Around 100 reporters from the Senate Press Corps (SPC) have come together in the old town of Keffi, Nasarawa State, for their 2024 yearly gathering.
The two-day retreat is called “Democracy and Development: How Far, So Far, for Nigeria”. Important people who make decisions and experts in development will be speaking at the event. This group includes the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio; Senator Yemi Adaramodu, who is in charge of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity; other Senators; the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA); and Professor Shola Omotola, along with other experts.
The reporters from Parliament came to Keffi from Abuja on Friday. They had a party on Friday night before working on Saturday.
The Senate President will give a big speech and then officially open the retreat this Saturday. Other important people will also share messages of good wishes.
Four experts will talk about how the government has affected Nigeria’s democracy since 1999, the National Assembly’s power to check corruption in government agencies, how the media reports on the National Assembly, and the future challenges for the media in covering Parliament.
Highlighting the importance of the meeting, James Itodo, the chairman of SPC, welcomed everyone and said the retreat is a chance for all Nigerians to understand how democracy works. He also said that the reporters should learn more about their job during the retreat.
“If we find that democracy in Nigeria is not meeting its goals, the experts at this meeting will provide solutions for better democracy for the benefit of everyone. “
“As reporters covering the National Assembly, we have a role in holding the legislators accountable to the people. We need to make sure they are listening to the concerns of the citizens and doing a good job. “
“I think this programme is important for us to learn and become better. We need to listen carefully to the presentations and take away what we learn from them. This will help us work with others to make our country better,” Itodo explained to his colleagues.
The Retreat Planning Committee, led by Taiye Odewale of Blueprint Newspaper, will release a message after the two-day event.
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