretary Adama Ibrahim expressed delight over the workshop called on the participants to utilize the perceived knowledge hoping that other sectors will emulate the gesture.
Papers were also presented on Health Effect of Climate change: a case study of Hypertension by Abubakar Shefiu and Effect of Global warming on Animal survival by Director African Climate Reporters Nuruddeen Bello.
There are in participation over 30 Journalists from different media Houses.
