International Women’s Day 2019: Female Media Students Urged To Standout

Female students of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ) have been urged to scale up their performance in order to prove they are not inferior to their male counterparts.

The call came when Media Career Development Network (MCDN) marked the International Women’s Day 2019 with the female students at the Media Career Centre, Lagos.

Theme of the 2019 celebration is #BalanceForBetter and participants were taken through the reasons for the celebration.

Executive Director of the MCDN, Mr. Lekan Otufodunrin urged participants to work hard and make their marks in their chosen profession. “There is no limit to where you can reach if you can pay the price. The price is not what you cannot pay, it is hard work and determining to make a difference even as female students,” he said.

The 1985 graduate of Mass Communications at the University of Lagos and erstwhile Online Editor at the Nation newspaper, Otufodunrin told the participants that “While in school I decided what I wanted to do and I found out what price to be paid to achieve it,” he said, adding that, “I am sure you people were not born then in 1085 but you are lucky today that you have enough resources, you have the internet to use and you have people who can mentor you so you really have no reason not to succeed.”

In her own submission, Executive Director of Media Concern for Women and Children (MEDIACON), Dr. (Mrs.) Princess Olufemi-Kayode urged the participants to be bold while going about their studies. “You have to be bold and at the same time you have to be polite,” she said.

“You are the ones in need of knowledge, you must study well and you must invest in gadgets, these are things that can aid you on your journey to success,” she said.

Addressing the participants, editor of Social Development News, Mrs. Funmi Falobi urged the students to aspire. According to her, “It is often said it is a man’s world but there is virtually no field of human endeavor that women are not excelling,” she said.

Urging the students further, Falobi, a former Lagos State House Correspondence for Daily Independence said, “There are countless number of women who have excelled in various fields even sometimes better than their male counterparts, so there is no reason you cannot aspire if you are focused.

Talking on the theme of the IWD 2018 organisations were urged to ensure gender balance by giving opportunities to women to serve in top management positions and contribute their quota especially when they are qualified.

Recently, a media nongovernmental organization, Journalists For Christ interntional outreach carried out a gender audit survey to determine women representation in the management positions of 12 sampled newspaper organisations  in Nigeria in commemoration of the International Women’s Day 2019..

The survey however revealed that few women are found on top management positions of the 12 sampled newspapers.

The management positions considered include the Managing Director, / General Manager, Chairman Editorial Board, Daily Saturday, Sunda and Online editors.

Media organisations are therefore urged to include more women in top management positions whereby allowing women issues to come to the fore.

Meanwhile the fact that women are not enjoying good representation at the top management positions doesn’t mean there are not qualified women but the gender imbalance must be addressed deliberately to make room for qualified women to occupy top positions.

Below is an illustration of the gender audit carried out by Journalists For Christ International Outreach in commemoration of the International Women’s Day 2019.

NEWSPAPER	MD/GM	CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD	EDITORS
			DAILY	SATURDAY	SUNDAY	ONLINE
THE PUNCH	MALE	MALE	MALE	FEMALE	MALE	MALE
THE NATION	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
VANGUARD	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
THISDAY	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
TRIBUNE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
LEADERSHIP	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
GUARDIAN	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
THE SUN	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
DAILY TRUST	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
BUSINESS DAY	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE
NEW TELEGRAPH	FEMALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	FEMALE	MALE
DAILY INDEPENDENT	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE	MALE

Source:Journalists For Christ