Six winners have emerged for the Journalism Fellowship for Investigative Reporting on Trans Fat.
The winners of the Fellowship organised by the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) are, Adesola Ikulajolu (ICIR), Temitope Bademosi (TVC), Sunday Elom (Orient Daily Newspaper), Dare Akogun (Sobi FM), Felicia Dairo (Premium Times), and Nkoli Omhoudu (AIT).
They will form the second cohort of the fellowship which begins in April with a virtual orientation on April 12.
According to Akinbode Oluwafemi, the Executive Director of CAPPA, the purpose of the fellowship is to stimulate conversations and deep dive into key issues relating to trans-fat consumption, elimination, and the health of Nigerians.
The fellowship will also equip the journalists with the necessary skills and access to information to aid their reporting on issues concerning trans fatty acids.
They will also be receiving training on researching and finding resources for an investigative report.
The fellows were judged based on the quality of the presentation of their pitches, the ingenuity of their ideas and the relevance of their pitches to the campaign objectives.
As part of the fellowship, the journalists will produce and publish in-depth pieces on trans fat around any trans-fat content in food, trans-fat and wellbeing, industry players, food labelling and regulation and distinguishing trans-fat enhancing cardiovascular diseases and implications of the treatment of such in Nigeria.
CAPPA, through the fellowship, aims to build the capacity of the Nigerian media to report on trans fat use, health risk and its regulation from an informed perspective in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommended standards for countries to follow.
The fellowship is supported by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), and is also geared towards improving the public’s awareness of trans fat and global best practices.