The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism as part of its Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusion and Accountability will on Monday 28 November launch its 2022 House to House project with focus on investigative journalism desk with a visit to the News Agency of Nigeria, Lagos Bureau office.
The visit is a part of activities to build the capacity and train journalists, create investigative journalism (IJ) desks and fortify existing IJ desks in selected organisations within Nigeria. The WSCIJ team will sensitise journalists within these media organisations on the importance of holding public officials accountable at the sub-national level through investigative stories, data gathering and sourcing and follow-up reportage to accelerate national development, democracy and enlist the participation of citizenry at local and state government levels.
Furthermore, WSCIJ will work closely with the management of these organisations to identify talents for in-depth training and mentorship. After initial engagement, investigative stories around state and local governance and the private sector will be executed to improve public awareness and the ecosystem for transparency, accountability, good governance and amplify marginalised voices.
At inception in 2015, two hundred and three (203) reporters were trained thanks to funding from the British High Commission while thirty-nine (39) journalists were trained in 2016. 348 reporters benefitted in 2019 bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 590 journalists from The Nation Newspaper, Television Continental, New Telegraph Newspaper, Guardian Newspaper, The News Magazine, Leadership Newspaper, Daily Trust Newspaper, TheCable, BusinessDay Newspaper, Premium times, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), and the Abuja offices of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Leadership Newspaper, Daily Trust Newspaper and Premium Times.
