The 3-month program’s objective is to improve media capacity to advance news coverage of under-reported issues in local communities across Nigeria using technology, focusing on potential solutions with lasting impact on effective public service delivery, grassroots development, and improving the quality of life.

The premier fellowship is a conscientious, interactive learning and development experience empowering participants with new knowledge on Data Analytics for journalism, Geospatial analysis and remote sensing, Community project tracking and more. 

The fellowship also offers an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning, access to a larger network of professionals, and facilitated mentoring.

“With every cohort, the fellowship is building up the capacity of local newsrooms to report efficiently using evidence backed by data.  By building the skills of these exceptional individuals who often work in constrained circumstances, we want to help enhance their work towards the strengthening of their communities,” said the Fellowship Global Lead Blaise Aboh. “With these new skills, fellows can employ new forms of digital storytelling to ensure that their stories are amplified, reach new audiences, and stay afloat long enough for decision-makers to pay attention.”

The programme’s first cohort of 8 fellows, 4 male, and 4 female, have gone on to produce great pieces of work, which today have been amplified to reach over 2 million people, and have propelled the government to act on findings.

Each cohort is selected through a rigorous process, and from a large applicant pool. Candidates pitch their story idea emphasizing how it relates to the thematic area of the programme, and decisions are made based on the pitches that meet up the program’s selection criteria. Applicants interested in participating in the 3rd cohort should get ready for another call in two months.

The ADH Community Journalism Fellowship (ACJF) is an initiative of Orodata Science as it continues to deliver on its promise to enable equitable access to information and knowledge towards solutions that impact the lives of millions.

The program is supported by Africa Data Hub, a reputable and up-to-date source for data on the African continent which promotes quality access to information, and data-driven journalism to facilitate evidence-based decision-making.

Meet the ADH Community Journalism Fellows!

Fasilat Oluwuyi

Fasilat Oluwuyi is a Freelance Journalist based in Nigeria with over five years of experience working in print, and online media. Her wealth of experience spanned editing, writing, and content creation.

She is an experienced Reporter with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in Magazines, Editing, Journalism, Media Relations, and Digital Media. Strong media and communication professional with a National Diploma, Higher National Diploma focused in Mass Communications from Mashood Abiola Polytechnic Abeokuta.

Blessing Oladunjoye

Blessing Oladunjoye is an award-winning journalist and Publisher of BONews Service, a development news platform that leverages technology to promote issues of women, persons with disabilities, and children.

Blessing is based in Lagos; Nigeria and her work revolves around gender and social inclusion. In March 2022, she received an Impact Award from the European Union in Nigeria, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to advancing rights and access to justice for women with disabilities, through inclusive journalism. She is one of the 2022 Solutions Journalism African Fellows of the Solutions Journalism Network where she reports initiatives that are addressing social issues.

Daniel Adaji

Daniel Adaji is a Journalist, a Researcher, and Data Analyst with The Insight. He holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Agriculture Makurdi and has attended several pieces of training and workshops related to the new media. He is a member of several professional bodies including the Nigerian Factcheckers’ Coalition. As a journalist, he has done and published several human-angle stories cutting across health, gender, climate change, agriculture, and finance.

Daniel has authored and contributed to research articles both in local and international academic journals.

Daniel works on the investigation and FactCheck desk of The Insight and he has brought several innovations that have helped move the News platform beyond traditional media.

Nkechi Macaulay

Nkechi Macaulay is a seasoned multimedia journalist with over 13 years of experience from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, adolescent reproductive health rights advocate trained by Marie Stopes international with a particular focus on men’s and boys’ reproductive health rights.

She is also the founder of Boyslivesmatter Foundation, an organization designed to create awareness of the sexual abuse of Boychild and to educate boys on comprehensive sexuality education.

She is also a sexual harassment workplace trainer in the media and churches. She helps create sexual harassment policies, enabling a platform for staff to air their grievances, and offering access to seek counseling from a behavioral therapist.

Ugonna Agu

Ugonna Is a graduate of Mass Communication from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. She has been working with Radio Nigeria as a reporter for 10 years now and counting, reporting on the paramilitary, and has an interest in investigative journalism as it concerns Gender base.

She has undergone various pieces of training in both online and real-time with different media organizations including Reuters institute and the light center of journalism in America.

Patrick Obia

Patrick Obia is an investigative journalist, a photojournalist, a cinematographer, a video editor, and also an assistant editor with Cross River Watch. He has been a fellow with the Civil Media Lab, and a Bachelor’s degree holder in Mass Communication from the University of Cross River state.

NTIEDO EKOTT

Ntiedo holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from the University of Uyo and the University of Port Harcourt respectively.

He is a researcher with over five years of experience in data journalism, research, and project management, and a journalist at the Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), formerly Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism. He works at the Agricultural Development desk of the organization. He anchor’s CJID’s weekly newsletter titled “Agric Digits”, which provides a quick summary of important figures from the Nigerian agricultural sector.

Elijah Akoji

Elijah is a graduate of Mass Communication from Bayero University Kano, with over 4 years of experience in investigative reporting on open contract reporting (OCR) with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Climate reporting, and also the Grassroots News Project in the North West and some part of the North East.

Elijah has been a freelance investigative journalist for a couple of media houses in Nigeria and has a focus area on reporting on budget review, procurement fraud, issues of climate change, and helping create awareness in rural and grassroots orientation.

This initiative aims to improve the coverage of under-reported issues in local communities across Nigeria, paying special attention to potential solutions with lasting impact towards effective public service delivery, grassroot development and improving the quality of life.

