Editor of Dubawa, a Nigerian fact-checking and investigative journalism platform, Kemi Busari has won the 2024 edition of the Micheal Elliot Award for Excellence in African Storytelling, a year after another Nigerian journalist Kunle Adebajo of HumAngle won as a co-winner.
Busari is the fifth Nigerian journalist to have won the continental award given out by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), in partnership with the ONE Campaign and the Elliott family, joining the likes of Abubakar Ibrahim, Kiki Mordi, Zainab Bala and ’Kunle Adebajo who had won in previous years.
He won the award alongside Linda Ngari of Kenya, with his investigative story “Baba Aisha, Nigeria’s fake doctor cashing out on deadly concoction that cures nothing,” which tells how a low-end herbal concoction product is advertised and sold on the streets of the Nigerian capital city, Abuja as a fix for common diseases when in essence it is a harmful substance to the consumers.
Ms Ngari, a freelance Kenya journalist won the award with her gripping documentary for BBC News Africa titled “Breaking the Silence: Abortion Rights in Kenya” telling the story of Kenyan women dying every day from unsafe abortions.
The Elliott Award was established in 2016 in honour of former ICFJ board member Michael Elliott, who served as a top editor at The Economist, Newsweek, and Time before becoming CEO of ONE.
In similar news, a Nigerian journalist with the CJID, Uchenna Igwe has been selected among the 11 journalists and academic fellows for the ICFJ Health Innovation Journalism programme.
During this fellowship, Uchenna Igwe will report on AI in healthcare, health disinformation and innovative projects and policies improving healthcare access for rural communities in Africa.
ICFJ Health Innovation Journalism program is administered and managed by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The program provides grant funding, training, mentorship and the opportunity to go on an international reporting trip for the success of their intended project.
