At least nine journalists with the BBC Hausa Service in Nigeria have resigned in the last one month in what is described as “unprecedented” in the history of the international media outlet.
It was learnt that the affected staff members comprised two senior digital journalists, three social media journalists – two of whom are senior reporters – a senior bilingual reporter for Hausa/English Africa, a multimedia reporter and two video journalists.
It was gathered that while five of the journalists left last December; the four others resigned on Monday to join newly established Africa section of Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) in Istanbul.
The source said Nasidi Adamu Yahaya, who resigned as senior digital journalist, would head the Hausa service at TRT, with other senior journalists, Halima Umar Saleh and Ishaq Khalid as his deputies.
Asked what led to the mass resignation, one of the journalists, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were primarily motivated by the Turkish media’s resolve to tell positive stories in Africa.
He said: “TRT wants us to change the narrative of storytelling.
He also said: “Other international media organisations have been reporting mainly hunger, wars and other negative narratives about Africa. There are good, positive stories in Africa – business and employment opportunities.
He added that “There are cultural values, sports, innovations; people that are involved in artificial intelligence-related work.
These are what TRT Hausa Service will be covering. Many international media are not reporting these things.
