CMEDIA: Neptune Prime to partner Nigerian universities, PWDs, NGOs for exceptional impacts

To achieve better impacts while telling the stories of women and girls and issues in the North East, Neptune Prime will partner with the mass communication and other related departments of some universities in the North-Central and North-East zones of Nigeria in training and mentoring female journalists under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability (CMEDIA) of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ). Hassan Gimba, publisher of Neptune Prime Newspaper, made this known during the WSCIJ visit to the Neptune Prime head office in Abuja as part of activities under the three-year CMEDIA project funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

Ademola Adebayo, Managing Editor, Neptune Prime equally announced a proposed partnership with Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) to amplify the stories of these unheard voices from a place of strength and not from the point of pity. Stating the achievements in year one under CMEDIA, Adebayo, said the Abuja-based organisation introduced Twitter Spaces podcasts and online television content to discuss subnational issues and tell unreported stories to a wider audience. Adebayo said the CMEDIA experience has been exciting and thanked WSCIJ for the initiative while promising better collaboration with other partners on the project to amply stories.

CMEDIA Technical Adviser, Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, observed that the CMEDIA partnership had strengthened Neptune Prime\’s internal system and human resources. Ogwezzy-Ndisika called for an increased focus on issues affecting orphans, communities ravished by insurgency, and impacts of insecurity on health, education, and the elderly in Yobe State, Borno State, and Adamawa State where Neptune Prime covers under the CMEDIA project. She advised that men who are gender advocates must be encouraged and involved when telling women and girls\’ stories. The professor of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos identified multimedia content and sign language as components needed for improved storytelling, inclusion, and better amplification of these issues.

Motunrayo Alaka, ED/CEO, WSCIJ, commended Neptune Prime for their openness to learning which has led to marked improvements in their organisation and practice of journalism. Alaka said for the impact of the CMEDIA intervention to be felt in the lives of citizens, partners must do more follow-up stories and collaborate to amplify stories. As the organisation embraces technology in storytelling and news reports, she noted that these innovations should be adapted in such a way that it targets and reaches the people at the grassroots. Alaka promised the WSCIJ’s continued support to Neptune Prime and other CMEDIA partners.

In 19 months, Neptune Prime highlighted and attracted attention to issues in the local and state governments in the North-East to enhance government accountability and transparency towards development. Also, they organised training for reporters, correspondents, and staff members involved in the project for impactful reportage of the region. The CMEDIA project supports 26 media organisations across Nigeria to execute investigative stories at the subnational level of governance (state and local governments), expose institutional and regulatory failures in the public and private sectors, and amplify under-reported issues and voices.