David Hundeyin is a Nigerian journalist and author. He founded the West Africa Weekly, a Substack newsletter.
Early Life
Hundeyin initially studied mass communications at Igbinedion University before studying creative writing at the University of Hull, graduating in 2011. After working several jobs, including a contract position at KPMG, he returned to Nigeria in 2013.
Career
Hundeyin is an investigative journalist. His reporting style, often open-sourced, has won him multiple awards and earned him criticism. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has called him a "brilliant" investigative journalist.
NewswireNGR
In 2020, Hundeyin wrote an article for NewswireNGR about Globacom and the work conditions and treatment of their Indian expatriate workers. After the story was published, the workers received their owed pay, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote Hundeyin a letter of appreciation for his journalism.
He also wrote an investigative report about potential human rights violations related to a proposed infectious diseases bill in Nigeria's House of Representatives during the COVID-19 lockdown. This article won Hundeyin a People Journalism Prize for Africa.
In 2021, Hundeyin wrote about the rape and death of a 26-year-old woman, alleging that the suspect used a hotel owned by the wife of Nigerian politician Godswill Akpabio. Akpabio demanded a retraction and threatened a lawsuit.
West Africa Weekly
Hundeyin received a grant from Substack Local to start the newsletter, West Africa Weekly, on its platform in 2021. He attributed this change to the creative and editorial freedom it afforded him. He accused Globacom of throttling access to the NewswireNGR site after his report and said that the website would always get cyberattacks after he published a story. His newsletter would be delivered directly to his subscribers through email instead.
In 2022, Hundeyin published investigative articles on Nigerian presidential candidate Bola Tinubu, tech start-up Flutterwave, and the BBC’s West Africa operations. The reports initiated intense social media conversations between Hundeyin and the subjects of his articles or their supporters. Hundeyin is a supporter of Peter Obi, who ran against Tinubu in the 2023 presidential race.
In April 2023, Hundeyin published Nigeria president-elect Tinubu's Guinean passport on Twitter, questioning his eligibility to become president. Hundeyin's Twitter account was locked for violating Twitter's policy on personal identifying information.
James Currey Fellowship
In 2022, Hundeyin was announced as The Distinguished James Currey Fellow for 2023 as an academic visitor to the Centre of African Studies at The University of Cambridge after signing a publishing deal with the founder of the program, Onyeka Nwelue. In March 2023, Hundeyin was dismissed from Cambridge after an investigation into his conduct with Nwelue during his book launch at Oxford University. While Nwelue was accused of misrepresenting himself as an Oxford University professor, Hundeyin was accused of making misogynistic and sexist comments. On Twitter, he presented his fellowship as being awarded by Cambridge University, although he was just an academic visitor under Nwelue's discredited fellowship scheme. Hundeyin later accused Oxford professor Miles Larmer and Kaduna state Governor Nasir el-Rufai of being behind the accusations but provided no evidence.
Personal Life
After participating in the #EndSARS protest, Hundeyin left Nigeria in 2020 when multiple threats were made against him. He was granted asylum and refugee status in Ghana in 2022.
Awards and Recognition
- Royal Commonwealth Society "Write Around The World", Class B (14-15 years old) 3rd Prize, 2006
- People Journalism Prize for Africa, 2020
- GRC & Anti-Financial Crime Reporter of the Year, 2021
- James Currey Fellowship, 2023