By Sarah NEGEDU
Climate reporting in Nigeria is being redefined, with journalists trained to tell sharper, people-focused stories that show how climate decisions shape livelihoods, governance and daily realities.
The intensive workshops held in Kano and Abuja, brought together reporters from radio, television, print and digital platforms for intensive sessions aimed at connecting climate impacts to everyday governance choices, public value and lived experiences across communities.
The capacity-building initiative was led by Goldapples Media Associates in partnership with the Climate Africa Media Initiative and Centre, CAMIC, and African Newspage.
The consortium prioritised practical newsroom skills, ethical reporting and storytelling techniques that locate climate change within the realities of livelihoods, food security, health, jobs and local development.
Speaking during the workshop in Abuja, the programme, Chief Executive of Goldapples Media Associates and consortium lead, Mr Ayo Makinde, said the goal was to shift the framing of climate stories away from distant environmental narratives to human-centred public-interest reporting.
He advised that climate impacts should not be treated as distant environmental concerns but as daily realities shaped by governance systems, policy decisions and institutional performance. He stressed that reporting climate change as a human issue strengthens accountability and improves public understanding.
Participants were taken through hands-on sessions on storytelling, governance framing and audience-focused communication, using Nigerian examples to illustrate how climate decisions affect markets, public services and vulnerable communities.
Among the facilitators was Aliu Akoshile, Executive Director of CAMIC, who guided journalists through links between climate science, climate finance, emissions, loss and damage, climate justice and Nigeria’s development planning landscape.
Also, Adam Alqali, Editor-in-Chief of African Newspage and Media Partnerships Manager for the project, led sessions on solutions journalism and ethical climate reporting, offering practical strategies to highlight institutional responses without tipping into advocacy.
The training also exposed participants to a new Climate Explainer Toolkit introduced by Ms Helen Bassey Osijo, Project Manager and Chief Operations Officer at CAMIC. The digital tool is designed to help newsrooms break down complex climate issues clearly and responsibly, supported by baseline assessments to measure knowledge gains.
Funded by the UK-supported Partnership for Agile Governance and Climate Engagement, PACE, the programme underscored the growing link between climate literacy and governance reform.
Delivering a goodwill message, PACE Media Advisor, Enene Ejembi, said journalism must increasingly place citizens at the centre of national climate conversations.
She noted that people-centred reporting helps Nigerians better understand how climate and governance choices influence investment, jobs and economic opportunity.
Participants described the intervention as timely, practical and transformative, citing improved confidence in reporting climate issues that connect policy decisions to human experience.
Reaffirming its commitment at the close of the workshops, the media consortium pledged continued support for Nigerian journalists through training, tools and learning platforms that strengthen accountability, deepen public understanding of climate challenges and advance national development.
