DevReporting set to take off in Lagos

DevReporting, an online newspaper established by Development Reporting Services Limited, is set to take off to promote informed discourse, balanced reporting, and comprehensive impact on development issues in Nigeria and Africa. The platform’s Administration and Finance Control Manager, Omobayo Azeez, disclosed these in a statement on Monday, appealing to the audience to visit its website […]

DevReporting, an online newspaper established by Development Reporting Services Limited, is set to take off to promote informed discourse, balanced reporting, and comprehensive impact on development issues in Nigeria and Africa.

The platform’s Administration and Finance Control Manager, Omobayo Azeez, disclosed these in a statement on Monday, appealing to the audience to visit its website and social media pages.

The platform’s Administration and Finance Control Manager, Omobayo Azeez, disclosed these in a statement on Monday, appealing to the audience to visit its website and social media pages.

According to the statement, as a niche platform, the newspaper intends to “disrupt the status quo with a unique style of covering development issues in Nigeria and beyond through four major projects of DevCinema, DevCheck, DevCast, and DevStats”.

• Kano court jails Tiktokers over ‘vulgar’ videos
• Lagos Assembly crisis: Meranda set to resign as house reconvenes

“The details of these initiatives will be made public in the coming days but Nigerians and Africans should be prepared to witness firsthand rich exclusives, analysis and investigations on happenings within the development sectors, especially education, health, and humanitarian issues and how they affect the people,” the statement added.

The newspaper said as changes and needs of the people evolved, journalism’s response must also evolve, noting that the issues that deserve much emphasis in the media should be based on the different eras.

It stated, “The truth is that when the fight against the colonialists was in vogue, the media did well; when the military incursions dominated the post-colonial era, journalism also played its part.

“But now that democracy seems to have been enthroned and the new challenges are the issues of poor leadership, corruption, and stark underdevelopment, journalism needs to refocus by significantly highlighting these issues in connection with the people’s survival. That is the vacuum DevReporting has come to fill”.

It said having reported the education sector for more than a decade, and serving as the chairman of the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria (EWAN) with a rich network of contacts, “Mr Alabi is primed to lead a team of change agents in development reporting on the continent of Africa.”

Alabi, a 2005 graduate of English at the Obafemi Awolowo University and holder of Master’s certificate in Diplomacy and Strategic Studies from the University of Lagos, has won various journalism laurels including being a two-time winner of the coveted Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting.

The newspaper’s pioneer Managing Editor, Christiana Alabi-Akande, holds a postgraduate diploma certificate in Mass Communication and was the best graduating student in Mass Communication at the Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna, in 2008, where she had her Higher National Diploma (HND) certificate.

Alabi-Akande, who worked with Daily Trust Newspaper between 2010 and 2022, covered various beats including education, health, technology, gender, children, women, and commerce, and was the newspaper’s correspondent at both the Kaduna State House of Assembly and the Lagos State House at different times.

“A recipient of multiple awards, including the “Courage in Journalism” and “2016 Journalist of the Year Award” by Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF), Mrs Alabi-Akande is passionate about storytelling, humanitarian service, and driving impactful change through her work. Her proficiency in English, Hausa, and Yoruba, combined with her digital marketing skills, makes her a versatile and dynamic media professional,” the statement added.