Kolapo Olapoju

About

Kolapo Olapoju is a writer, investigative/development journalist, and brand strategist.As editor of TheCable, he has pioneered landmark projects for the platform regarded as Nigeria’s foremost knowledge-driven digital newspaper.In 2021, Olapoju oversaw the launch of TheCable Fact-Check desk, which has become an authority in fact-checking in Nigeria. His passion for equitable development and inclusion led to the launch of Climate Cable, gender, and the PLWD desks. TheCable DINA, the first disability-inclusive news application in Nigeria, was in May 2023 unveiled to the public, receiving wide acclaim. The project was selected as one of the winners of the Google News Innovation (GNI) Challenge. Through his reporting, Olapoju has uncovered issues like lead contamination, and other environmental degradation in host mining communities, as well as underage labour. His work has sparked change and influenced policy decisions. His reporting on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and lobbying of key players spurred a lawmaker, in 2019, to push for sanitary products subsidy. This contributed to the eventual decision of the federal government to exempt sanitary products from value-added tax (VAT).Olapoju has partnered with non-profits such as Global Rights Nigeria, while his work has been used as a case study for a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded global research.In 2020, he was nominated as a DAME Awards finalist for child-friendly reporting. In 2022, Olapoju was shortlisted for the Fetisov Journalism Awards (FJA) in the outstanding contribution to peace category for his report on the southern Kaduna conflict during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.Olapoju has for the last 15 years worked in the new media, thus becoming one of the leading voices changing the landscape and redefining how information is consumed online.