Nafisat Abdulkarim

Turned down several times by media houses, many female journalism job seekers have lost the courage to stand by their passion in journalism. Nafisat Abdulkarim, an independent journalist made a move to bridge the gap for freelance female reporter, through her leadership project.

Spanning a period of two months, Nafisat worked with six female master’s students of Mass Communication in Bayero University, Kano. The students love to work in the media, but have no previous experience, which was always required of them whenever they applied for jobs.

Following the training, Nafisat said, “I was able to inspire the six students to sustain their passion for journalism regardless of past disappointments. I guided the students to report issues along their areas of interest and then send to media organisations as freelance reports. Together with them, I also started “girlmentors”, an initiative seeking to mentor young school girls who aspire to become journalists.”

Eager to share some of the lessons learned at the training, Nafisat also went on to organise a step-down training of female reporters. 10 media organisations in Kano were represented. The training bordered on strengthening female reporters’ participation in the newsroom and creation of a support and inspiration network for women reporters and students. Some female lecturers in the Faculty of Communications, Bayero University, Kano helped paint the picture of the situation of women in Northern Nigeria newsroom, through their past research efforts.