David Hundeyin, a Nigerian independent journalist, has challenged Nigerians to cultivate the habit of supporting investigative journalism in order to get information that will save the country.
In a post on his official X handle, Hundeyin said a lot can be achieved if just 5,000 Nigerians out of the 200m population pay $5 monthly to support investigative journalism.
According to him, many Nigerians who believe they are too poor to support investigative journalism don’t usually don’t complain when asked to pay huge sums to attend musical shows that usually add no value to their lives.
He wrote “Out of 200 million Nigerians, can just 5,000 of you pay $5 a month for investigative journalism that will provide the information to save your country with?
“No, it’s too expensive, Nigerians are too poor, and high-quality journalism should be free because journalism runs on ‘pashun’, twigs, and pieces of string.
“A whole civilisation of 200 million people, including a 1st and 2nd gen diaspora of at least 5 million people cannot crowdfund a single journalistic platform to tell its own stories for its own general benefit because it’s too expensive and who needs that.
“It can, however, fund a sprawling entertainment industry where all manner of inarticulate igbó smokers who add no value to anyone’s lives can regularly sell out shows with ticket prices 3 times the national monthly minimum wage.
“No problem paying through the arse for superstar dumbos to mime their generic autotuned stuff and occasionally assault you into the bargain, but paying for what actually adds value to your life is where you lot draw the line.
“Well, me I kuku took the hint and found a job that pays me my worth. I did what I could for you people. If 200 million people collectively decide that their brains are too small for them to deserve a place in a world that is actively seeking to exterminate them, then who am I to disagree.Nobody will sha say I did not play my part”.