Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
The Sterling Sustainability Working Group in fulfilment of its sustainability mandate unveiled a two-day high-level training for environment and climate reporters focused on leveraging artificial intelligence and digital tools to enhance their skill.
The training, organised by Sterling Financial Holdings Company, parent to SterlingBank and Alternative Bank in partnership with the Climate Africa Media Initiative and Centre as part of activities marking the 2025 National Sustainability Week commenced on Tuesday in Abuja.
This signifies a deliberate effort to reposition journalists as strategic actors in national development conversations at a time when technology is rapidly reshaping a new digital landscape.
The programme goes beyond its designation as a conventional capacity building to position journalists as critical partners in advancing sustainability innovation and economic transformation.
The programme is an affirmation of the fact that credible and compelling storytelling is essential to driving public understanding, influencing policy, and mobilising citizen action around climate and sustainability challenges.
Bunmi Ajiboye, Chair of Sterling Sustainability Working Group, in her welcome remarks, underscored the organisation’s belief that sustainability initiatives can only achieve lasting impact when they are effectively communicated.
According to Ajiboye, innovation without storytelling limits reach, understanding, and adoption.
Her words: “This goes beyond training. It is about building a cornerstone for how Nigeria tells her story of progress, resilience, and innovation. The work is important, but the story is what shapes the nation and defines its priorities.”
She stressed that Sterling’s intentional sustainability journey, which spans renewable energy financing support for circular economy startups, climate-smart agriculture, and youth empowerment across Nigeria. According to her, these interventions must be clearly translated into narratives that resonate with citizens, policymakers, and investors alike.
“You are the storytellers shaping how Nigerians interpret sustainability, how policymakers understand urgency and how citizens see opportunity,” she told participants.
“Sustainability today is no longer just an environmental conversation; it is a development, economic innovation, and people-centred conversation.”
Ajiboye also noted that the success of sustainability movements depends heavily on the agenda-setting power of the media. She stated journalists play a defining role in inspiring change, correcting misinformation, and amplifying grassroots innovators whose solutions often remain unseen.
She said: “This is not just a training; it is an invitation to partnership. Together, we can build a future where sustainability is not a buzzword but a lived reality for Nigerians.”
Isiaq Ajibola, former Managing Director and editor-in-chief of Daily Trust Newspaper speaking on the theme of media sustainability innovation and Nigeria’s future, warned that media sustainability has become an urgent survival issue rather than a theoretical discussion.
“Media sustainability is no longer optional; it is existential,” Ajibola said. “The survival of journalism as a public good now depends on how well media organisations adapt their business models, rebuild public trust, diversify revenue streams, and remain professionally independent while financially viable.”
Ajiboye identified financial, editorial, institutional, and audience sustainability as critical pillars, which the Nigerian media must strengthen to retain relevance, credibility, and influence in national discourse and agenda setting.
Victoria Bamas, Editor of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, speaking on the theme “the transformative role of technology,” delivered a session on AI for content optimisation and distribution.
Bamas stressed the expanding opportunities AI offers to enhance newsroom efficiency speed and reach in an increasingly competitive information ecosystem.
In addition, Bamas noted that AI tools can generate written, visual and audio content, automate routine reporting such as sports results and financial updates, support transcription and translation and assist with brainstorming, data analysis, trend spotting and story mapping.
According to her, AI is an indispensable tool in modern journalism and urged reporters to adopt it responsibly to remain competitive.
Aliu Akoshile, publisher of NatureNews Media who led a session on media ethics and AI risks, stressed that while AI can enhance journalistic output, it can not replace human judgment, professional values, and accountability.
He stressed that since journalists hold public officers to account, they should also be accountable in their professional dealings. According to Akoshile, who liken it to a case of “who will police the police” stated that journalists should abide by the highest level professional ethics.
His words: “AI may drive efficiency, but critical thinking remains the journalist’s most important asset.” He stressed the need to uphold ethics, credibility, and public trust in the age of AI-driven content.
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