PUNCH Correspondent Edward Nnachi, two others selected for NNNGO’s 10-month fellowship

Fellow, NnachiFellow, BolgentFellow, Macaulay

Chinedum Ukaegbu

Nigeria Network of NGOs has announced the selection of three journalists from across Nigeria for the first phase of its Journalism Fellowship Programme, a major initiative designed to strengthen democratic accountability, civic space reporting, and development journalism in the country.

Among those selected is Mr Edward Nnachi, an investigative and development journalism reporter with PUNCH Newspapers in Ebonyi State.

The two other fellows are Mr Vangawa Bolgent, Editor at Gazette News, and Nkechi Macaulay, Reporter and Producer with 103.5FM Radio One under the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.

According to the organisers, the three journalists were carefully selected from a competitive pool of 368 applicants drawn from across the country.

The Fellowship represents a strategic intervention aimed at improving the quality, depth, and impact of journalism focused on civic space, governance, and social accountability.

The fellows were selected to represent Nigeria’s geo-political diversity, with Edward Nnachi representing the South-East, Nkechi Macaulay representing the South-West, and Vangawa Bolgent representing the North-East region.

The Fellowship, which will run for 10 months from March to December 2026, is structured as a long-term capacity-building programme. It will immerse participants in professional mentorship, data-driven reporting techniques, editorial guidance, and periodic training sessions.

Beneficiaries will also receive sustained editorial support to produce investigative and in-depth stories on civic space, freedom of expression, social justice, and development-related issues.

Speaking during a four-day training session held to inaugurate the programme, the Executive Director of the Nigeria Network of NGOs, Mr Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi, described the Fellowship as a deliberate response to the growing threats facing journalism and civic engagement in Nigeria and across Africa.

He emphasized that the survival of democratic spaces is closely tied to the strength, courage, and versatility of journalism in holding institutions accountable and amplifying marginalized voices.

According to him, contemporary civic space is increasingly under pressure due to shrinking freedoms, restrictive laws, and the misuse of legal frameworks such as the Cybercrime Act, which, he noted, has at times been used to detain journalists.

He further warned that the global information ecosystem is becoming more complex, citing the rise of misinformation, deepfakes, coordinated digital manipulation, and online smear campaigns targeting civil society actors and development organisations.

With millions of Nigerians actively engaged on digital platforms, he stressed that the battle for truth has shifted significantly to the online space, requiring journalists to be better equipped with digital verification tools, data literacy skills, and multi-platform storytelling capabilities.

Mr Oluseyi explained that the Fellowship is not a short-term training workshop but a structured intervention designed to transform how selected journalists report development and civic issues.

He said the programme will empower fellows to produce investigative reports, podcasts, opinion pieces, and data-driven stories that highlight the real impact of governance and nonprofit interventions on communities.

He also highlighted the importance of bridging the gap between journalists and civil society organisations, noting that both sectors have historically operated in parallel rather than in collaboration.

According to him, many critical stories remain underreported because journalists often engage NGOs only during crises, while NGOs seek media coverage mainly for visibility campaigns.

The Fellowship, he said, is designed to correct this disconnect by fostering mutual understanding and collaboration in defending democratic accountability.

Mr Oluseyi further stressed that attacks on civic space and press freedom are interconnected, explaining that restrictions placed on nonprofit organisations ultimately affect the communities they serve, just as the detention of journalists weakens accountability mechanisms in society.

He urged the selected fellows to approach development reporting with the same seriousness as political investigations, noting that issues such as healthcare delivery, climate adaptation, education access, and regulatory bottlenecks have direct consequences on millions of lives.

He also pointed out that Nigeria is currently off-track on several Sustainable Development Goals, adding that behind each statistic lies a human story of struggle, resilience, and systemic failure.

The Executive Director encouraged the fellows to resist the notion that development journalism is “soft news,” emphasizing that it is central to national progress and democratic sustainability.

He added that the selected journalists will emerge from the programme as part of a new generation of media professionals equipped with civic space expertise, investigative capacity, and advanced storytelling skills capable of shaping public discourse.

One of the selected fellows, Edward Nnachi, is widely recognised for his work in investigative and human-interest reporting, with a strong focus on climate change, migration, and development issues affecting communities in Nigeria’s South-East region.

The Fellowship is expected to contribute significantly to strengthening accountability journalism in Nigeria while deepening the relationship between the media and civil society in the collective pursuit of democratic governance and social justice.