Recollecting a Media Dialogue on Words and Extremism in Abuja

Recollecting a Media Dialogue on Words and Extremism in Abuja

By Kabir Abdulsalam,

It was Friday afternoon, 29 August 2025. I had just wrapped up a technical session with the staff of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) in Abuja. I had engaged them on ways to sharpen their social media engagement and adopt AI tools for smarter communication when my phone buzzed with an email from my boss, Alhaji Yushau Shuaib, Publisher of PRNigeria.

“You will be representing PRNigeria at a Two-Day Media Capacity Building, Roundtable, Dialogue, and Flag-Off ceremony of the Media in the PCVE Network, scheduled for September 1-2, 2025, in Abuja,” the mail read in part.

I assumed it was another workshop journalists talking shop, swapping anecdotes, taking notes, and going home. But as I stepped into the conference room penultimate Monday, I quickly realised this was no routine gathering.

The conversations here were not about politics, press releases, or chasing headlines. This was a deeper dialogue: how the media can help prevent and counter violent extremism, how our words, images, and choices shape peace or fuel conflict, and how journalism itself could be repositioned as a tool for national healing.

The first sessions peeled away some long-standing assumptions. Many Nigerians are familiar with the phrase “non-kinetic”—the military’s term for soft power tactics used alongside combat operations. But as development activist Jaye Gaskia explained, PCVE is not just about offering a “softer” face of security.

“This is not merely a military adjunct,” he told us firmly. “Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism is, at its core, a development response. It is about addressing root causes: unemployment, poverty, exclusion, and grievances that extremists exploit. The military may participate with its non-kinetic tools, but PCVE belongs in the domain of development, governance, and education.”

His words struck a chord. For years, Nigeria’s budgets have tilted heavily towards defence and law enforcement. Yet, as Gaskia pointed out, pouring billions into weapons while underfunding schools, health, and livelihoods is like waiting for a crisis to erupt and only then paying to clean up the wreckage.

The roundtable, convened by the PCVE Knowledge, Innovation & Resource Hub (KIRH) and the PAVE Network, underscored a vital truth: the media is not a bystander. We are actors in the theatre of peace and conflict. Our reporting can either inflame or inspire, stigmatize or reconcile.

Senator Iroegbu, media consultant for the PCVE Network, was blunt: “Publicity is the oxygen of terrorism. If we sensationalise, if we turn attackers into icons, we unwittingly do their bidding.”

He urged journalists to remain factual, objective, and conflict-sensitive. Reporting must be balanced, rooted in credible sources, and stripped of inflammatory labels. “The victims and survivors must remain at the centre of our stories,” he said. “Not the perpetrators.”

This resonated with UNESCO and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) guidelines. Globally, journalists covering violent extremism are advised against sensationalism, against repeating hate speech, against careless use of terms like “terrorist” for all crimes or “Islamic extremism” that stigmatize whole communities.

Responsible reporting requires patience, accuracy, and empathy. Another key theme was peace education. Often dismissed as an abstract concept, it was here reframed as a practical national need. Gaskia reminded us of Nigeria’s unity schools and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in their original form: platforms to break ethnic silos and foster common identity.

“Investing in peace education does not mean teaching pacifism,” he explained. “It means teaching history honestly, teaching diversity as strength, creating spaces where young people see each other as fellow citizens, not rivals.”

For the media, this means going beyond reporting bomb blasts and military raids. It means telling stories of cooperation between communities, of reconciliation, of ordinary Nigerians resisting divisive narratives. Peace education in the headlines can be as powerful as any editorial.

In one breakout session, our discussion shifted to young people, digital natives who consume, share, and shape information faster than traditional outlets can react. Extremists understand this well; their propaganda thrives on WhatsApp, Telegram, and TikTok.

But the same tools can be reclaimed. Journalists were encouraged to design counter-narratives that resonate with youth: short videos that highlight unity, podcasts that discuss tolerance, Instagram reels that showcase interfaith cooperation.

This, however, requires skills beyond traditional reporting. It calls for creativity, partnerships with youth groups, and willingness to experiment with new media forms.

The dialogue yielded practical guidelines for journalists, emphasizing verification, sensitive reporting, cultural awareness, and expert analysis to promote responsible coverage.

Another highlight was the importance of partnerships in countering violent extremism, with strategies including collaboration with traditional leaders, youth-led peace projects, community dialogue platforms, peace narratives in entertainment, and highlighting economic opportunities.

My Takeaway

Nigeria is at a crossroads. For over a decade, military budgets have soared while development has lagged. Extremist groups exploit unemployment, inequality, and identity divisions. Yet solutions do not lie only in guns or raids. They lie in classrooms, jobs, dialogue tables, and yes, in newsrooms.

For me, PCVE is not just a strategy, but a commitment to building a Nigeria where violent extremism finds no fertile ground. It was a reminder that the media, while powerful, works best when embedded in a network of civil society, government, educators, and communities.

As the workshop rounded off the next day, I reflected on my own assumptions. I had come expecting another media workshop. I left with a conviction: journalism is not just about telling the story of violence, it is about preventing the next chapter of it.

PCVE is not an abstract acronym. It is about how we, as journalists and media practitioners, frame Nigeria’s story. Do we recycle the language of fear, or do we champion narratives of resilience? Do we chase sensational clicks, or do we report with responsibility and foresight?

The answer, I believe, will determine whether the media becomes an amplifier of extremism or an architect of peace.

Kabir Abdulsalam writes from Abuja, can be reach: [email protected].