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 goal is to drive an incisive conversation and share learnings on the wins, missteps, and impact of the Covid19 pandemic on the continent.

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

The March Edition of the ADH Twitter Space, “Two Years of Covid19 in Africa: Charting the Way Forward” was facilitated by Mojeed Alabi, Editor of Development Desk, Premium Times and Busayo Morakinyo, International Lead, Follow The Money. 

Over the past two years, COVID-19 has infected 484,453,632 people while simultaneously causing the death of 6,154,204 people. Africa’s economy is still struggling to recover from the suffocating impacts of Covid-19, despite the huge amount of money spent on aid to cushion the effects of the pandemic.

The speakers highlighted some of the missteps of the government regarding the covid19 outbreak and also approaches the government should have taken towards managing the covid19 pandemic. “Nobody is safe until we fix our healthcare system in Nigeria, it is unfortunate because nothing significant has changed in terms of measures we have taken to curb the spread of the virus”, said Alabi.

They also shared their views on the ways covid19 funds were utilized in Nigeria and if the funds and donations were effectively disbursed and managed. “There are still people who think Covid19 was a hoax, it was just a ploy to make money and to shut them out of business”, said Morakinyo

There are still huge disparities in vaccine access globally. Reports also show that roughly 7.8% of the population in Nigeria has received the vaccine. “One of the factors that have affected the readiness and willingness of people to receive the vaccine is the level of awareness and engagement created by the primary health care center with the citizens”, said Olufemi. 

“A major challenge facing Nigeria is that we weak have audit laws, meanwhile other West African countries have their accounts audited effectively. But in Nigeria, our accounts are poorly audited so it is hard to hold anybody accountable”, said Morakinyo.

The April Edition of the ADH Twitter Space was no doubt another insightful discourse, “Inside Nigeria’s Lassa Fever Outbreak: Is there an end in insight” and the conversation was facilitated by Chibuke Alagbaso, Health journalist, Nigeria Health Watch and Dr Laz Ude Eze, Founder of TalkHealth9ja.

Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms.

When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting, and muscle pains. Health experts in Nigeria have called on the Federal Government and the Ministry of Health to pay more attention to the treatment and sensitization of people on Lassa Fever and its transmission within the country.

The speakers stressed that the disease is highly infectious and easily transmittable, and the government must intensify strategic efforts, just like its response to COVID-19, to reduce the number of infections in the state.

While Alagbaso said several advocacy programs have been put in place by independent organizations to create more awareness, Eze said, “There have been improvements with surveillance, diagnosis and tracking but one of the challenges of Lassa fever in Nigeria is the lack of a good leadership structure.”

When asked what the public could do to reduce the spread, Eze emphasized on the public behavior towards the contamination and spread of the virus.

“First is to understand what the disease is all about. It has similar symptoms to other life-threatening diseases that we know. We need to imbibe in our health behaviour to know what is wrong and the next line of action. If it is Lassa fever and you are treating something else, it might become worse because not every medical laboratory can diagnose Lassa fever. We need to get used to general hygiene”, he said. 

For Alagbaso, “It is about taking responsibility. You can do your part to be safe and the next person’s carelessness will get you infected. Everyone needs to be more active in health care, joining in the advocacy push to demand more investment in preventing an epidemic.”

Don’t miss the May edition of the ADH Twitter Space, you can set your reminder and join here.  

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.