Community journalism holds the key to bridging the wide gap between Nigeria’s urban and rural areas with news, information, education and development, as most of the issues are underreported by the mainstream media, community journalists often turn the spotlight on them.

This ADH Community Journalism fellowship program, already underway with its first cohort, is supporting community journalists with grants, capacity development and tools to produce in-depth data-driven stories that are investigative in nature on issues affecting communities in different parts of the country.

The programme prioritizes stories deep-diving into community health challenges, causes of hunger and extreme poverty, and more importantly stories of showing structural barriers women and girls face.

The Africa Data Hub project is a reputable and up-to-date source for COVID-19 related data on the African continent.

It supports and promotes quality access to information, data-driven journalism to facilitate evidence-based decision-making about the pandemic across the continent.

The ADH Community Journalism Fellowship (ACJF) is an initiative of Orodata Science whose mission is to continue to democratize data, and knowledge towards solutions that impact the lives of millions.

What do ADH Community Journalism Fellows receive?

• The fellows will participate in a Data Journalism Bootcamp that will provide capacity-building training on advanced investigative, data storytelling, mapping techniques and community project tracking. Journalists will also learn how to source, analyze and visualize data in engaging and compelling ways.

• The fellowship will provide a grant sum for each fellow to support their investigations.

• The fellows will also receive advisory from mentors to improve their journalistic skills and access to the entire ADH Community.

• The fellowship will provide editorial and technical support such as data research and analysis, data visualizations, infographics, and mapping for the stories produced by the fellows.

Eligibility

1. Applicants must be journalists based in Nigeria.
2. The number of grants available is limited, therefore the first 10 – 20 pitches received will stand the best chance of being considered. Interested journalists are encouraged to pitch their stories from 21 July to 4 August 2022.
3. Pitches must meet our selected theme.
4. Pitches from freelance reporters and staff from all types of media organizations – international, national, local and community-based are encouraged to apply.

Requirements

1. All pitches must be no more than 250 words.
2. The pitch should highlight the key issue you want to focus on, why it is relevant to the program and the extent to which it is under-reported.
3. Applicants are expected to pitch stories based on communities in the states where they reside.
4. Indicate why you are the right person to report it and the access you already have.
5. Include a letter or email from the editor of a publication who is interested in publishing your story.

Click here to apply

The OCL team was received by Blaise Aboh, the Executive Director of Orodata, with other executives and the team at their Yaba Office.

The visit was geared toward mapping out the next phase of the Africa Data Hub project and also developing business partnership ideas.

For the last two years, Open Cities Lab and Orodata Science have worked closely on the African Data Hub, a reputable project and up-to-date source for COVID-19 related data in user-friendly formats on the African continent.

The Africa Data Hub seeks to support and promote quality access to information, data-driven journalism and in turn, facilitate evidence-based decision-making about the pandemic across the continent.

For the first phase of the project in 2021, Orodata Science empowered three newsrooms under the ADH Data Journalism Workshop with tools, data and knowledge to produce more stories that are of public importance. 

A total of 93 journalists were trained across three newsrooms including Nigeria Health Watch, Premium Times and Information Nigeria Data visualization support was also provided to the newsrooms to help their journalists improve the quality of their reportage using an array of newly available data.

With the support of ADH, Orodata Science also developed a Covid19 Vaccine Tracker which provides deep insights into the depth of the outbreak, especially the vaccination administration efforts of government and allied actors.

For the second phase of the project in 2022, Orodata Science is working with OCL to implement the ADH Community Journalism Fellowship and ADH Twitter Space.

The ADH Community Journalism Fellowship (ACJF) is designed to improve the coverage of under-reported issues in local communities across Nigeria while focusing on potential solutions with lasting impact toward effective public service delivery, grassroots development and improving the quality of life.

The ACJF program will be delivered in three cohorts, some of its highlights include Data Journalism Bootcamp to train fellows on advanced investigative, data storytelling and mapping techniques. Each fellow will receive a grant sum and advisory sessions with mentors will be offered to build their journalistic skills.

The ADH Twitter Space is a monthly forum which is facilitated by Orodata Science and it is geared toward driving an incisive conversation with subject matter experts on topical issues with a focus on Equitable Economic Recovery.

The first edition of the ADH Twitter Space focused on the Covid19 outbreak and issues related to the mismanagement of Covid19 funds and the low level of vaccine administration.

The visit also presented an opportunity for the Open Cities Lab team to explore and visit different tourist attractions in Lagos.

Amongst the places that Gevers and Findlay visited are Nike Art Gallery where they beheld artworks by Nigeria’s finest artists and also the Lekki Conservation Centre which boasts of the longest canopy walkway in Africa.

Open Cities Lab (OCL) is a non-profit open and non-partisan organization that combines the use of action research, co-design, data science, and technology with civic engagement to enable the development of inclusive cities and urban spaces. Its design methodology and implementation will always reflect ethics with the user placed firmly at the centre of all important decisions.

OCL works to build inclusion and participatory democracy in cities and urban spaces through empowering citizens, building trust and accountability in civic space, and capacitating government.

Orodata Science in the past few years has worked with global corporations, institutions, and organizations at different levels on numerous projects encompassing data and digital rights, media innovation, and most importantly on improving equitable access to public services. 

Orodata democratizes public data, and knowledge for the benefit of citizens and societies towards openness, transparency in governance, and effective policy design and development.

To trigger real outcomes and emancipatory changes, Orodata supports communities at scale through the development of civic solutions and support of community solutions journalism.