Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has inducted 21 female reporters across media organisations in Nigeria as fellows of the Report Women! Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP) fellowship.
The centre in a press statement, Friday, said: “The 21 reporters were inducted after they participated in months of rigorous training and mentorship, and implemented story and leadership projects, under the 2021 Report Women! FRLP fellowship which focused on Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), now Open Society Foundation Africa.
“Five of the female reporters were given special recognition for their outstanding leadership and story projects. The reporters are: Anita Eboigbe, Managing Editor with HumAngle; Titilope Fadare, Senior Reporter with Premium Times; Bassey Ikpang, Assistant News Manager with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Abuja; Kimberly Nwachukwu, Broadcaster with Nigeria Info FM, 95.1 Abuja; and Ann Godwin, River State Correspondent, The Guardian.
“Anita Eboigbe was commended for both her story and leadership projects, which earned her a laptop and plaque.
“Titilope Fadare emerged runner-up in the story project category while Bassey Ikpang emerged runner-up in the leadership project category. They got a laptop, a cash prize of N50,000 and a plaque each.
“Kimberly Nwachukwu and Ann Godwin clinched the first prizes for the story and leadership project categories respectively. Both went home with a laptop, a cash prize of N100,000 and a plaque.”
According to the statement, the representative of the funding partner, Paul Adeyeye, Programme Coordinator with OSIWA, stated that their support to WSCIJ was to address the dearth of women in top leadership positions in newsrooms across Nigeria.
His words: “The project did not only advocate the inclusion of female voices, but it was also strategic in addressing the fundamentals that would make women as competitive as their male counterparts.
“At incubation, the project seemed ambitious, yet the leadership of WSCIJ has actualised this ambition and has shown the dynamic power and potential of female leadership.”
On his part, WSCIJ, Executive Director, Motunrayo Alaka, noted that FRLP and its fellowship sought to amplify that Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) was terrible, and the media must refuse attempts to normalise the absurdity.
“She said the newly inducted 21 female reporters join the initial 53 fellows to make 74 fellows since the inception of the fellowship in 2017 and the Report Women programme since 2014, who addressed the complex ramifications of SGBV on one hand, and state unequivocally, that SGBV was not passable by any standard.”
Similarly, the Public Relations Officer, Report Women Network (REWON), Abosede Omoruyi, while welcoming the 21 female reporters, explained that the network’s mission was to advocate equitable reporting and female leadership in the media.
“We are a company of women with great minds. A company of positive-thinking female journalists committed to the cause of better representation for women and girls in the media. This Fellowship sharpens your leadership skills. I am bold to say that all REWON members are women achievers in Nigerian journalism and beyond,” she stated.
