Three Journalists Recognised for Their Work in Journalism Awards

PUNCH journalist Abiodun Adewale has been named as one of the winners of the 2026 Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards. He shares this honour with Nigerian freelance journalist Rakiya Muhammad and Kenyan journalist Angeline Ochieng.

The awards, organised by the International Centre for Journalists and Wikimedia Foundation, celebrate how journalists create well-researched articles that can be used as reliable sources for Wikipedia. This platform is the largest online encyclopedia in the world.

Rakiya Muhammad won the first prize for her report titled "West Africa’s Borderless Women: Inside the Yoruba Sisterhood Linking Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire," which was published in RM Times. Her story highlighted the long history of women migrating from Ejigbo in Osun State to Ivory Coast. These women have become a significant force in Abidjan's markets and have helped strengthen both economic and cultural ties between Nigeria and Ivory Coast. The report also noted that remittances from these migrants make up about 80 per cent of Ejigbo’s economy.

Abiodun Adewale earned second place for his special feature, "Breaking boundaries: How Nigeria’s U-19 women are rewriting cricket history." This story followed the journey of Nigeria’s Junior Female Yellow Greens during their historic run at the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup held in Malaysia. It showed the growth of cricket in Nigeria, a country where the sport does not get much mainstream attention.

Kenyan journalist Angeline Ochieng from Nation Media Group received a special mention for her report, "The Converts: How Reformed Midwives Are Ending Maternal Deaths." This report looked into how former traditional birth attendants in rural Kenya advocate for hospital deliveries, helping to reduce maternal deaths.

This year, the awards received 320 entries from journalists across 40 African countries. ICFJ and the Wikimedia Foundation had invited self-nominations earlier this year.

The stories submitted focused on themes like women, youth, arts, culture, heritage, and sports. ICFJ President Sharon Moshavi said the awards highlight the strong connection between journalism and Wikipedia.

"Journalism and Wikipedia need each other. Wikipedia’s volunteer editors depend on independent reporting to create a more complete knowledge resource. Journalists gain from the global and multilingual reach of Wikipedia. These awards celebrate that connection and the African journalists who are making our digital information better," Moshavi said.

Anusha Alikhan, Chief Communications Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, mentioned the need for more African stories to improve representation on Wikipedia. "Wikipedia is the biggest encyclopedia ever created, but it is not complete. It is important to have stories written by Africans about their issues to ensure the encyclopedia reflects various experiences and viewpoints," Alikhan said.

"We celebrate the three journalists who have received the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards and thank them for making this kind of reporting possible."

Olaniyan Oulushola, President of Wikimedia Nigeria and part of the awards selection committee, said the winning stories showed how journalism can help close knowledge gaps in Africa.

"The quality and significance of the articles submitted and chosen this year is impressive. As a Wikipedia editor, I see every article as a chance to improve information about Africa on Wikipedia. From telling the history of women traders in West Africa to showcasing the success of female cricketers, each article helps us get closer to closing the knowledge gaps we work on daily," he said.

Wikipedia, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in January, now has over 65 million articles in more than 300 languages and gets about 15 billion page views each month. However, the organisers pointed out that only 3.7 per cent of articles on the English-language Wikipedia cover Africa, showing the ongoing need for reliable reporting from the continent.