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Press Releases
Nigerian cartoonists hold government to account
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The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Trust is helping the Nigerian media to hold its government to
account - through cartoons.
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The trust is training 160 Nigerian cartoonists, graphic artists and journalists as
part of its Budget Monitoring Project, helping the media to produce news on public
finance issues that ordinary people can understand and relate to.
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The trust's Project Director, Robert Powell, says: "Financial accountability and
transparency are key issues in Nigeria and cartoonists are uniquely placed to
expose and ridicule the abuse that takes place at all levels of government.
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"A
striking image can tell a complex story simply and powerfully and cartoonists have
a key role to play in empowering the Nigerian people to influence budget
formulation and monitor public spending."
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Funded by the European Commission and the UK Government's Department for
International Development (DfID), the project focuses on national media based in
Lagos and Abuja, and on regional media and civil society organisations based in six
states - Anambra, Cross River, Jigawa, Kano, Osun and Yobe.
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The training for cartoonists has been led by Bill McArthur, cartoonist for the
Financial Times and Glasgow Herald and the 2005 Scottish Cartoonist of the Year.
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The course aimed to encourage Nigerian cartoonists to focus on budgetary issues; to
make better use of email for disseminating images; and aimed to provide training in key
IT packages.
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The Budget Monitoring Project is holding a weekly competition to select the best
cartoon and the winning entries can be viewed at www.budgetmonitoringng.org.
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The trust, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's international development charity, runs a wide range of
projects in Nigeria including Voices - a radio project focusing on governance,
rights and responsibilities - and an HIV and AIDS awareness campaign targeting young
Nigerians.
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Trust
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