Sterling Holdings Advises Journalists To Focus On Nation-building Stories

Sterling Financial Holdings Company has asked media executives and journalists to focus on nation-building stories.

The appeal came at a two-day media training organised by the company’s Sustainability Working Group.

In his opening speech at the programme, the chairman of the Sustainability Working Group, Mrs Bunmi Ajiboye, reaffirmed the critical role of the media in shaping Nigeria’s development narrative.

She urged journalists to use their platforms to drive understanding, action and national progress around sustainability.

Ajiboye, who emphasised that while impactful work is essential, also said it is the stories told about that work that ultimately shape culture, behaviour and society.

Welcoming the facilitators, partners, and media professionals, she described the training as more than a capacity-building session, adding that it is a strategic investment in how Nigeria tells its story of progress, resilience, and innovation.

The Chairman highlighted their company’s deliberate and long-term commitment to sustainability, citing investments in renewable energy, support for circular-economy startups, as well as climate-smart agriculture and youth empowerment initiatives across the country.

“What good is a breakthrough if no one hears it? What good is innovation if it isn’t translated into understanding? The media plays a central role in interpreting sustainability for citizens, policymakers and the wider African continent.

“The story is only as true as the person who tells it. It is how a story is told that determines whether it will be believed, retold, resonate, and ultimately shape culture and history,” the speaker noted, drawing parallels between everyday narratives and defining national histories.

While describing journalists, editors, broadcasters and digital creators as essential partners in a new era where sustainability is no longer just an environmental issue, but it is an economic, development, innovation and people-centred conversation, Ajiboye added.

“This movement cannot succeed without you. Your stories can ignite action, correct misinformation, inspire change and amplify innovators who are solving problems quietly in their communities”, she added.

The training program, which brings together seasoned professionals with decades of combined experience, is designed to equip media practitioners with the knowledge, context and tools to report sustainability issues accurately and compellingly.