SPITFIRE Advocacy Skills Training for Media in Oyo State

When I first heard of the catch phrase “Spitfire”, I thought in Pidgin language…”Wetin this one mean now”? Analysing it further I came to the conclusion that it possibly means reinforcement and persistently talking about an important social issue or whatever issue. In this case spacing births in order to save lives, improve on the quality of lives of citizens and of course making governance easier for government.

I have been part of the Spitfire Advocacy training on how to effectively share family planning stories organized by DEVCOMS and NURHI holding in Ibadan, Oyo State.

As the training began it became clear what Spitfire Advocacy means. It is a tool for helping non-profit organizations develop high impact and effective persuasive communication. It is a Smart Chart for communications and the latest version is known as Chart 3.0

In advocacy efforts the Spitfire tool can be used at different levels of creating awareness and making impact about an issue. Some of these stages include:
1) Just starting a communication process: This is the planning stage where you determine your message; goals and objectives and what you intend to achieve.
2) Building on a campaign that is already on-going
3) Reviewing and wanting to scale up on an already executed project.

Spitfire is also a more effective strategic communication advocacy tool. It helps organizations and individuals who are change agents to make decisions that will produce high result. Read more about The Spitfire Strategies Smart Chart 3.0, a highly effective communication tool.

Why  the media is important here: Because it has the capacity to educate the public. The media is a potent force that can cause change positively or negatively.

Spitfire strategies helps you make:
Specific
Measurable
Actionable/Attainable
Realistic
Time Bound

Set SMART goals, decisions in achieving a change.

I learned that nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it. Team work and coalitions makes pursuing and achieving success at an idea more effective. As you can see in this photo

A group of participants in a tight interlocked hand holding exercise. Lots of laughter 😂😂😂 as they tried to untangle while still holding each others hands to form a circle. It looked unachievable at first but we ended up unraveling the mystery 😀😀😂

Facilitators at the training:
Mrs Stella Akinso – State Team Lead, Oyo (NURHI)
Mallam Kabir. M. Abdullahi – State Team Leader, Kaduna(NURHI)
Mr Samuel Rapheal – Senior Program officer, Advocacy & Demand generation (NURHI)

Adebisi Adetunji (C)