Draft:Kemi Busari

Kemi Busari is a Nigerian investigative journalist, researcher, media trainer, and newsroom mentor. He is the editor of DUBAWA and previously served as a consultant Course Director at the United Nations African Institute for Development and Planning (UN-IDEP).

Early Life and Career
Born on October 6, 1989, Kemi spent his early life in Osogbo, his hometown. He attended Tinumola Nursery and Primary School and Veritas International College, before proceeding to Fakunle Comprehensive High School, where he graduated in 2006.

He completed his undergraduate studies at Obafemi Awolowo University, obtaining a degree in Political Science in 2014. Subsequently, he earned a master's degree in Communication Studies from Vrije Universiteit Brussels in 2020.

Journalism Career
From his first year at the university, Kemi started writing for the campus news section of several Nigerian national dailies including The Nation, National Mirror, The Sun, Vanguard, Tribune, and ace news magazine, NewsWatch. Upon completion of his national service in Kaduna in 2015, he proceeded to Lagos where he worked with Map Media and later, the Nigerian Bulletin.

In 2017, Kemi joined Premium Times as an investigative reporter, and was also assigned to cover activities at The Senate in Nigeria's National Assembly. In 2020, he was appointed as editor at DUBAWA, a West African independent verification and fact-checking project, initiated by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development [The CJID], where he helped design and implement the outlet's editorial process and standards.

In 2022, Kemi served as Course Director for the United Nations African Institute for Development and Planning (UN-IDEP). He is a member of the training faculties of several media development organizations including the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development [The CJID], the International Centre for Investigative Reporting [The ICIR] , and the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), among others. He has mentored and trained thousands of African journalists on several national and international projects.

Journalism for Impact
Throughout his career, Kemi has produced impactful reports that have instigated positive societal changes in Africa. In 2016, his investigation into land grabbing in Lagos State was instrumental in helping a widow reclaim her previously-seized plots of land.

In another investigation, Kemi exposed a passport racketeering syndicate at the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) leading to the closure of illegal structures within NIS offices nationwide, ban of cash payment for passport applications and sanctions against exposed officials.

In 2018, Kemi authored an investigative report on the deplorable state of Nigeria's multibillion naira Nuclear Technology Centre. Months after the publication, project contractors returned to site and completed all abandoned projects at the centre. In the same year, Kemi's report exposed shady dealings in the concession of the MKO Abiola International Airport by the Osun State Government, forcing the state government to disclose details on the investment and its failure.

In 2021, Kemi published a five-part investigative series and video documentary on extra-judicial killings perpetrated by state actors during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In 2023, he published a ground-breaking investigation on ‘Baba Aisha Herbal Medicine’, a poisonous herbal concoction consumed by many Nigerians. Shortly after the publication circulated in print and video documentary, Nigeria's drug regulatory agency, NAFDAC launched a probe into Kemi’s findings. Four days after publication, the agency raided and sealed off the building where the concoction was being produced, arrested two people, and seized some production items. The following day, the producer of the harmful concoction, Salisu Sani, was arrested and detained, just as the agency also embarked on a nationwide mop-up of the concoction in circulation while announcing plans towards creating a unit to oversee herbal medicine production in Nigeria.

Research and Fellowships
Kemi Busari is the inaugural fellow of the First Look Institute Press Freedom Initiative at the University of Maryland. His research interests include investigative journalism, fact-checking, and editorial independence in the digital era. In the build-up to the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, he co-published two research articles; one on the pre-election information disorder typology and the other on the activities of bots on the Twitter accounts of prominent presidential election candidates.

Awards and Recognitions
Busari has received acclaim for his work on both local and international fronts. The following are some of the awards he has received:
 * Winner, Highest Impact Fact-check, International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) GlobalFacts – 2023
 * Winner, Silver Prize, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Kavli, Science Reporting – In-Depth – 2023
 * Winner, Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (Online Category) – 2023
 * Winner, Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME), Investigative Reporting Category – 2023
 * Runner-up, Africa Check Awards – 2023
 * Nominee, Fetisov Journalism Awards, Investigative Journalism Category - 2021
 * Runner-up, West Africa Award for Media Excellence (Business Category) - 2020
 * Honourable Mention, One World Media Award (New Voice category) - 2019
 * Runner-up, Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (Online category) – 2018
 * Runner-up, West Africa Media Excellence Award, Anti-corruption category – 2018
 * Winner, 2018 Free Press Awards, Newcomer of the Year - 2018
 * Winner, PWC Excellence in Media Award (Business and Economy category) – 2018
 * Nominee, 2018 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the year.
 * Runner-up, Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (Online category) - 2017.
 * Winner, Nigerian Writers Awards, Feature Writer of the Year - 2017
 * Winner, Promasidor Quill Awards, Online Reporter of the Year – 2016