WABMA to media practitioners: Turn expertise to enterprise alternatives

The West Africa Broadcast and Media Academy (WABMA) has challenged aspiring media practitioners to look past typical employment and harness their skilled expertise to create enterprise alternatives, construct sustainable careers and contribute to the expansion of the media {industry}.

The problem was delivered through the induction of contributors for the Academy’s fourth-quarter coaching programme, the place the Rector, Dr Ken Ike Okere, described WABMA as a gathering level for aspiring media professionals throughout West Africa, significantly Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana.

Dr Okere reaffirmed the Academy’s mandate to coach media professionals able to assembly the calls for of a quickly evolving {industry}. He urged the inductees to uphold the ethics of their respective professions and turn into worthy ambassadors of WABMA upon commencement.

He famous that synthetic intelligence and digital platforms had been quickly remodeling the media panorama, with digital applied sciences more and more difficult the standard gatekeeping function of typical media organisations.

However, he cautioned that entry to expertise alone doesn’t confer professionalism, stressing the significance of steady studying, moral conduct and the sensible utility of acquired data.

He inspired the contributors to share their data with others, noting that instructing others additionally strengthens one’s personal studying.

In her welcome handle, the Registrar of the Academy, Mrs Chidiebere Njoku, urged the contributors to take the five-week coaching programme significantly and construct significant skilled relationships with fellow inductees.

She described the Academy’s facilitators as among the many finest within the {industry} and inspired the scholars to have interaction them actively, ask questions and take full benefit of their wealth of data, experience and sensible expertise.

Mrs Njoku additionally highlighted WABMA’s versatile studying choices, explaining that its campuses in Abuja, Enugu and Lagos provide on-line, in-person and hybrid coaching. She urged the contributors to make the most of the Academy’s amenities and studying alternatives to maximise their skilled growth.

A serious spotlight of the induction was a presentation by the Executive Director, Business Development, Mike Yawe, titled “Turning Media Skills into Business Opportunities, Professional Excellence and Career Success.”

Yawe challenged the inductees to recognise that skilled success in in the present day’s media {industry} requires greater than tutorial {qualifications} or years of expertise.

“At WABMA, we believe that talent may open the door, but competence, continuous learning and professional excellence keep it open,” he mentioned.
He defined that WABMA’s method goes past typical classroom instruction, positioning the Academy as a ending faculty for media practitioners by sensible, industry-focused coaching designed to refine current expertise, broaden skilled horizons and put together contributors for rising alternatives.

According to him, the media {industry} affords vital alternatives past conventional employment, with competencies in journalism, broadcasting, digital advertising, content material creation, public relations, graphics design, video manufacturing and strategic communication offering a basis for entrepreneurship, consultancy and impartial media ventures.

Yawe urged the inductees to see themselves not solely as job seekers but additionally as potential employers, entrepreneurs, consultants and innovators able to creating worth inside the {industry}.

He emphasised that skilled coaching should translate into tangible outcomes, encouraging contributors to establish alternatives, develop revolutionary options and construct careers that reply to the altering wants of society and {the marketplace}.

The Executive Director additional defined that WABMA’s dedication to its college students extends past the completion of their coaching.

Through its internship programme with accomplice media organisations, graduates have alternatives to realize sensible {industry} expertise and exhibit their competence. Those who carry out creditably stand an opportunity of securing employment with the taking part organisations.

Yawe additionally highlighted the Academy’s company coaching portfolio, which incorporates engagements involving organisations such because the United States Consulate in Lagos, the Ford Foundation, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) and Media Trust Group, amongst others.

He challenged the inductees to look past the certificates they might obtain on the finish of their coaching and mirror on 4 crucial questions:
What new expertise would they purchase? What enterprise alternatives might they establish?

What skilled relationships might they construct?

How might they use their coaching to advance their careers or create alternatives for others?

The event additionally offered a chance for the worldwide contributors to share their experiences of studying and dwelling in Nigeria.
Students from Liberia and Ghana described the training setting as conducive and the environment as appropriate for efficient studying. Their accounts highlighted the Academy’s rising attraction as a vacation spot for skilled media coaching throughout West Africa.

The occasion concluded on a vigorous observe as facilitators and inductees took to the dance ground through the WABMA social media second, creating an environment of camaraderie, networking and celebration.

The memorable gathering underscored the Academy’s dedication to combining skilled growth with collaboration and significant relationships amongst media practitioners from completely different backgrounds.

As the five-week coaching programme begins, 87 college students had been inducted throughout the three Campuses and WABMA has reaffirmed its dedication to equip media professionals with the sensible expertise, moral grounding and entrepreneurial mindset required to thrive in an more and more aggressive and technology-driven {industry}.