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“Investigative journalism is what I’ve done for the 15 years of my journalism career. I didn't consider it dangerous when I started (…) Another motivation for my investigative journalism is my dislike for injustice. Oppression gets my blood boiling (…) Investigative journalism is about impact. For me, impact is impact as long as one person or a group of people can live better lives through the stories I write.”

Telos: Woman, African and journalist. Tell us more about you.

Toyosi Ogunseye: I’m the Head of West Africa at the BBC, where I manage the five language services in West Africa. These services: Hausa, Afrique, Igbo, Pidgin and Yoruba serve our audiences in Anglophone and Francophone Africa. Before this role, I was Editor at the Sunday Punch. Punch is Nigeria’s most widely read newspaper. And before then, I had worked at Sun Newspaper and News Star Newspaper doing investigations and covering other beats such as politics, crime, health, environment, etc. I’m passionate about journalism and development. Biochemistry was my first degree. As a biochemist, I studied chemical processes and how they relate to living organisms. I learnt how to probe, use data and conduct proper qualitative and quantitative researches. All these have helped me as a journalist because I apply research tools to my stories. These eliminate errors and give clear, concise results. Research also helps you to be better informed and formulate ways of covering a story. That is a basic requirement for any journalist if you want your readers or audience to appreciate your work.

What does investigative journalism mean to you?

It means everything to me. On 30 April, BBC launched its Africa Investigations Unit, Africa Eye. It’s first story was titled ‘Sweet Sweet Codeine’, an investigation into how cough syrup is destroying millions of Nigerian youths. The documentary went viral and under 24 hours, the Nigerian government banned codeine. This is testament of the essence of investigative journalism, to tell stories that no one tells and to shed light on dark places with the hope that it will improve humanity. Investigative journalism is what I’ve done for the 15 years of my journalism career. I didn't consider it dangerous when I started. I just like to be thorough, so I always went the extra length with my stories. That extra effort helped me to discover more and see what others often missed. And before you know it, you have a big, investigative story on your hands. I often hear people say that the audience don’t like to read lengthy pieces, I disagree. People just don’t like boring stories, whether it’s long or short. I’ve discovered that a large number of people appreciate well-written and researched investigative stories that add value to them. Another motivation for my investigative journalism is my dislike for injustice. Oppression gets my blood boiling. I don’t like it when people intentionally treat others badly. Just tell me someone is oppressing you and I will be there immediately to fight for you. That’s my motivation, to use the tools and the opportunities that I’ve been given to help others live a better life.

What report of yours are you most proud of?

All of them are dear to me. I say this because I put my best into all my stories. I don’t know the number of stories I’ve written but most people remember the popular ones like an investigative story on a government hospital where babies were dying because of inadequate personnel and some of the new born sick babies had to share a tiny bed. There was outrage after the story was published and government had to act. Another one was an environmental story about how pollution from a steel factory was adversely affecting the health of residents in an estate. The residents volunteered to do medical tests that showed how badly their blood had been affected by the pollution. Some had cancer and others had breathing disorders due to the pollution. Personally, it’s the small things people don’t notice that mean the world to me. I remember doing story about a public school where a pupil fell into the school latrine and died. After the story was published, modern toilets were built in the school. That is memorable because the story saved the lives of other pupils. For about a year, I would randomly go to public schools and do stories on the state of their classrooms, toilet and water facilities. Not much attention is given to issues like this by relevant stakeholders and I believe it’s my duty to provide a better environment for learning through my stories.
About 10 years ago, a young lady who was working as a casual worker got her hand amputated at work and the company was not treating her well. They didn’t even want to pay compensation. A prominent lawyer in Nigeria read the story and took up her case. He ensured that the company took full responsibility. I wonder where she is now, but I’m happy I could help in my little way. Once I did a story on ten men who were wrongly accused of armed robbery; after my story, they were all freed. They might have been dead by now. These are stories that affect the life of the common man and they are dear to my heart. Often, we think investigative stories should be on a massive scale and should involve sending prominent politicians or businessmen to jail. But not necessarily. Investigative journalism is about impact. For me, impact is impact as long as one person or a group of people can live better lives through the stories I write.

Progressive Africans argue that tribalism is one of the most disruptive factors for the development of the continent. You are Nigerian, belonging to the Yoruba people. What is your view on this statement?

I agree that it’s disruptive and totally unnecessary to use our uniqueness to divide ourselves. One of the most beautiful things about Africa is our diversity and it should be used as a strength to help one another. The BBC recognises the strength of diversity and that was why it started the biggest expansion since the 1940s. In Africa alone, we now have 10 language services. West Africa has the five services I mentioned earlier while East Africa has five - Swahili, Somali, Ahmaric, Tigrinya and Afaan Oromo. These 10 language services in addition to Africa English and the Great Lakes Service, democratise access to quality information. There's something so beautiful about creating content and engaging our audiences in their mother tongues. It shows that we value their customs, traditions and culture. This is BBC’s way of ensuring that tribes, cultures and languages can shape, rather than divide the world.

Marco Sonsini