BBC ups Nigerian output with opening of Lagos bureau
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Rebecca Hawkes
| 22 March 2018

The BBC is set to launch news services in Igbo, Pidgin and Yoruba, following the opening of its new bureau in Nigeria’s capital Lagos.

Over 100 new jobs are being created by the move, which is part of the biggest expansion of the BBC World Service since the 1940s.

The bureau – which will act as the BBC’s headquarters in West Africa – comprises a TV studio and two radio studios. The three new local language services join BBC News broadcasts Hausa and English across Nigeria.

“We will big on original journalism that impacts the lives of Nigerians at home and abroad. We are expanding our editorial offer to cover politics, culture, business, health, investigations, among others,” said Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye, BBC head of West Africa.

“We will focus more on young people and women, ensuring that we cover Nigeria and the whole of West Africa like never before. We’ll remain true to our ideals and values of objectivity, truth and impartiality,” she added.

The BBC claims its international news currently has an audience of 36 million in Nigeria, the largest of any country.

The corpration is also planning a mentorship and internship scheme for the next generation of West African journalists, said Jamie Angus, director of the BBC World Service. “This is part of BBC’s contribution to the growth of media best practice and professionalism in Nigeria, and the fight against ‘Fake News’ – and we’ll benefit from the young journalists’ insight into West Africa,” he said.

BBC News in Igbo, Pidgin, and Yoruba will now be available online and on social media, along with a 60-second audio round-up, BBC Minute, twice daily.

The BBC is also joining forces with Channels Television on Connect Africa, a new weekly current affairs show in English that will launch later this year.

A range of other new TV programming for Africa – in English, Hausa, French and Swahili – is also promised by the BBC, and some TV teams are expected to join the Lagos bureau.