Beyond Byline: Embrace Entrepreneurship Journalism for Financial Sustainability, Dr Mustapha Jamiu

In the heart of Lagos, where the vibrant rhythms of Nigeria’s bustling metropolis blend with the echoes of journalistic pursuits, Theresa Moses, a tenacious journalist, found herself sitting down with Dr. Mustapha Muhammed Jamiu, Assistant Professor, Department of Mass Communication, and Leading Researcher at The Institute of Geopolitical Communications, Faculty of Philology, RUDN University, Russian Federation, Moscow.

In an insightful interview at the Biodun Sobanjo Building, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, the corridors echoed with the wisdom of Dr Jamiu, a distinguished Russian-based professor, facilitator, and course instructor at the RUDN Professional Scholarship Courses in Africa 2024, whose passion for transforming the African media landscape is as palpable as the ink on a journalist’s byline. He offered a beacon of hope to journalists seeking financial sustainability in an industry often fraught with economic challenges. He effortlessly navigated the conversation with an inviting charisma, fostering an environment where the exchange of knowledge felt like a collaborative journey rather than a formal interview.

Theresa: What motivated RUDN University to extend its Professional Scholarship courses to Africa, and how do you envision the impact of these courses on the African academic landscape?

Dr Jamiu: Thank you very much. The university thinks it’s not a bad idea to impact African societies or Africa’s young professionals with necessary 21st century skills, skilling their skills in this field of communication and journalism practice. The major aim is to also extend our hands a bit to young professionals. Of course, many will say, Okay, maybe, it’s also for promotion; but this is beyond promotion because the course is worth about $2,000. So, still, it won’t be a bad idea to give a bit to the Africans, of course, in the sense that may also be a return on promoting the university and also projecting the great things the university does in the country. Every year, there are more than 20,000 scholarships from Russian governments to applicants across the world. So, every year, more than 20,000 people enter Russia for free education. Be it undergraduates, Masters, or PhD programmes, many people do not know, but at least through courses like this, people will also get to know better.

As the course instructor, could you provide insight into the specific area or discipline covered by the Professional Scholarship courses and why these areas were chosen for the programme in Africa?

For about four different courses that are supposed to be taken in this 2024 in Africa, we have what we call Entrepreneurial journalism, Community journalism, Media and Intercultural communication in the digital age, as well as academic writings for professionals and researchers. Two of these are what we started in January and are still going on in about seven cities in Africa. We’ve done it in Kwara State, Abuja, Lagos State, Accra, Port Harcourt, and Osun State. The courses are in order to look at how the world is becoming, as we call it, a global village; how cultures are interconnected, and how we deal with one another. Community journalism looks at how many communities are not doing the needful and how we can bring the well-practised, internationally accepted one, how it’s been done in many places, and how we can also incorporate our own locality into that. So we recommend community journalism to see how we can use it to solve the problem and how the community can really feel the importance of that too. Community journalism is one aspect that many journalists also need to key into because many of them partially also practice community journalism.

Entrepreneurial journalism – we live in a world where entrepreneurship is becoming more important, just as journalism can be a form of entrepreneurship. Many journalists are complaining that there’s no money in journalism practice. We can’t say there is no money; we are saying that maybe you are not looking at where you’re supposed to look. So let’s look at that. How do you make your money through that? How do you advance? How do you get to be an entrepreneur through journalism which makes sense and is cool? And we are saying that you are just not seeing it because those who found your media houses, those other people that invest in it, if the money is not there, you won’t see them invest in the business. So, now, as a journalist, how do you become an entrepreneur and maximise your potential?

Given your role as a leading researcher at the Institute of Geopolitical Communications, how do you see the intersection of geopolitical dynamics and communication shaping the content of the courses offered in Africa?

If we talk about courses like Intercultural communication in the digital age, courses like that can highly affect, shape, and project how things should be viewed. Through courses like that, we get to understand when to shift to another culture, when the dynamics of culture are coming into place, and when to also understand the importance of cultural identity as a person, when to have the barrier to say this is where we belong, this is where you belong, and where we need to come together to see how to have a better word for not having a culture of a general word. We may not have a global culture, but we may have a way of acknowledging one another’s culture. So that can shape the geopolitical situation. Of course, it’s telling you that no one should truly be the number one leader of politics in the world. But we can all acknowledge where our strengths are and see where we can rotate and help one another have a better world.

How does the Professional Scholarship programme cater to the unique needs and challenges of African students, and what strategies are in place to ensure inclusivity and cultural relevance in the curriculum?

