A member of PREMIUM TIMES’ Investigations and Data Desk, Yakubu Mohammed, has been shortlisted for the 2025 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award.
For the highly coveted award, Mr Mohammed is shortlisted alongside another Nigerian, Abdulrasheed Hammad, a freelance journalist, as well as ten others across the world.
The award is an annual competition organised in partnership with the UK’s Foreign Press Association (FPA) to celebrate outstanding young journalists globally.
Mr Mohammed was shortlisted for his investigative report, which uncovered the extent of Nigeria’s illicit lithium trade on social media platforms.
The other Nigerian, Mr Hammad, was shortlisted for his story about malnourished children in Sokoto State.
Nominees
The Thomson Foundation said only 12 journalists made it to the shortlist of the 681 stories submitted by 227 journalists from 60 countries around the world.
The shortlisted journalists include Mohamoud Shire of Radio Ergo in Somalia, Jorge Navarrate from Ecuador, Yaqut Ali of The Wire in India, Godwin Asediba of TV3 Ghana, Julius Mbeŵe of the Platform for Investigative Journalism (PIJ) Malawi, and Tracy Onchoke from Africa Uncensored in Kenya.
Others are: Sanket Jain for Chemical and Engineering News, Wangu Kanuri of Daily Nation Kenya, and Hazaran Rahim Dad from Prism–DAWN.com in Pakistan.
According to the Director of Training and Communications at Thomson Foundation, Deborah Kelly, this year’s entries illustrate that young journalists are uncovering injustice and tackling the issues facing the planet.
“Through their tenacity and courage, they are telling the stories from their communities that matter, ensuring their voices are heard,” Ms Kelly said.
As it is the practice of the organisers, the 12-person list will be pruned down to the top three finalists who will be invited for the announcement of the winner at the Foreign Press Association Awards in London, UK, in November.
About Mr Mohammed
Mr Mohammed specialises in conflict and accountability reporting, covering issues around banditry, terrorism, environment and corruption in the public sectors.
Before joining PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Mohammed had worked with WikkiTimes as a news editor. He started his career with The Guardian newspaper in Lagos, before joining the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), from where he moved to WikkiTimes.
With more than six years of experience, Mr Mohammed has authored several investigations that sparked public discourse and had an impact on local communities.
Since joining PREMIUM TIMES, he has produced consequential reports on humanitarian crisis, terrorism financing, cross-border terrorism, illegal mining and accountability reporting that have held government parastatals, including security agencies, accountable.
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He has visited hard-to-reach areas, combining field reporting skills and open-source intelligence tools (OSINT) to tell stories around banditry, terrorism, illegal mining, climate threats and other environmental issues intersecting with security.
