African media have been urged to be part of the efforts at breaking down Agenda 2063 to drive the continent’s economic growth.
The charge came at the Pan-Atlantic University (PAU) 2025 Media Roundtable, which brought panelists and attendees together for a practical conversation about how the media can help Nigeria contribute meaningfully to Africa’s Agenda 2063.
Tayo Aduloju, CEO, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, who was keynote speaker the event held at the Lagos Business School, on Thursday, said the media must stop treating development plans as distant documents.
“Agenda 2063 is not Abuja or Addis Ababa material,” he said. “It is supposed to translate into daily improvements in people’s lives. The media has to break it down so Nigerians understand what these goals mean for them.” He explained that journalists play a major role in shaping public expectations. “People hold leaders accountable when they understand what is promised. The media is the bridge between policy and the citizen,” he said.
One of the panelists, Jubril Adeojo, who works in climate finance and sustainable development, discussed how inefficiencies hurt Nigeria’s economy. Using the agriculture chain as an example, he said, “We lose 50 to 60 percent of tomatoes on the road from Sokoto to Lagos. So when we quote GDP numbers, we are counting value that actually disappeared.” He also pushed back against the global narrative around solar energy.
“Solar is cheaper. It is not charity work. But the way it is packaged for Africa makes it sound like a handout,” he said. He argued that Africa must invest in solutions that make sense for local economies instead of “waiting for external prescriptions that don’t fix our problems.”
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Nina Mbah, an impact producer whose work spans several African countries, said the media needed to tell stories that help people connect development issues to everyday life. “Data doesn’t move people. Stories do,” she said. Mbah explained that many climate and sustainability issues fail to gain traction simply because they are communicated in technical language.
For Frederick Mordi, a journalist and corporate communicator, the biggest concern is the erosion of trust. He warned that when the media focuses only on crises, audiences tune out. “If you report only darkness, people stop believing you,” he said, adding that “Responsible reporting doesn’t mean hiding problems. It means adding context, showing what is working, and giving people a full picture.”
One of the strongest calls for African-led narratives came from Ayo Mairo-Ese, anchor at Arise News. She said the continent must stop outsourcing its story.
“If Africa does not own its narrative, someone else will write it and they will write it in a way that suits them,” she said. She pointed out that some media organisations operating in Africa are influenced by foreign interests even when they appear locally led. “That shapes what is reported and what is ignored,” she said. Mairo-Ese added that journalists cannot create positive stories out of thin air. “We can’t manufacture progress. Government and institutions must give us something real to report.”
The panel was moderated by Margaret Agada-Mba, who guided the discussions toward the central theme of citizen engagement. She noted that the media must help Nigerians understand not just what the problems are, but what solutions look like.
By the end of the roundtable, participants agreed that the media’s role goes beyond informing, it extends to inspiring action and helping the public understand how Nigeria fits into the bigger African vision.
