By Akumbu Uche, Esther Kiakubu & Ejura Adama
“Students need mentors to look up to in order to be successful in their field of practice”, Chairperson, Jos-Carnegie Partnership Committee (JCPC), Dr. Patricia Lar has said.
She stated this at a workshop on ‘Young Women in Communication and Media Studies’ held on August 12 at the University of Jos ASUU Secretariat.
The workshop, the first of its kind, was organized by the Department of Mass Communication with the theme “Mentoring the Young Female Scholars”.
Head of Department, Dr. Mrs. Christy Best stressed that the workshop is to “equip students of the department, particularly the females, with the skills required to become competent media practitioners in future.”
“Women in the media live in the shadows of men”, lamented Mass Comm. Lecturer, Professor Augustine-Ufua Enahoro.
He pointed out that the aim of the conference was not to sideline the male students but to encourage the females who, he said, make up 70 percent of the student population.
“The Mass Comm. Department is gender sensitive”, he stressed.
The Head of Department, Theatre and Film Arts, Professor Irene Agunloye encouraged the students to have mentors from various spheres of life.
Prof. Agunloye, who was represented by Dr. Patricia Lar, also encouraged the students to use the social media to arm themselves for the future.
Media practitioners, Mr. Taye Obateru (Vanguard Newspaper) and Mrs. Henrietta Ibrahim (Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria), shared their career experiences with the students.
Director of the Institution’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, Associate Professor Rahila Gowon urged the students to cultivate a “teachable spirit” in order to get the best out of mentorship.
Head of Department, Languages and Linguistics, Dr. Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ogunkeye, advised the students to influence the lives of others with what they learned at the workshop. “You are never too young to mentor”, she said.
President of the Association of Mass Communication Students (AMCOMS), Richard Maiwada, commended the speakers for taking an active interest in students’ development.
