I’m passionate about enthronement of better society – Adekunle Yusuf
How did your journalism career begin? My interest in the profession started long before my university education. During years of inactivity after secondary school, I would write opinions and send them to newspapers. Through this, I realized I could have a career in media work. That was why I sought to study Mass Communication at the University of Lagos. During my UNILAG days, I played active roles in the training publications in the department. I was also the Editor of The Imo Kopa during my one-year compulsory national youth service in Imo State.
As a youth corps member, I was always winning the Star Letter Awards with TELL magazine, which came with cash prizes then. This further convinced me that a career in journalism would not be a bad idea. I tried my luck with some publications but it did not work as planned. Interestingly, I later joined TELL, starting as a reporter on the Political Desk. Although I was assigned to cover politics, I refused to be pigeon-holed.
At TELL, I was always writing all topics that fascinated me. And as God would have it, my first professional recognition did not come through political reports, it was through a story for the Back of the Book (BOB) Desk. That was how I became the maiden winner of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola Prize for Culture and Tradition Reporting in 2008.
My career was to receive a massive boost in 2009 when I won the highstatus International Ford Foundation Fellowship, which allowed recipients to study for their next degree in any country of their choice. I instantly chose to do mine in the United States of America. That was how I ended up as an International Ford Foundation Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, culminating in Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2012.
You recently emerged as the Investigative Journalist of the Year at Wole Soyinka Centre for
Investigative Journalism. What other awards have you won prior to this?
Apart from winning the grand prize at the 2017 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism, I had won several other awards, including the Nigeria Media Merit Award as well as the Diamond Award for Media Excellence, among others.
Besides pocketing the Wole Soyinka overall and Print Media prizes in 2017, I also clinched the Alex Ibru Prize for Investigative Reporting at the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA).
In fact, it was my second time of winning the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism because I also won the Print Media Category of the prestigious award in 2015.
My story on how endemic corruption and bad leadership hampered the NDLEA’s drug war won me the crown two years ago. Last year, I was the winner of the NBC prize for Editorial Integrity at the Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME) as well as the Chevron Nigeria Ltd Prize for Oil and Gas Reporting and the Adamu Muazu Prize for Tourism Reporting at the NMMA.
I had won the Chevron Nigeria Prize for Oil and Gas Reporting twice- 2016 and 2014. I am a threetime winner of the Alex Ibru Prize for Investigative Reporting at the Nigeria Media Merit Award; 2009, 2015 and 2017.
Also at the NMMA, I was the winner of the Lateef Jakande Prize for Political Reporting for both 2010 and 2013. I won many other awards.
What was the story that won you the award about? What did it take to write it?
For the 2017 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Journalism, my story was on the University of Ilorin, Kwara State. It was a threepart series on how corruption and favouritism thrive at the university. My report was titled, ‘How corruption, favouritism thrive in UNILORIN’ published from March 14 to 16, 2017.
It took me about four years to complete my investigation, being a Lagos-based reporter. It was a painstaking investigation into the multiple financial frauds, monumental plagiarism and cronyism ravaging one of Nigeria’s foremost citadels of learning. All these were swept under the carpet.
What was the driving force behind the concept of the story?
The idea for the story came through an encounter with a departing American Fulbright Scholar.
While completing his academic It took me about four years to complete my investigation, being a Lagos-based reporter. It was a painstaking investigation into the multiple financial frauds, monumental plagiarism and cronyism ravaging one of Nigeria’s foremost citadels of learning. All these were swept under the carpet tour of duty in Nigeria, the American threw a gauntlet during our valedictory discussion on the state of affairs in the country. Although the American Professor rated journalism in Nigeria high because of its robustness, his prognosis threw a bombshell.
‘I regret to say that your profession has become part of the problems of Nigeria,’ adding that ‘the biggest corruptions that truly hinder your country’s march to greatness take place in the academic spheres; not in political circuits.’ The American academic enjoined Nigeria’s watchdogs to redirect their energy and focus, enthusing with aplomb that my country will quickly witness remarkable turnaround if the mass media accord relentless coverage and attention to the education sector.
My story on UNILORIN was thus my own way of taking the gauntlet. After visiting six public universities, three polytechnics and four colleges of education, it dawned on me that the scope would be unmanageable. However, not ready to give up, I finally elected to do a close-up on the university that was generally touted as the best run in Nigeria. I visited UNILORIN at least four times yearly during the course of my investigations.
Why investigative journalism?
I always feel my professional practice is first and foremost to the service of my fatherland. The philosophical underpinning of my professional practice is anchored in the popular belief that if journalism is used properly to serve the cause of the people on whose behalf those in authority exercise power it can be an instrument for public service.
Maybe that is why I am always involved in investigations all the time, right from my days at TELL. As an investigative reporter, I prefer to discharge my duties as a social justice advocate, one with a proven track record of excellence, integrity and commitment to the public good. Without wanting to sound arrogant, I see myself as a reporter who is passionately committed to the enthronement of a better order for his society, which explains why I constantly use my investigative skills to fight perennial underdevelopment.
How did you feel after winning the award?
After the publication of my reports in March last year, I was called all sorts of names. Among other spurious and ridiculous allegations, my story was said to have been sponsored by imaginary enemies of the university. Therefore, I was extremely elated, feeling vindicated after relentless attacks from UNILORIN.
Although perpetrators of the crimes are still enjoying their freedom, I felt tremendously fulfilled that the public was taking notice. To me, that was what the Wole Soyinka Award truly signified.