ICFJ and Wikimedia pay tribute to PUNCH reporter and two colleagues

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PUNCH journalist Abiodun Adewale has been named among the recipients of the 2026 Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards, alongside Nigerian freelance journalist Rakiya Muhammad and Kenya journalist Angeline Ochieng.

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Organised by the International Centre for Journalists in partnership with Wikimedia Foundation, the awards celebrate the role journalists play in creating well-researched articles that can serve as reliable source material for Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia.

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Muhammad claimed the first prize for her report, “West Africa’s Borderless Women: Inside the Yoruba Sisterhood Linking Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire,” published in RM Times.

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The story documented the decades-long migration of women from Ejigbo, Osun State, to Ivory Coast, where they have become a major force in Abidjan’s markets while strengthening economic and cultural ties between both countries. According to the report, remittances from the migrants account for as much as 80 per cent of Ejigbo’s economy.

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Adewale was recognised in second place for his special feature, “Breaking boundaries: How Nigeria’s U-19 women are rewriting cricket history.”

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The story chronicled the rise of Nigeria’s Junior Female Yellow Greens during their historic campaign at the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, in Malaysia, highlighting the growth of cricket in a country where the sport receives limited mainstream attention.

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Kenyan journalist Ochieng of Nation Media Group received a special mention for her report, “The Converts: How Reformed Midwives Are Ending Maternal Deaths,” which examined how former traditional birth attendants in rural Kenya now advocate hospital deliveries, contributing to lower maternal mortality.

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The awards attracted 320 entries from journalists across 40 African countries after ICFJ and the Wikimedia Foundation invited self-nominations earlier this year.

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Eligible stories focused on women and youth, as well as arts, culture, heritage and sports.

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ICFJ President Sharon Moshavi said the awards underscored the close relationship between journalism and Wikipedia.

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“Journalism and Wikipedia need each other. Wikipedia’s volunteer editors rely on independent reporting to build a more complete knowledge resource, and journalists benefit from the global and multilingual reach that Wikipedia provides. These awards recognise that relationship and the African journalists who are making our digital information ecosystems stronger,” Moshavi said.

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The Wikimedia Foundation’s Chief Communications Officer, Anusha Alikhan, said more African stories were needed to improve the representation of the continent on Wikipedia.

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“Wikipedia is the largest encyclopedia ever assembled, but it is far from complete. Having stories written by Africans about the issues they care about is vital to ensuring the encyclopedia is representative of many experiences and perspectives,” Alikhan said.

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

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President of Wikimedia Nigeria and member of the awards selection committee, Olaniyan Oulushola, said the winning stories demonstrated journalism’s role in closing Africa’s knowledge gaps.

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“The quality and relevance of the articles received and selected in this year’s awards is commendable. As a Wikipedia editor, I see in each of them an opportunity to improve information about Africa on Wikipedia. From documenting the history of women cross-border traders in West Africa to the achievements of female cricketers, each of these articles brings us a step closer to closing the knowledge gaps we are working on every day,” he said.

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Wikipedia, which marked its 25th anniversary in January, now hosts more than 65 million articles in over 300 languages and receives nearly 15 billion page views monthly. However, the organisers noted that only 3.7 per cent of articles on the English-language Wikipedia are about Africa, highlighting the continuing need for credible reporting from across the continent.

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