Senami Kojah

Creating A News Distribution Model Using Messaging Apps to Bypass Crackdowns on Freedom of Information in Nigeria

Ms. Senami ‘Sena’ Kojah is an award-winning freelance investigative journalist. Her recent research for a BBC Africa Eye investigative documentary ‘Retirement Hell’ contributed to exposing Nigeria’s pensions fraud. From 2018 to 2021, she worked with Sahara Reporters, a news outlet that seeks to expose government corruption in Nigeria. Previously, she served as deputy head of news and current affairs, and as a reporter at Tin City 104.3 FM, a start-up community radio station in Jos, northern-central Nigeria. At Tin City, Ms. Kojah organized the widely broadcasted local-government election debates for candidates in Plateau State, Nigeria. She has been arrested for her reporting and shot at twice while covering anti-government demonstrations. During her fellowship, Ms. Kojah researched the use of cost-effective messaging apps to create a model of news distribution that bypasses government censorship in Nigeria. She plans to share this model by way of a training manual for media professionals in newsrooms across Nigeria, with the hope of encouraging wider use of messaging apps as a way of circumventing restrictions on freedom of information in the country.

• Kojah, Senami. “The Weaponization of National Security against Nigeria’s Free Press.” Center for International Media Assistance, 27 Jan. 2022.