INTERVIEW | How I won best campus journalist award – Mathematics graduate

Abubakar Abdulrasheed is a recent graduate of Mathematics from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, who won the Next Gen Alfred Opubor Awards for Best Campus Journalist in Nigeria at the close-out dinner of the 2024 Media and Development Conference hosted by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) in Abuja.

To win the award, Abdulrasheed’s reports were named best in the Investigative, Health and Environment categories. In this interview with The Informant247’s Yemi Sodeeq, he shared the motivation behind his success story, the challenges he encountered, and his vision for the future.

Question: Can we meet you?

My name is Abubakar Abdulrasheed, a recent graduate of Mathematics from the Federal University of Technology, Minna.

Question: You are a Mathematics student. What motivated you to practice journalism?

Journalism is what I became interested in while in senior secondary school. I was a member of my school’s press club, and I enjoyed broadcasting news to my fellow students and participating in debate competitions. The drive to inform people about what they’re curious to know or what is hidden motivated me to develop an interest in journalism.

Question: Is there any way being a Mathematics student helped you to carry out your journalistic work?

Yes. Studying Mathematics helped me develop critical thinking skills while working on stories. It also helped me improve my data interpretation, analysis, and visualization skills, as almost all of my stories include data to give readers insights into the subject.

Question: How did you start campus journalism, and how long have you been doing it?

I started campus journalism with UDEME, an accountability project of CJID, in 2021. That was my first opportunity for receiving journalism training. I worked on the project for four years, and the experience gained there opened doors to opportunities in national and international media fellowships and projects, including with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ).

Question: When you were shortlisted, did you think you were going to win the award?

Nothing is perfectly sure, but I believe that whoever wins in the categories I applied for must have done great work—and I would accept it as a challenge to do more. Even though I later won, I have challenged myself to continue the good work and win media excellence awards.

Question: Can you tell us how you came about those stories that won you the award and how you executed them?

Opportunities and information are very vital and should be considered as tools. For the story that won the Investigative category, following the ICIR-OCRP fellowship, of which I was a part, we were asked to submit a pitch. I was given some procurement documents by a friend, from which I later found story ideas.

For the other categories, the story ideas were sourced by my friends, who often motivated me to pursue potential stories.

Question: Did you encounter any challenges, and if so, how did you go about it?

The only challenge I faced was balancing my academics with writing stories. Many times, the stories I had to deliver clashed with my tests, exams, and other academic activities. However, I was able to manage this by creating a proper schedule and working on stories ahead of the deadline.

Question: What do the awards mean to you, and how do you feel about them?

The awards are a great encouragement for me, and winning them heightened my passion and commitment to continue pursuing impactful stories that will drive change.
Winning the award made me feel fulfilled as a campus journalist.

Question: Do you have any role models? If you have, would you name them?

I got many of them — mentors like Kemi Busari and Taiwo Adebulu. Often, I read things about them and the great work they’ve done in the journalism space.

Question: What kind of story will you do with the 500k grant that has been awarded to you?

Well, like every other story I’ve done, I’ll use the grant to tell people’s stories that are often hidden away.

Question: What’s your message to other campus journalists?

My advice to campus journalists is to be committed and passionate, and to set up themselves with the journalistic skills that will help them thrive.

Sometimes, you may feel like giving up, but don’t, because that’s the moment when you should realize you’re close to winning.

As I’ve adopted since my first day in journalism: it’s all about moving forward for the better — no retreat, no surrender!

Question: Where do you see yourself in the next few years, and what kind of future do you envision for yourself?

I see myself working with great minds to ensure quality and sustainable media and journalism in Africa.

Editor’s note: This interview was conducted in November 2024.