Ojougboh tasks PR, media professionals on gender balancing for societal development

*Grace Bose Ojougboh, Head of Media and Public Relations at the Nigerian Communications Commission, says in the course of attaning the desired economic growth in the society, ‘we must include women as transformational agents’

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

Public Relations (PR), media professionals and other important institutions/agents of change in Nigeria have been urged to join advocacy for gender balancing, inclusion and fairness for the promotion of socio-economic development in the country.

Mrs. Grace Bose Ojougboh, Head of Media and Public Relations at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and producer/host of the weekly inspirational programme ‘Amazing Grace with Bose’ on YouTube, made the call while delivering a paper around gender balancing and fairness at the March 2022 monthly meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Abuja Chapter.

ConsumerConnect reports the event took place March 30, 2022, at the National Press Centre, Radio House, in Abuja.

Making her paper presentation titled, “Achieving Gender Equality In Nigeria: The Role Of Public Relations”, to NIPR members, including Fellows of the Institute at the event, Mrs. Ojougboh perceptively re-awakened the consciousness of the audience to the often-misconstrued concept of feminism.

She also took a pragmatic look at how this concept should be understood by all to actualise the lofty desire of maximising the innate potential of the female gender towards achieving greater developmental goals in the society.

Gender equality and attainment of SDGs

The NCC Head of Media and Public Relations as well equated the idea of feminism with the philosophical aspiration for gender equality as a fundamental human right, which also finds concrete expression in the Goal Five of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Goal Five of SDGs centres on gender equality and empowerment of  all women and girls with the hope to end all acts of discrimination against the female gender.

Ojougboh further noted with copious instances, that till date, issues pertaining to women gender have not always received the expected attention, whether by government, parents, the media, communication professionals, and traditional and religious leaders.

She stressed that there is a need for change of narrative with respect to how issues pertaining to gender balancing and fairness are effectively mainstreamed into Nigeria’s developmental drive.

Addressing imbalance in women participation in governance

The continuous imbalance in women participation in politics and governance and all the sectors of the economy is glaring, she submitted.

According to her, women are given almost no opportunity to participate in politics and in other spheres of life, in spite of the advocacy and call for inclusion and the strategies by various international agencies to reduce gender inequality to the barest minimum.

Ojougboh also stated: “Only recently, bills seeking gender equality were rejected by the National Assembly (NASS).

“Appointments across parastatals are dominated by men; this has got to change. If we want economic growth, we must include women; women are transformational agents. We need much more that 35 percent affirmative action.”

She also emphasised the fact that women represent about 50 percent of Nigerian population, according to a 2020 report.

This, Ojougboh stated, means that Nigeria cannot afford to neglect the wisdom and the capability of this group and the contribution that women can bring to make Nigeria a truly prosperous country.

Justifying the need for media/PR practitioners to be at the forefront of driving the narrative for gender balancing, Ojougboh cited an empirical study on media and gender inequality in Nigerian politics, which found that women were denied fair access to the media just as the study also identified media bias in the coverage of female news stories.

The study findings constitute a wake-up call that media and Public Relations practitioners have a whole lot to do in the fight for gender balancing in Nigeria, she noted.

She said: “We need to understand our social responsibility as perception drivers to promote unity, social cohesion, gender balancing/equality and the fundamental human rights of every Nigerian.”

Ojougboh, therefore, tasked these professionals to be deliberate and intentional about their communication such that it builds understanding, trust, and acceptance and becomes a win-win for men and women alike and all who desire to see equal representation of men and women across all sectors of the society.

“As Public Relations practitioners, we must help to create gender-sensitive and gender-transformative content that will change perceptions and break gender stereotypes.

“We must use every available medium to challenge traditional and cultural norms and attitudes that demean womanhood and does not serve humanity,” she said.

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