As the 26 Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability (CMEDIA) partners of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) move on in their year two activities, Adenike Aloba, Programmes Director, Dataphyte has underscored the importance of reporting local issues and amplifying marginalised voices at the state and local government levels and the private sector. While briefing the WSCIJ team led by its Executive Director/CEO, Motunrayo Alaka, Aloba said Dataphyte’s interventions across Oyo State, Osun State, Ondo State and some South-East states sparked swift responses from government and its agencies with a direct impact on the people.
For Aloba, Datapytes’s activities on the MacArthur Foundation-funded project to date evoked interest from the locals. She said a sustained collaboration with other CMEDIA partners and corporations of the private sector will improve public awareness to promote the ecosystem of transparency, accountability, and good governance. Recounting some of the strategies deployed, she said Dataphyte commissioned local journalists to give first-hand accounts on the 2022 flood in the South-East. She stressed the need for continuous training in data journalism to help upskill journalists on how to interpret data for their reports.
Speaking on the challenges encountered on the project, Aloba said state governors and state actors can be intolerant of dissenting voices and data journalism uptake remains a challenge for many journalists. Odinaka Anudu, Editor of Dataphyte, echoed Aloba’s assertions. He stressed the importance of training tailored to the needs of journalists in each of the six geo-political zones. He promised that Dataphyte would follow up on commissioned stories and track the status of issues reported and story impacts.
In her response, Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, CMEDIA’s Technical Adviser, lauded the Abuja-based organisation for its commitment to the CMEDIA objective. She charged them to be intentional while selecting journalists for commissioned stories. Apart from the need for training on data journalism, Ogwezzy-Ndisika encouraged Dataphyte to organise training for journalists to improve their security skills.
Motunrayo Alaka, ED/CEO, WSCIJ, on her part harped on collaboration among CMEDIA partners, community members, government agencies, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). She stressed the need for capacity development of local journalists as the existing structure of national journalists executing subnational stories is not sustainable. For Alaka, the need for a new breed of journalists has become more crucial than ever for the promotion of independent media and the sustainability of journalism in Nigeria.
