TheCable

‘Mayowa Tijani, the business and development editor of TheCable, has bagged a distinction from the University of Sussex, UK.

Tijani was awarded a master of arts with distinction at the graduation ceremony which took place in Brighton Centre, UK, on Thursday.

His course of study was ‘media practice for development and social change’.

Tijani won the Chevening scholarship in 2017 to undertake a year-long master’s programme in the UK.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony on Thursday, Tijani extended his appreciation to his family, friends, mentors, sponsors, and the team at TheCable, for their love and support throughout the programme.

“I really appreciate the CEO himself, Simon Kolawole, and the entire team at TheCable — this team is definitely the best team one could ask for; I’m really grateful to have you,” Tijani said.

“Being a part of my dissertation process, and a major influencer of my academic decisions at Sussex, really aided me in clinching this feat. It made me feel the essence of knitting town and gown — literally.

“Let me seize this opportunity to say Sussex is not just a university, it is the home of light, love and life; any Sussex alumnus will easily say this to you.

“I learnt that love has no tongue or tribe, it is the balm of a healing world, the heartbeat of a transient generation, and the mother tongue of the people I met on this journey; I was in a class of 44 students from 31 countries of the world — and we all spoke love.

Tijani dancing with Sanjeev Bhaskar, University of Sussex Chancellor, as Adam Tickell, VC, looks, and other members of faculty look on.

“I  am also grateful for the gift of family: Sussex Nigeria Society, the Chevening family, and of course, my most immediate family; special gratitude to my parents and siblings, Olaitan and Oluwadamilola Tijani.”

Tijani said that during the course of this programme, he had various opportunities from leading media firms across the world, including Bloomberg, Aljazeera, and AFP.

“Chevening opened the floodgates,” he said.

Just after winning the Chevening award, Tijani was named among the 12 finalists in the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the year 2017, which received entries from 236 journalists across 60 countries.

Months into the programme, he was also listed as a finalist for The Future Awards Africa prize for excellence in journalism in Nigeria.

In 2018, as a result of the Chevening programme, Tijani was selected as one of 50 young leaders — and only African journalist — from over 144 countries around the world to discuss and proffer solutions to sundry education and human rights issues at the Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, UK.

Within the same year, his nation-defining reports from the Commonwealth Head of Government Forum  (CHOGM 2018) inspired the #LazyNigerianYouth hashtag, and the consequent national revolt widely reported across the world.

By December 2018, the 28-year-old ran the first-ever live fact check of any electoral debate in Nigeria’s 58-year history.

FROM FOOD TECH TO MEDIA FOR DEVELOPMENT

Taking Nigeria, everywhere

In 2008, Tijani was admitted at the University of Ibadan, where he studied Food Technology, a course of study he says was driven by his “sheer hatred for food insecurity in Nigeria”.

At the University, he joined Mellanby Hall Press Organisation, and the Union of Campus Journalists, which marked the beginning of an entirely different life.

In 2012, he co-founded The Courtroom, an advocacy column breeding campus journalists, young writers, and critical thinkers across Nigerian universities.

He also led Mellanby Hall Press Organisation, the first student-driven hall press organisation in West Africa, into becoming the best press organisation on campus and he was named the best campus journalist for the same year.

In 2013, Junior Chamber International (JCI) named him the most outstanding student in campus journalism at the University of Ibadan.

In the same year, ‘Mayowa won the Nigerian Championship of Public Speaking (NCPS) in Abuja, and was certified a Competent Communicator by Toastmasters International in California, USA.

Upon graduation in 2014, he joined TheCable, and enrolled at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), where he studied print journalism.

“Working at TheCable and studying at NIJ made sure I was learning from the classroom and the newsroom; it was defining,” Tijani said.

In his capacity as a development journalist, he has worked with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).

He was commended for his foray into the economics of low-cost private education in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

In 2015, ‘Mayowa was one of the few journalists from across Africa, trained by the United Nations Millennium Campaign as media ambassadors for the SDGs.

He maintains a weekly column at TheCable which focuses on national development.

Photo credits: Tunde Alabi-Hundeyin II