By Babatunde Emmanuel

An UCJ UI alumnus and reporter with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Edem Umofia, has urged newly inducted campus journalists to embody their work.

He made this assertion during a panel session which also featured former Editor-in-Chief of UCJ UI, Abdulkabeer Tijani, at the UCJ UI Induction Ceremony held on Saturday, September 19, 2026.

Recounting his experience as a UCJ UI Sports Editor, Umofia noted that the failure of reporters to take initiative sometimes meant that he had to cover stories himself.

“As an editor, I realized that many times, I have to go to the field to report stories myself. I was the sports editor, and there were times I’ll cover ten stories on the Sub-field because there was nobody to report and if I didn’t report it, UCJ will not publish any story that day. And if UCJ doesn’t publish any story, they’ll say, who is the sports editor? And my name will come up,” he explained.

Umofia said he had observed that many journalists do not embody their work.

“As a journalist, you cannot always expect editors to commission your stories, as Tijani said, because around you, there are stories, and that is why you need to be curious as a journalist.

“I was a final-year student, and I realized that oftentimes, reporters give excuses,” he added.

He added that teamwork is an important skill for campus journalists to develop.

“As campus journalists, it is important to play as ‘us,’ not as ‘me,’ because when you’re doing the story, you’re looking at the implication for your LPO, the implication inside UCJ’UI and outside UCJ’UI.”

“By teamwork skill, it means that you put others first, and I think that teamwork in stories is important,” he added.

Also speaking as a panelist, Tijani explained how he became involved in campus journalism and noted that he had decided to join a journalism network even before gaining admission because of his background in writing.

“I knew I’ll join a campus journalism network before gaining admission, and interestingly, I had my first byline published on UCJ’UI website even before resuming on campus as a student,” he said.

When asked what he would have done differently if he were still a campus journalist, he said, “Honestly, I’ll have done more stories.”

“In my own case, I didn’t necessarily wait for directives before I took some of the steps on my stories because we saw the level of decay that was in the system. It was the time when stealing was rampant in Agbowo, and there were a lot of issues on campus,” he added.

Tijani further encouraged the newly inducted journalists to take advantage of opportunities available to them as campus journalists.

“There are a lot of opportunities. To the inductees, one of the opportunities is to join Campus Reporters Network,” he stated.

“Campus Reporters is managed by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, and it gives you a network of campus journalists from across the country.

“They share opportunities dedicated to campus journalists, and it helps you build your competence as a journalist,” he added.