TheCable’s Jemilat Nasiru wins at 2025 Report Women! FRLP induction

Jemilat Nasiru, a staff writer with TheCable, has been named one of the winners at the 2025 Female Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP) fellowship induction.

Nasiru emerged second runner-up among 12 inductees at the event held in Lagos on September 24.

The fellowship, launched in 2017, is organised by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under its Report Women! News and Newsroom Engagement programme. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is now in its sixth cohort.

Designed to increase gender-aware reporting and foster leadership among female journalists, the fellowship drew 160 applicants this year and commenced in April.

Speaking at the induction, Motunrayo Alaka, executive director of WSCIJ, said the programme has become a pipeline for newsroom leaders, noting that many former fellows have risen to editorial and leadership positions within and outside journalism.

She added that the fellowship has produced impactful investigative reports and urged participants to uphold ethics and empathy in their work.

“The Report Women Leadership Programme Fellowship is in its 11th year, and this is the sixth fellowship cohort we are having,” she said.

”It has been both a learning experience and very rewarding. Many who were once regular reporters are now editors of major newsrooms. Some are leaders in spaces even outside journalism.

“For female journalists, I will say: hold your space. When you enter a room, hold your space. Do professional work. Do good work as a human being, and you will rise.”

Michel Deelen, consul general of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Lagos, also addressed the fellows, stressing the civic duty of journalists and the importance of truthful storytelling in strengthening democracy.

“Democracy thrives where silence is broken — that is actually the core of news: to ensure public trust,” he said.

“Fake news complicates things, but often those in power just use the term to dismiss evidence. That’s why careful, truthful storytelling matters even more.”

NASIRU’S PROJECT

For her leadership project, Nasiru ran a two-day virtual training for female undergraduate journalism students at the University of Ibadan.

The sessions covered news writing, digital content creation, and audience-centred storytelling.

She also produced a story on the re-encroachment of a pipeline corridor five years after a fatal explosion on the same route, highlighting corruption, negligence, and poor risk communication by regulatory agencies.

On her win, Nasiru said the recognition affirms the value of her work.

“The FRLP fellowship was a tough one, and becoming one of the winners is a testament to the work that we did — purposeful and important work. For me, it’s a validation of the work I have done — important, good journalism,” she said.

She described her student project as a “catch-them-young initiative” to expose undergraduates to professional newsroom skills from the onset of their careers.

“The students were very excited, and we have since opened a Medium page — She Reports Network — to continue mentoring them and providing resources,” she said.

THE WINNERS

The top prize at the fellowship went to Christiana Alabi-Akande of DevReporting, who received a laptop and N200,000.

Rasheedat Iliyas of Harmony FM was named first runner-up, winning a laptop and N100,000. Nasiru, as second runner-up, received a laptop and N50,000.

Other journalists inducted into the cohort include Dana Zagi (Daily Trust), Gloria Attah (ClearView TV), Juliet Buna (Crest FM), Mary Agidi (The Hope), Melody Ishola (The Punch), and Temitope Obayendo (Pharmanews).

The cohort was mentored by Stella Din-Jacob, former director of news at TVC News; Idris Akinbajo, managing editor of Premium Times; Juliana Francis, publisher of Security News Alert; and Motunrayo Alaka of WSCIJ.