The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) has revealed the finalists for the 2026 Alfred Opubor Next-Gen Awards for Campus Journalism. This award celebrates student journalists who focus on public-interest reporting, accountability, and giving a voice to those often ignored.
These awards are part of CJID’s Next Gen Campus Reporter Project. Each year, they highlight new journalists who use fact-based storytelling to dig into issues, highlight problems in their communities, and add to public conversations.
The awards are named after Nigeria’s first Professor of Mass Communication, Alfred Opubor. They honour his important contributions to journalism and communication studies.
Since starting in 2018, the Alfred Opubor Awards have provided a space to find, guide, and celebrate top student journalists from Nigerian universities.
Over the years, the awards have honoured 40 winners in various categories. These include Investigative Reporting, Gender, Environment, Health, and Accountability Journalism. These categories have helped young journalists push for better democratic accountability and human rights through their stories.
The 2026 awards will recognise excellence in six categories: Investigative Journalism, Community Reporting, Data Journalism, Campus Affairs, Health Reporting, and Reporting on Inclusion.
After careful evaluation, 12 campus journalists have been chosen as finalists. This includes one winner and one runner-up in each of the six categories, plus one overall winner.
The finalists were chosen from entries sent in by undergraduate student journalists from Nigerian universities. Their stories cover various public-interest topics, showing how campus journalism plays a role in highlighting problems within institutions, addressing community issues, and holding leaders accountable.
Osaruonamen Ibizugbe, the Project Officer for the Next Gen Campus Reporter Programme, said all finalists have received emails.
"We couldn’t send an email to every single applicant because of the high number of applications. But we have reached out to all the finalists, and they will be announced at the award ceremony on 27 November,” she said.
Busola Ajibola, the Deputy Director of CJID’s Journalism Programme, spoke about the importance of the awards. She said, “The 2026 edition continues the awards’ commitment to recognising student journalists who show originality, accuracy, ethical reporting, and a clear understanding of the communities they serve.”
The winners of the 2026 awards will be revealed at CJID’s annual Media and Development Conference (MDC), during the CJID Excellence in Journalism Dinner and Award Night.
The overall winner will get a plaque, a cash prize, and an internship opportunity abroad. The winners and runners-up in the other categories will receive plaques, cash prizes, and certificates of recognition.
CJID congratulates all the finalists and appreciates the student journalists whose work shows the importance of thorough, ethical, and impactful reporting.
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