Well, I want to say I’m not sure if many of these related courses have been taken at a couple of universities around here, because I do not study and I do not work there. Even though we have done a bit of research, we know that we are more focused on our only related courses around this area rather than looking beyond those only specialised courses when we are supposed to look at those other areas because they are all intertwined; they are chains. If we are to be looking at them, we will have the hope in the minds of individuals who are studying them to know that you can be static in any of the fields in which you specialise. You are supposed to be volatile and dynamic, which will help them shape their minds to see other opportunities beyond their area of specialisation. So that’s one, so if it’s there, I will say that they need to revive them and make them stronger. If it is not there, I’ll call your attention and say that it is good for our policymakers, those who are stakeholders in designing curriculum, to factor in such because either individuals or people know about their field, if they know about their fields, and they know about their culture and the importance of how their culture can be placed in their various places. They would have also known how to shape themselves and put things in place without being ethnocentric. Someone who thinks his own position or his own culture is the best or that no one can come, but you understand this. You can know when to shift and when to manage one another without any problem.

What distinguishes RUDN University’s approach to scholarship courses, and how does it align with the university’s broader commitment to fostering international collaboration and academic excellence?

The major thing is that we do not belong here, even though we belong to the old world as a university, because any university should be serving any and every other place, regardless of the geographical area. Yes, we are! Regardless of that, there are the indigenous that are more directly related to the people. So that’s why we know that we can’t know the best or those who live in these places. That’s why we incorporate our partnership with them. We developed the models, of course, but in developing these models, we consult them to make sure these models are factored in the issues that are really happening within these environments. That’s why we make sure that in each city we go, we partner and encourage, and we also even involve the scholars from each of those communities to be able to relate cases that are really happening and make it a practicable not just school courses.

In your opinion, how does the programme contribute to building stronger academic ties between Africa and RUDN University, and what benefits does this bring to both the institution and participants?

When we talk about courses that can really have an impact on the immediate society, we are talking about practical courses. The result of those courses or those projects that they are going to do is that they are using them immediately, not something that you are keeping. So it’s win-win – why the university will be boosted, and with the boasts of working and training people and adding values, the local universities will also be boasting of saying that we have courses that have a high impact. From them, it creates a good relationship in understanding one another and to walk in the future, as well as an opportunity for the universities to further partnership in the future for any of their courses related to research and other areas when it comes to academic excellence or exchange.

For those interested in gaining more training at RUDN University, what does it take?

We have some other courses, even though we have this one as a short course that is also more of a scholarship. We still have the full course of, for example, Intercultural communication as a full course of the Postgraduate Diploma of about eight months, to look into the real deep and key tools to be cubed in doing analysis and analysing intercultural issues and communication. Yes, we have courses like that that we have also introduced. So those who have an interest can subscribe to the course. The course can also look into a way that even paying the tuition fee is not going to be based on dollar or international rate; we factor in some basic payments or tuition fees around Nigeria to be able to make sure that at least it’s affordable to an extent for them. So that’s an opportunity to apply for some short courses, for example, in Intercultural communication or diploma, post-diploma in Global health communication or postgraduate diploma in Political communication.

So we have some of these courses that are about to be launched before the middle of this year, and will be in partnership with some of these partnering institutions in Africa. The one we are launching this year is going to be virtual but most of the projects are going to be done locally by then, and the certificate is going to be a virtual certificate that’s going to be sent down after the completion of the programme.

You’ve been in Nigeria for a few weeks, if not a month and had contact with some Nigerian journalists who participated in the scholarship courses. What would you say is lacking in them?

People claim that they have an interest, but they are not committed. There’s a difference between interest and commitment. So you may have interest in a field, but you don’t have commitment, and when you lack commitment, you will not put in all that it takes to get that thing. So that’s one key thing: you don’t just get to love what you do, love is not enough until you’re committed, because when you’re committed, no matter what, you get out of that. So don’t think just as a journalist, think as an entrepreneurial journalist who thinks that there’s a solution to it. Don’t think that just because people are doing it you are doing it; people are doing this for fame, or you also want to do it for fame. No, do it to solve the problem. Journalists are meant to solve problems; they should not be the ones that cause more problems. That is why, in one of the articles we read, we say that you should be a light; light the candle; don’t cause darkness. So when you are lighting the candle and you see an opportunity where more candles will be lit for you; that is how it works. Anyone who does has to put commitments into it. So when you work commitments into it and think positively with commitments, and remember that part of what we’ll look at in this is that we look at data journalism. I say every journalist must be a data journalist. Keep yourself with the usage of data journalism, and then you can never run out of stories and creativity. You can never run out of ideas. You always have something to use, even to sell, if possible.

What’s your advice to Nigerian journalists?

Like I said earlier, be committed. Be committed to seeing your work and being light. Don’t be darkness. Light candles don’t cause darkness for us. So remember that you are called the Fourth estate of the realm, not just by mere saying, but you have very entirely invisible position. And an invisible position, just because it’s invisible, does not mean that you should not do the right thing, so be ethical, professional and human. So it’s not enough to profess to be professional, to be ethical, and you’re not human. You want to make sure you get what you need. And you also want to make sure that you are doing it the right way. Or remember that you’re dealing with human beings with emotions, and things that can cause problems for them too. So be a problem solver. Don’t cause problems. That’s why I think that should be enough for us, and continuous learning too. So don’t sit in one place. Learn, learn, learn!