The Kwara State government has concluded a five-day capacity-building workshop on documentary production on Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support (L-PRESS) Project for some select journalists in Ilorin, the state capital.
The workshop was aimed at equipping the journalists with the skills that could enhance their reports on the achievements and impact of L- PRESS.
The training was organised by the Kwara L-PRES in collaboration with Four Icons Premium Limited.
Kwara L-PRES is a World Bank-assisted project under the State Ministry of Livestock Development that is focused on boosting livestock production and resilience in the state.
At the opening ceremony of the training programme, the state commissioner for Communications, Mrs. Bola Olukoju said the workshop aimed to equip participants with multimedia skills for effective documentation of government projects.
Olukoju acknowledged Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s approval of the initiative and urged the participants to share the knowledge gained with their respective organisations.
LEADERSHIP reports that the participants were drawn from ministries, agencies, print, electronic and online media outfits across the state.
At the closing ceremony of the highly educative and rewarding event, Olukoju charged public office holders and media professionals in the state to prioritise documentation of events for the sake of credibility, transparency, and future referencing.
Olukoju described the training as highly important, saying it goes a long way to broaden the knowledge of participants in documentary production and how to use artificial intelligence tools to enhance their works.
“Training in documentary production is a way to go because the power of documentation cannot be unrivaled. The art of storytelling is how we get our story outside. We don’t want governance to be like something we just cook up. We want a human feeling angle to it. That is why we want people to understand the art of storytelling,” she said.
The commissioner, who was also a participant, commended Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for approving the training and the government’s vision for digital inclusion.
The state coordinator of L-PRES project, Mr Olusoji Oyawoye, said the scheme has organised series of training for different stakeholders, including agricultural extension agents, livestock farmers, butchers, and abattoir workers among others.
He listed some of the topics the training has focused on to include ” ruminant and crop residue usage”, ” bull fattening, commercial fodder production and value chain addition”, “meat handling protocols and good hygiene practices”, “occupational health and safety management”, and
“reduction of climate change impacts through climate-smart agriculture and early warning meteorological systems”.
Olusoji appreciated Governor AbdulRazaq for making the job easy for his office, saying that the governor ‘s positive disposition to livestock project has helped L- PRES project recorded greater success.
He requested the media officers to continue to support the L-PRES project by according it’s adequately the desired coverage.
For her part, a resource person from Four Icons Premium Limited, Aishat Onusi, said in a development project, documentation is not just record-keeping, but a proof of work, evidence of impact, and the foundation for learning and accountability.
“Without proper documentation, efforts or work done risk being forgotten, unrecognised, or duplicated”, Onusi said.
