WikkiTimes, northern Nigeria’s leading investigative and responsible journalism platform, through its media development arm, WikkiTimes Media Foundation, has announced the launch of the Anas Aremeyaw Anas AI Accountability Fellowship (A3AIA).
This Professional Journalism Fellowship aims to strengthen investigative reporting on extractive industries, environmental degradation, and resource inequity in underrepresented communities across northern Nigeria, in response to the rapid expansion of mining and extractive activities in Nigeria, particularly in the northern states, which increasingly exposes communities to illegal mining, environmental destruction, resource theft, forced displacement, and weak regulatory oversight.
Despite the scale of these challenges, reporting on corruption in the mining sector remains limited, largely due to gaps in local media capacity and limited access to advanced investigative tools.
Inspired by the fearless investigative work of renowned Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the A3AIA Fellowship was designed to bridge this gap by providing journalists with cutting-edge digital, data and artificial intelligence tools to strengthen public interest reporting and accountability.
The program supports journalists in local and regional newsrooms, but gives priority to reporters working in extraction-affected states.
The fellowship will target journalists from 19 states in northern Nigeria and will train participants to leverage artificial intelligence, open source intelligence (OSINT), geospatial analysis, satellite imagery, and evidence-based storytelling to uncover and document corruption and governance failures in the extractive sector.
Fellowship structure
The fellowship will run for six months in two phases.
The first phase will consist of three months of intensive training covering AI-assisted journalism, satellite image analysis, digital verification, safety and extraction sector reporting.
The second phase focuses on a three-month practicum during which fellows receive in-depth editorial guidance and write detailed research reports.
Statement from WikkiTimes publisher
Haruna Mohamed Salisu, publisher of Wikki Times, said of the fellowship:
“We named this fellowship after Anas for reasons beyond admiration. We need a symbol of courage and resilience who can truly inspire young journalists in the region. Apart from Anas’ history of fearless journalism, he gave us an additional symbol of courage and resilience in Gombe last year.”
We invited him to a conference co-hosted by WikkiTimes and Northeastern University, Gombe. He missed his flight from Abuja to Gombe the day before our meeting, but still refused to withdraw. Instead, he set off overland at 10pm, traversed one of Nigeria’s most dangerous routes, arrived in Gombe at 3am, and spoke to participants at 10am the same day.
He took that risk because he believed the young people we brought together deserved to be encouraged. ”
“His presence motivated dozens of budding journalists, including students from Federal University of Cashel and Northeastern University, Gombe, who were part of the participants at the event,” Haruna said.
Mr. Mohammed said the ethos of the program is built on the example, courage, creativity and fearlessness that Anas represents.
“We need to help society by instilling these values in people, especially journalists. That spark that former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke of in Anas is the same spark that we want to ignite in young journalists working in the forgotten places of northern Nigeria,” the publisher added.
Mohamed said WikkiTimes is working to train journalists who are prepared to interrogate systems of extractive abuse and environmental injustice. He said Anas Aremeyaw Anas displayed courageous and evidence-based journalism.
Through this fellowship, WikkiTimes aims to support reporters to expose wrongdoing and amplify the voices of vulnerable communities in line with the core values that define the media.
Fellowship benefits
Selected fellows will receive editorial mentorship, a monthly stipend, access to digital investigative technology, and complete at least one investigation in collaboration with WikkiTimes.
You will also receive a certificate of completion signed by Anas.
For inquiries, please contact Hafsah Ibrahim. hafseemuhammad@wikkitimes.com
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Disclaimer: The views, comments, opinions, contributions and statements made by readers and contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Multimedia Group Limited.
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