ABUJA CELEBRATES FUTURE AWARD WINNER, ALKASIM ABDULKADIR

Its my Pleasure to introduce to you,(that is if you don't already know him), an outstanding young gentleman, Alkasim Abdulkadir. 

Receiving his Award

Alkasim has come a long way from his Days as a Media Assistant to a Distinguished  Senator. He has worked with several prestigious media houses and firms one of which is CNN. Just recently he was nominated for the Future Awards for Media Excellence. I had no doubt he would win and we were beyond excited when he came home with the award. Abuja Celebrate with us, this young gentleman that is definitely going somewhere. We were lucky to get some of his time to engage him in a short chat.

WR: Congrats on Your Award, Media Excellence, Well Deserved. I know u have been in media for a while, being a media assistant etc How has it been?

AL: Thank you very much for your strong support. I must say it has been awesome experience, the daily dose of adrenalin of breaking stories and rushing to meet deadlines, contributing to national conversations I must say its been a rewarding experience for me. However like every other profession it also comes with its inherent frustrations especially when it comes to accessing information from some government agencies -the security arms in specific.

WR: What's it like working with CNN?

Alkasim

AL: CNN is a global brand, it prides itself as the world's news leader unlike our local news bodies here, the editors in Atlanta push you to give your best...they don't relent until they get to the bottom of the story, they ensure that everything gets to a logical conclusion. No leads are left unfollowed...they are thorough. One snag is all the stories have to be global in nature, should have an international angle to it

WR: Nigerian Media has been criticized for not being vocal enough on political issues facing the country, what's your take on this? 

AL: Nigeria has one of the most vocal media especially when it comes to political issues, the Media has shaped political opinions since independence in 1960. If you read opinion columns you will discover how scathing they are to government and public officials, if it were in other countries, there would have been more clampdowns, however, the media in Nigeria has had its fair share of fights with the government especially during the military regimes, even under democracy there have been a few cases of clamping down on media houses.

WR:What do you think is the Future of Media in Nigeria? 

AL: The future of the media in Nigeria is very bright, especially with the advent of the social media, a marriage of the traditional and social media will ensure that it is an industry that will continue to be very relevant. Most importantly with the mass availability of smart phones and other multimedia devices everyone has become a citizen journalist, the role of the citizen journalist and social media is going to multiply in the coming years. The media's role as a catalyst in provoking national conversations will definitely increase as the years pass by and as democratic culture continues to grow on us.

WR: A word for upcoming media moguls 

AL:  Upcoming media practioners should first be able to map out what type of media product or service they want to provide, gauge your capacity before offering service, some people make the mistake of trying to do everything all at once. Build capacity, leverage on networks and be highly professional the world will find a path to your door step. 

WR: Thank you so much for your time Mr Alkasim, Congratulations again on your award and we wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

AL: Thanks Miss Ij