The MacArthur Foundation has reaffirmed its dedication to supporting accountability journalism and digital accountability in Nigeria. The management of the inspiration acknowledged this throughout a visit to the places of work of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and PREMIUM TIMES in Abuja on Friday.
During the visit, Dapo Olorunyomi, chief government officer of CJID and writer of PREMIUM TIMES, highlighted the influence of the organisation’s support on investigative journalism, fact-checking, press freedom and efforts to carry expertise platforms accountable in Nigeria.
The MacArthur Foundation delegation additionally formally opened CJID and PREMIUM TIMES’ head places of work in Nigeria.
Speaking in the course of the MacArthur Foundation’s visit, Mr Olorunyomi mentioned the inspiration’s support had helped construct CJID’s capability since its institution in 2014, when it was often known as the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism.
“MacArthur believed in us in 2014, the year we were founded, when we were still the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, a small team beside a young newsroom, trying to report on the 2015 elections, on human rights abuses and on the money committed to the war against insurgency,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the inspiration’s subsequent support helped set up DUBAWA, a fact-checking platform, and UDEME, a civic expertise initiative that permits journalists and residents to trace public spending.
“Those two ideas became DUBAWA and UDEME. Everything that has grown from them since, from our verification work and AI tools to our budget tracking, our press freedom work and the young journalists we train, carries the mark of that early faith,” he mentioned.
Mr Olorunyomi cited UDEME’s reporting on an deserted common hospital in Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State for example of how sustained investigative journalism can contribute to public accountability.
He mentioned the hospital, which successive governments had left unfinished for about 20 years, was commissioned in November 2025, giving the neighborhood its first functioning common hospital.
“Somewhere in that story are the young reporters of UDEME, who kept going back to that building and kept asking where the money had gone, long after everyone else had stopped asking. And somewhere further back in the same story is the MacArthur Foundation,” he mentioned.
Mr Olorunyomi mentioned the inspiration’s support had additionally contributed to authorized motion to guard press freedom. He recalled that CJID joined the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to problem fines imposed on 4 broadcasters over a documentary about banditry in Zamfara State.
In June 2024, he mentioned, the Federal High Court put aside the fines, ruling that the published regulator couldn’t sanction unbiased media by itself authority.
The basis additionally supported initiatives to enhance the sustainability of native newsrooms and prepare younger journalists, together with the Campus Reporter programme, which he mentioned had expanded from 15 Nigerian universities to 49 establishments throughout six international locations.
Mr Olorunyomi mentioned the opening of the brand new workplace represented the centre’s dedication to sustaining its work past particular person grants.
“When the On Nigeria programme came to an end, many people expected organisations like ours to shrink. We chose instead to put down roots,” he mentioned. “This building is about permanence, not size. It is our way of saying that the institution you helped to raise intends to stay here and keep doing this work, long after any single grant has closed.”
He mentioned CJID was getting ready for rising threats to public data forward of Nigeria’s 2027 common elections, together with artificial media and coordinated affect operations.
The centre can be digitising historic data of the Nigerian press, with greater than 13,000 newspaper pages processed to this point, and goals to coach 10,000 younger Africans in synthetic intelligence, digital expertise and media expertise by 2030, he mentioned.
In his remarks, the MacArthur Foundation President, John Palfrey, mentioned the organisation has been very proud to support the work of CJID through the years. “Our support has exceeded $6 million. Anywhere in the world, that represents a substantial investment by our foundation in a single organisation,” Mr Palfrey mentioned.
“It demonstrates that we believe in what you are doing and recognise its profound importance to the values we uphold around the world. At the MacArthur Foundation, we consider our mission to be the advancement of justice, vibrancy and peace around the world. I believe all these values are represented as we walk through your building.”
He famous that the brand new workplace would signify a number of issues past being a bodily constructing. It is a facility and a studio the place tales are produced. “We also see it as a boardroom where partnerships are forged. You have told us about the incredibly important work of connecting with INEC and television networks,” he mentioned.
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“Ultimately, I like the thought that you’re recording the primary draft of historical past, guaranteeing that occasions are documented and that we don’t neglect them. We know that the arc of historical past doesn’t at all times bend in direction of justice. Sometimes, we want reminders of that, and your work helps make sure that we’re regularly reminded.
“We also understood that this building would provide workspaces, and it is wonderful to see every seat filled, alongside the talent being developed here and the talent that is already present. Fundamentally, I believe this is a strong sign that a civic organisation such as yours can build resilience, both within itself and across the broader Nigerian society,” Mr Palfrey mentioned.
Also talking on the occasion, Supreme Court Justice Olubunmi Oyewole recommended MacArthur’s support for judicial reforms in Nigeria, together with the laws of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, which has strengthened legal justice within the nation.
Mr Oyewole additionally recommended CJID and PREMIUM TIMES for staying true to accountability journalism and advocacy.
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