ASKOMP Holds Training for Members, Appoints Olateju as Legal Adviser
The Kwara State online media association, ASKOMP, organized a training session in Ilorin to improve its members’ professional skills in the evolving digital media landscape.
Taofiq Olateju Esq. and Dr. Abdulrasheed Saadudeen led two of the training sessions.
Dr. Saadudeen, a former head of Kwara State Polytechnic’s department of mass communication, emphasized the importance of journalists in forming public opinion and producing educational content.
Journalists are essential in informing their communities about events occurring in their local communities or environments. They can also be used to set agendas and shape public opinion. Consequently, in order to perform this job well, you must have a solid command of the English language as a communication tool and develop the practice of establishing rapport and networking with sources in order to obtain material for your reports.
Olateju Esq. discussed Strategic Law Against Public Participation (SLAPP) in the next session. Those who are hurt by slanderous or defamatory remarks, he suggested, ought to take legal action in civil or high courts instead of requesting that the police or security forces censor speech.
Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, ensures freedom of expression. Therefore, this freedom should not be made illegal by any other law. Any legislation that conflicts with this clause is void. More legislation is not required to make free speech illegal. Our constitution provides precise definitions for defamation, harmful lie, and criminal defamation. When someone is offended by slander or libel, they should be able to take their case to a civil or high court rather than calling the police to frighten or gag journalists who are performing their jobs lawfully.
The PRO of Kwara State Police, Princess Adetoun Ejire, thanked ASKOMP members for their important support of fair and impartial news reporting in Kwara State.
“I want to thank each and every one of you for your commitment to making sure that Kwara State receives fair and truthful news coverage. We greatly appreciate your efforts, and working together is essential to preserving peace and advancing our state. The ASKOMP leadership deserves praise for their excellent planning of this program, which emphasized the value of ongoing education and development.
Salihu Shola Taofeek, the chairman of ASKOMP, thanked all Kwara stakeholders for their strategic alliances and assistance in enabling online journalists to do their work.
This training reaffirms our commitment to keep honing our abilities as required by the online media company we work in. We are aware of how critical it is to advance our abilities in order to meet the standards demanded by the rapidly expanding new media. We value the cooperation of all Kwara State stakeholders, and we think that our mutually beneficial partnership will endure.
In the meantime, the Chairman used the occasion to declare that Taofiq Olateju Esq will represent the association as its official legal adviser.
AsKOMP Vice Chairman Ogbeni Aiyelabegan Babatunde AbdulRasaq encouraged everyone to internalize the lessons acquired from the lectures and expressed his joy at the high member attendance in his concluding remarks.
