The National Association of African Journalists (NAAJ) is a non-profit organization for African journalists and others involved with the African media worldwide. It promotes a balanced coverage of Africa-related issues in the media, assists African-trained journalists’ transition to the American media and encourages African students to pursue careers in journalism.N.A.A.J. also fights prejudice and discrimination against African journalists in the American and other foreign media, as well as the persecution of African journalists by any government or its agents.

History

NAAJ was founded by Eyobong Ita, a Nigerian-born reporter at The Kansas City Star. Ita started his career in 1986 as a sports reporter at Vanguard, one of Nigeria 's prominent national dailies.The organization was inaugurated on Aug. 7, 2004 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. About 60 founding members attended the inaugural session, which featured three presentations and a panel discussion. Shaka Ssali, managing editor at the Africa Division of the Voice of America and host of Straight Talk Africa talked about how to overcome the challenges facing African broadcast journalists in the United States. Eyobong Ita, reporter at The Kansas City Star addressed the topic: “Cross Roads: Choosing the right journalism route,” a guide to making a successful transition from African to American newsrooms. And Sunday Dare, Hausa Service Chief at the Voice of America provided guidance on how African journalists can take advantage of available opportunities in the United States. Sonala Olumhense, founding editor of Nigeria ’s THIS WEEK magazine and former editor/publisher of CITY TEMPO moderated a panel discussion on "The state of the African media in the United States." The panelists were: Adam Ouologuem, freelance journalist and former Washington correspondent for Mali 's radio and television; Alex Kabba, publisher of New York-based Africa Abroad newspaper; Kole Ade Adutola, photo journalist and doctoral student at Rutgers University in New Jersey; and Laolu Akande, North America Bureau Chief for The Guardian, a prominent Nigerian daily.

Jerome Mendouga, Cameroon's Ambassador to the United States and deputy dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, delivered the keynote address. He urged African journalists to play a lead role in giving the continent a new image and political direction.

"Presently, the only news you hear about Africa is crisis, diseases, poverty, corruption and other ugly events," he said. "This is what you should strive to reverse."

NAAJ was initially administered by an interim board comprising the following: Eyobong Ita, president; Adam Ouologuem, vice president/Print; Segun Aderiye, vice president/broadcast; Tai Balofin, secretary; Laolu Akande, treasurer; Femi Odere, publisher representative; Ben Bangoura, broadcast representative; and Paul Ndiho, student representative. On Sept. 13, 2004, Howard University donated a free office space for the NAAJ national secretariat at the John H. Johnson School of Communications. Since its formation, NAAJ has held journalism workshops for its members in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. Conference call workshops also are frequently held to assist with the professional development of its members. At its first national convention on Sept. 10, 2005, NAAJ honored six outstanding contributors to the growth of African journalism, including two former African presidents – South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and Mali’s Alpha Oumar Konare. Mandela was given a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for exemplary leadership worthy of emulation by other African leaders, as well as his respect for press freedom. Konare, chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, was recognized with a “Press Freedom Award” for his role in securing and maintaining press freedom before and during his presidential tenure in Mali. Other honorees were: John and Loie Quinn, founders of the Freedom Forum’s Chips Quinn program for minority college journalism students in the United States. They were awarded the “Advancement of Minority Journalists Award.” Jannette Dates, dean of the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University, also received the NAAJ President’s Award for the school’s support to the organization, which includes the provision of a free space for the NAAJ National Secretariat. NAAJ also held a special recognition for Nigerian-born Dele Olojede, a former foreign editor at Newsday, a New York daily. Olojede won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in international reporting for his in-depth reports on Rwanda, 10 years after a genocide claimed about 800,000 lives in that East African country. He thus became the first African-born journalist to win the Pulitzer, America’s highest recognition for journalists.

On Nov. 4, 2006, Eyobong Ita became NAAJ’s first elected president. The president leads an eight-member board and serves as the group’s chief executive officer. Elections are held every two years for positions on the board, which governs the organization.

Ita has since organized African journalists to form an NAAJ chapter in the United Kingdom to form the first NAAJ chapter. At the chapter’s inaugural meeting in London on Dec. 16, 2006, Sandra Nyaira, an exiled Zimbabwean journalist, was elected to head the chapter’s interim board.

NAAJ holds annual conventions to provide professional training to its members and raise funds for some of its projects.