Next Gen Intern Diary: Exploring Journalism and Advocacy

The CJID Next Gen internship programme is truly living up to its promises, and my second month at The Liberalist perfectly proves that. By equipping emerging journalists with hands-on newsroom experience, high-level mentorship, and ethical storytelling skills, the programme bridges the gap between student journalism and mainstream media practice. It sets a true pace for professional development.

​The ultimate highlight of June for me was travelling to Makurdi, the Benue State capital, with our parent organisation, the Liberalist Centre. There, we conducted a media advocacy program under the Youth Civic Engagement Programme, part of the AU-EU Youth Voices Lab’s Power of the Collective, where we trained young changemakers and stakeholders.

​During the event, I introduced the participants to our work at The Liberalist. For years, people have viewed the concept of a free society and liberty in abstract terms. Meanwhile, many African nations continue to struggle with poverty due to flawed economic policies. From trade protectionism to environments that stifle business growth, governments consistently implement anti-free-market policies that cripple true prosperity. I talked about several pieces from our platform that directly highlight these systemic problems.

​On the editorial front, I produced a feature story documenting how terrorism robs women of their livelihoods in Nigeria’s shea belt. Speaking with more than a dozen women across key producing regions in Kebbi and Kwara states, I captured the deep fear and panic that threatens their work. For decades, these women have fueled the global shea butter market, which experts estimate will surpass $5 billion by 2030.

​Alongside my reporting, I have been producing the platform’s weekly newsletter. In the first week of June, I explored Africa’s long road to a visa-free continent. Drawing on Togo’s new 30-day visa-free policy for all African nationals and Nigeria’s reciprocal 30-day visa-free entry for Rwandan citizens, I demonstrated how relaxed visa policies stimulate economic growth, boost cross-border tourism, and advance the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

​For the second week, I analysed the impact of military governance on the civic space in Burkina Faso. I examined the junta’s suspension of the country’s largest student organisation, framing it within a worrying regional trend as juntas in Mali, Niger, and Guinea similarly restrict civic spaces and stall democratic governance.

​To mark Nigeria’s Democracy Day, I brought the focus back home to look at press freedom, a foundational pillar of democracy. The newsletter revealed that journalism in Nigeria is increasingly under siege, with state forces employing alarming tactics like illegal arrests by proxy. And for the last week of the month, I look at how Nigeria, with one of the world’s highest inflations, is able to woo investors to boost growth in the petroleum industry, showing that the answer lies in its recent policies. 

​It has been a wonderful, deeply enriching experience, and I look forward to accomplishing even more. My main focus remains widening my grasp of liberty principles, and I am currently immersing myself in the literature to better understand these core ideas.