Lagos State, Nigeria – June 11, 2020: Nestlé Nigeria and the Lagos Business School hosted the 2020 Advancing Nutrition, Health and Wellness(NHW) training in the first two weeks of June. The virtual media training program came at a critical time when the public needs to be well informed on nutrition health and wellness to help curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the role of healthy nutrition in supporting the immune system to the limelight. This is very significant in view of the triple burden of nutrition that Nigeria must deal with: malnutrition, under nutrition and micronutrient deficiency. With many seeking solutions, there has been a proliferation of fake news and false, sometimes dangerous recommendations for building immunity against the virus. The role of the media in setting the record straight cannot be overemphasised. The intervention of Nestlé and LBS to equip journalists to carry out this essential role is therefore timely.
Highlighting the importance of the training, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager of Nestlé Nigeria, Victoria Uwadoka said, “The essence of this training is to provide a platform for journalists to acquire knowledge and skills to improve fact-based storytelling to help their audiences and consumers get the right information to make the right nutrition and lifestyle choices to promote a healthier lifestyle. She urged the media to apply the learning on research and fact verification in their reporting to set the records straight especially in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Director of the LBS Sustainability Centre, Professor Chris Ogbechie said, “Building the capacity of the media is key to Nigeria’s achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG3 - good health and well being. This is why Lagos Business School and Nestle Nigeria developed the Advancing NHW through the Media program to harness the impact the media can have through professional and innovative reporting on Nutrition Health and Wellness issues.”
Facilitated by LBS faculty, Nestlé Nigeria resource persons, and health and nutrition experts, the Advancing NHW through the Media program trained media personnel on the concept of Creating Shared Value (CSV), Data Interpretation, Analysis and Reporting for journalists, Role of Nutrition in Pandemics, Research and Information Sourcing and Ethical Journalism among other current affairs around COVID-19.
Advancing Nutrition, Health and Wellness(NHW) Through the Media training program was developed in 2019 by Nestlé Nigeria and the Lagos Business School (LBS), to bridge the gap in nutrition health and wellness reporting in the media. It is a key part of Nestlé Nigeria’s media capacity building program in line with progress towards actualising its purpose of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future by providing individuals and families with the right information to make healthier nutrition and lifestyle choices.
Advancing Nutrition, Health and Wellness(NHW) Through the Media is supported by the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) as part of an MOU signed in 2018 to build media capacity through continuous training and the institution of an annual nutrition writers award to recognise and reward best practices. Nestlé believes that, given the right tools and resources, the media is well positioned to help improve access to nutrition health and wellness information for all Nigerians.