National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
By Aminat Orisatoye
“There is no alternative to improving journalism at the local level. The alternative will be continuing with poor governance,” said Mrs. Motunrayo Alaka, Executive Director/CEO of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).
Alaka made this statement during the August edition of Journalism & Society Conversations organized by the WSCIJ on August 12 via Twitter (X) Spaces. The session, themed “Going Local for Impact: Journalism at the Intersection of Politics and Governance,” was moderated by Zainab Sanni, Co-founder of Media Inno Tech, and featured Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programmes at Yiaga Africa, and Solomon Ajuziogu, Senior Correspondent at TVC, as panelists.
Alaka emphasized that the demand for good governance must come from the grassroots, and journalism has a key role to play in amplifying those demands. “The demand for good governance brings better supply for good governance. Except it is demanded and journalism brings it, it won’t be available,” she said.
Speaking on the same theme, Cynthia Mbamalu underscored the importance of local government elections, urging citizens to treat them with the same seriousness as national elections. According to her, consistent voting and active demands from elected representatives are crucial to making the system work. “There is no alternative to engaging,” she stressed.
On his part, TVC’s Solomon Ajuziogu highlighted the need for enterprise journalism to uncover and amplify grassroots issues. He noted that while the media has a mandate to reflect local realities, this responsibility is often neglected.
“Covering the local government has a lot more to do with enterprise journalism by individual journalists interested in social issues directly affecting the people. Media organizations must also be deliberate in localising stories,” he said.
Ajuziogu further identified weak local government autonomy as a challenge. “Many local governments cannot stand alone without state governments. Media houses need to be deliberate about detailing journalists to record the locality and engage in enterprise journalism to get the real social issues,” he added.
The conversation ended with a consensus that stronger local journalism is central to deepening governance and accountability at the grassroots level.
*Orisatoye, an intern at the Media Career Development Network, Lagos, is a Mass Communication student at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.
