Fisayo Soyombo Went Through Libya For Us, But Wrote It In English We Can’t Read -By Tunmise Ajeigbe

It is good to see another dimension of investigative journalism by ‘Fisayo Soyombo His recent three-part exposé on illegal migration from Africa to Europe, the filthy desperation for greener pastures, this shows that journalism is still thriving, and that a journalist can go to extremes to tell stories that matter in order to inform, educate and sensitize the public.

What Egbon Fisayo did was “show, don’t tell!” One of principle of investigative reporting. He is known for taking worthy risks to reveal the dark sides of what seems hidden, and he knows when to disengage because no story is worth the life of the storyteller.

And for this, I will give him his due credit. Sir, I salute you. You did well.

While encouraging him to do more, I think we must also criticize him when necessary.

Yesterday, I saw him on Arise News Television explaining why the story matters to him. Soyombo said government must facilitate more advocacy against illegal migration, adding that most victims are illiterate and semi-illiterate. He added that the National Orientation Agency needs to take the gospel to the grassroots, to the concerned populace who have been brainwashed with tales of a fake paradise in Europe.

But Soyombo forgot this when he and his editors were writing and editing the article for public consumption. I found it ridiculous that I, as educated as I am, had to keep a dictionary beside me while reading the pieces. I added at least ten new words to my vocabulary. It felt like I was subjected to a new English class.

I understand that when top journalists like Soyombo present refreshing content, especially an informative piece that matters to all, they need to add something new. But tailoring these articles only to privileged Nigerians who had the opportunity of education raises concerns about classism and imbalance. It diminishes the objective of the story itself.

During the interview yesterday, Soyombo somehow admitted that not everyone would easily digest the context of the article. He quickly retracted and promised follow-up commentary videos, which he said would be done in five different languages, including indigenous languages.

Why does this matter to me? I looked back to my days in Okebadan, Ibadan. Most of my friends whom we grew up together had no chance to have tertiary education, but we are still friends and they are doing well regardless. And the situation is even worse when you consider that Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world. Categories of people like my friends are in hundreds of millions in today’s Nigeria. These types of reports can go under the carpet without getting the necessary attention.

Again, I must question our style of journalism at the mainstream level, especially in print and online. Why are we so quick to copy the Western style of journalism delivery when we have an entirely different way of life? I sense it that media organizations like Premium Times, HumAngle, ICIR and others follow patterns like The New York Times, when we know our audiences here are mostly not sound in English comprehension.

As someone who gets bored easily when consuming text content, I prefer video or audio journalism content, which I believe is the future. I bet, who is that average Nigerian that will spend his energy reading that lengthy article by Soyombo and not get lost, apart from his friends, family, fans and supporters? The average Nigerian is not a reader; we are listeners and viewers.

Fisayo Soyombo risked his life to go through the desert for us. The least we can do is make sure the people he risked his life for can actually understand what he found.

Tunmise Ajeigbe writes from Abeokuta, he is a SubEditor at Splash FM 106.7 Abeokuta and the founder of Gateway Reporters.