Founder of YouthHubAfrica (YHA), Rotimi Olawale, has encouraged young people in Nigeria to apply for the nonprofit’s media internship programme.

Olawale made the call as he noted that 30 percent of interns from the programme are retained while others have used the programme to propel their careers in development communications.

Launched in 2018, the media internship programme provides digital media skills and a six-month internship placements for young Nigerians.

It is understood that 15 successful applicants are selected to participate in a three-day training in photography, videography, social media management, and content curation.

At the end of the training, two trainees are offered a six-month paid internship with YHA while other trainees are referred to similar civic organisations for paid internship placements.

A report by Punch suggests that there is a dearth of internship opportunities for undergraduates and graduates in Nigeria.

Data from Trading Economics also indicates that unemployment rate in Nigeria increased to 33.30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, from 27.10 percent in the second quarter of the year.

‘[I am] proud of the work that we do at @youthhubafrica but the media internship programme that we launched 3/4 years ago is one that excites me’, Olawale tweeted.

‘We provide 15 young people with one week of training, basic photography (hands on with DSLR), videography, [development] communications essentials.

‘Managing social media, tools/analytics. At the end of the training, each person presents a portfolio, as well as they do a group documentary project.

‘We hire two of them as paid interns, and then work with the rest to get internship opportunities at nonprofits’.

Olawale also said, ‘Success rate is high 30 percent gets retained after their internships and others have moved up on their career journey’.

Photo source: Deutsche Welle