My Internship Journey With Nigerian Tribune: The Story of Learning and Growing, by Dauda Musbau

As a freshman at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, I have always wanted to be a storyteller, a drive that led me to campus journalism. Now, the passion I nursed five years ago is becoming a career path for me, courtesy of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).

Having been selected for the Centre’s 2026 cohort of the Campus Reporter Next Gen Internship Programme, I resumed my internship placement newsroom, Nigerian Tribune with hope to learn and advance my journalism career. 

I must confess, the Nigerian Tribune has a way of grooming young talents that I’ve never seen in my life. Our Online Editor, Mr Taoheed Adegbite dedicated his precious time to introduce me to their in-house style and how to create evergreen contents for the newsroom. He taught me how to use various tools to generate story ideas. For instance, he provided a step-by-step guide on how to use Google trends to aid me in my work. 

Finding myself at the sports desk

Upon my resumption, the editor had said I would make a good sports writer and within a blink of an eye I am already on my way to being one. He assigned a sports editor to me and told me to work closely with him at Sporting Tribune, a sports website of the Tribune Online. 

My assigned editor, Mr Femi, also took me through the rudiments of sports journalism. Again, Tribune’s way of nurturing young talents is out of this world.

My first task was creating content on the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) referee. Yakubu Adamu, a center referee that officiated matchday 37 fixture between Enugu Rangers and Bendel Insurance was suspended for poor officiating by the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Refereeing Development Committee. 

However, at Sporting Tribune, we thought of creating an evergreen content about the issue which led me to take a look back and write about the three NPFL referees that have been suspended over poor officiating in 2026. The report can be read here in full. 

Also, I wrote about the 5 matches that helped Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal win the 2025/2026 Premier League. 

Challenges and Way Forward

Some years ago, I always thought that no aspect of journalism could be as hard as fact-checking, owing to its in-depth investigation and thorough handling of an array of OSINT tools. However, some aspects of sports journalism are also very difficult to handle.

For instance, when my editor asked me to create a content on Formula 1, whereas in my entire life as a sports enthusiast, I had never known that a sport existed known as Formula 1 cars. 

Initially, it wasn’t an easy ride for me until my editor sent me some reports that I’ve written about before on BBC. After going through some of those links he sent to me, I eventually was able to write a report on Formula 1 cars.

Ultimately, I am enjoying my internship at the Nigerian Tribune, and I look forward to learning more from the newsroom.