Journalists at The Nation spent Thursday, September 2, 2021 learning about personal finance and sexual gender-based violence reporting.
The training, held in the newsroom of the organisation, featured three speakers on financial literacy and sexual and gender-based violence reporting.
The training was organised by The Nation, in collaboration with its head of the education desk, Kofoworola Belo-Osagie, as her leadership project under the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Female Reporter Leadership project.
Mr. Abayomi Adeyeri and Mrs. Ololade Olayanju both engaged the reporters on financial literacy, introducing them to how to create wealth and invest in long-term plans.
Adeyeri, a seasoned banker with over 25 years of experience in finance and investing, charged the reporters to make financial plans, monitor their income, reduce debt and consumption, among others.
“You need to monitor your income and expenses on a monthly basis. All the small, small money you dash people, they matter a lot,” he said.
Ololade, who was joined by the reporters via Zoom, encouraged the reporters to stick to their budget and be wary about high-risk investments promising juicy returns.
“Do not invest in what you do not understand. Some investments are too risky. Do not invest any money you cannot afford to lose,” she warned.
On her part, Nsini Udonta, a gender advocate at Project Alert, a nongovernmental organization that caters to domestic violence victims, spoke on gender-based violence.
Udonta also enjoined the reporters to be sensitive to reporting sexual violence stories of under-aged children who may be at risk of stigmatization.
Speaking on the reason for the training, Ms. Belo-Osagie, a member of the 2021 FRLP cohort, said, she was inspired by the need to help journalists gain financial freedom.
She thanked the organisation for supporting the training.
“I was inspired to organize the training because I know journalists struggle with their finance. I know that hearing experts on how to manage their income can lead to financial freedom. I want to thank my editors for believing in this project and offering their maximum support to make it successful,” she said.
Participants shared what they learnt from the training.
Tajudeen Adebanjo from the city beat desk acknowledged the power of the training and called on people to speak up in order to ‘nip sexual violence in the bud’.
“The training has helped considering we are just recovering from the covid-19 pandemic which affected many people financially. This training will help to manage the little funds that are coming. The sexual violence session was also an eye-opener,” he said.
Another attendee, Uwaifo Faith, a member of the online department said the sessions were amazing.
“I particularly enjoyed the financial sessions. I basically learned how to dwell on the necessities and forgo unnecessary spendings. I’m also looking out for buying shares and equities from legitimate sources,” she said.
