Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism

The Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) is a Nigeran nonprofit established in 2005 to promote democracy and social justice using investigative journalism techniques and tools to expose corruption, regulatory failures, and human rights abuses and galvanize public action and encourage accountability. This award supports the African Women in Media hosting the 7th event in Rwanda with the theme, Media, and Gender Violence. The conference brings together academics, media practitioners, civil society representatives, and policy actors from around the world. The conference amplifies the voices of women journalists in reducing violence in the media and society.

The Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) is a Nigeran nonprofit established in 2005 to promote democracy and social justice using investigative journalism techniques and tools to expose corruption, regulatory failures, and human rights abuses to galvanize public action and promote accountability. This award supports two events. The first is the inaugural investigative journalism conference in Nigeria to assess current practices and challenges facing practitioners and promote collaboration and networking. The two-day conference targets journalists, media professionals, practitioners and researchers, media regulators, and civil society organizations. Key topics for the conference include new tools for investigative journalism, media and accountability, collaborative and cross-border reporting, attacks on truth and safety of journalists, misinformation and credibility of African media, cyber security, and sustainable business models for investigative journalism. The second event is the African Women in Media (AWIM) annual conference in Morocco. The theme is “United in Action” and expected to bring together policy makers, academic, practitioners, and civil society organizations. The project contributes to On Nigeria’s goal of reducing corruption in Nigeria by promoting transparency and accountability through investigative journalism.

Established in 2005, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), named after Africa’s first recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, is committed to promoting investigative reporting as a tool for achieving transparent and accountable governance in Nigeria. The previous award to WSCIJ on investigative reporting led to 18 positive responses in the forms of policy changes, government administrative interventions, and dispute resolutions. With this final award, WSCIJ consolidates its anti-corruption and accountability investigative reporting work and supporting media organizations working at the state and local levels. WSCIJ is subgranting to more than 25 community-focused media organizations and startups to strengthen data-driven investigative reporting, anti-corruption, and accountability at Nigeria’s subnational levels. In addition, WSCIJ is promoting safety and protection for journalists and journalism organizations by strengthening safety awareness, security planning, and cybersecurity. The award is expected to contribute to improvements in response to corruption, accountability, transparency, participation, and protection of the civic space. This award is part of a package of two new media and journalism grants for improving the sustainability and resilience of the Nigerian media. WSCIJ is collaborating with other Foundation grantees to implement this project.

Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism is a non-profit focused on promoting investigative reporting as a tool for achieving accountable governance in Nigeria. It began operations in 2005 with a mission to expose corruption, regulatory failures, and human-rights violations through capacity development, rewarding best practices, knowledge creation, research, advocacy, and collaboration with key stakeholders.  The COVID-19 Reality Check project will track the delivery of social services intended to  relieve  local communities from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will also examine government interventions and promises in relation to the realities on the ground on issues such as social welfare, water and sanitation, economics, security, food availability and accessibility, education, and electric power supply.  It will amplify reporting on corruption; convene a virtual meeting to discuss sustainable business models amid the pandemic; and celebrate reporters who have distinguished themselves in investigative reporting. WSCIJ will have a dedicated a staff that will lead the dissemination of reports on their website and via social media. These efforts will provide citizens with information to hold government accountable.

Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) is an organization focused on promoting investigative reporting as a tool for achieving accountable governance in Nigeria. WSCIJ began operations in 2005 with a mission to expose corruption, regulatory failures, and human-rights violations through capacity development, rewarding best practices, knowledge creation, research, advocacy, and collaboration with key stakeholders. This renewal helps WSCIJ deepen its investigative reporting on corruption in the education and electricity sectors. It includes two new activities: designing strategic reporting models and modules for education and electricity reporting and conducting detailed monitoring to better understand the subject matter. The award also supports WSCIJ to develop a 13-episode radio show to amplify and improve the reach and impact of investigative stories. The project contributes to strengthening the training and practice of investigative and data-driven journalism, curbing corruption, and promoting accountability.