At the University of Johannesburg, Blessings Mosugu, a broadcast journalist with News Central TV and Fellow of the MTN Media Innovation Programme (MIP), stepped up to the podium with a simple message: Ubuntu.
“Ubuntu means ‘I am because you are,’” she explained to the room of journalists and academics. “As humans and as journalists, generosity, empathy, and factuality should never be lacking among us.”
Her presentation, Journalism, Justice, and Joint Prosperity, touched on a recurring theme in Africa’s biggest economies, the complicated relationship between Nigeria and South Africa. At the heart of that tension, she argued, are two things: policy and perception.
Policy shapes official relations. But perception – how citizens see one another and how the media frames those views – often fuels the most visible rifts. “Brand or be branded,” Mosugu said, borrowing from business strategists. “Tell your story, or others will tell it for you.”
The stakes are high. In 2024, a Nigerian-heritage contestant in Miss South Africa, Chidimma Adetshina, withdrew from the contest after weeks of xenophobic backlash. Her ordeal played out online, where misinformation and prejudice spread unchecked. It was a reminder that when stories are not told accurately, assumptions and speculation quickly fill the void.
That is why MTN’s Media Innovation Programme has become significant. Launched in 2022, the fellowship has trained about 80 journalists over four cohorts. Each fellow spends six months in training, with classroom sessions, newsroom visits, and an international study tour in South Africa. More than 3,000 people applied for just 20 places in the most recent edition.
The investment is paying off. Fellows have gone on to win awards for innovative reporting, fact-checking, and storytelling. At the last graduation, three journalists were honored for their contributions, including ThisDay’s Chiemelie Ezeobi, who was recognized for excellence in reporting.
On their recently-concluded study tour, MTN MIP Fellows also visited the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria. Ambassador Alexander Ajayi reminded them of Nigeria’s historic solidarity with South Africa during apartheid and stressed the importance of deepening today’s ties through people-to-people connections. Media, he told them, is a bridge.
For Mosugu, the challenge is clear. Nigeria and South Africa must learn to tell their own stories – not leave them to outsiders.
The media, she argued, can either reinforce division or build unity. With programmes like MTN MIP, a new generation of journalists is being equipped to choose the latter.
“As Nigerians, unity is at the heart of our national motto: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress,” she said, ending with a Yoruba proverb, Ẹ jẹ ka s’ọwọ́ pọ́ ka fi mọ́ sọ̀kọ́, let us come together and hold hands.
Her call was simple but urgent: journalism must be about more than headlines. It must be about justice, accurate representation, and shared prosperity.
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