Six journalists graduate from Civic Hive’s fellowship programme

Civic Hive, BudgIT’s innovation hub, has concluded the second cohort of its six-month fellowship programme, graduating six journalists.

According to a statement signed by Iyanu Fatoba, BudgIT’s communications associate, this year’s cohort featured stories on gender inequality, health, inclusion and special needs, agriculture, education, social investment programmes, civic issues and the extractive industry.

Fatoba said the fellowship was well represented by fellows across diverse media spaces, adding that a visually impaired fellow was also absorbed into the programme.

“Civic Hive Media fellowship was well represented by fellows across diverse media spaces, including digital and traditional media. More importantly, as part of our commitment to promoting inclusiveness, a brilliant visually imparied fellow was absorbed into the 2020 cohort,” the statement read.

“The Civic Hive Media Fellowship graduates are – Frank Ikpefan, The Nation newspaper; Gbenga Ogundare, Freelance Investigative journalist; Taiwo Adebulu, TheCable; Babatunde Okunlola, Royal FM; Osaruonamen Ibizugbe, ITV Abuja; and Kelechukwu Iruoma, Freelance Investigative Journalist.

“Civic Hive is committed to providing continuous support to journalists and equipping them with the necessary tools they need for excellence in their fields.”

Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa, Civic Hive’s manager, said this year’s cohort was challenging but eventually turned out well.

“This cohort was challenging. We had over 300 applications and we needed just six fellows for the program. After the selection, we also had the challenge of transitioning into a virtual edition, due to COVID-19 restrictions. We eventually figured it out and it was superb. The fellows went over and beyond to publish great stories of impact, and that was really commendable,” Bolarinwa said.

Mariam Macaulay, head of Civic Hive, commended the fellows and wished them luck in their future endeavors.

She also encouraged more people to apply for the next cohort of the programme.