Habeeb Olokooba, a 400-level law student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, stumbled into photojournalism when he witnessed farmlands submerged by flood. That moment sparked a determination to document the disaster and the struggles of affected farmers. What began as a personal vow to return and capture their plight eventually earned him a prestigious journalism award.
His journey into investigative storytelling was shaped by his time at UDEME, a project under the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID). Working with UDEME in 2023 deepened his understanding of journalism’s power in holding authorities accountable and amplifying overlooked stories. Yet, despite this background, Olokooba had never considered photography as a serious career path, until his award-winning images proved otherwise.
Can you tell us about your journey leading up to this award?
“I wasn’t seeing any award while doing the story but I was giving it my best yeah. I saw farmlands submerged by flood on that day, and I vowed to come back for the story. From the moment I saw the disaster, I knew there was a story to be told” Olokooba said.
“Although I wasn’t surprised to have made it to the final shortlist, the most nervous moment of my life was moments before my name was called in that hall. During my background check, I realized one of the three finalists in my category had won the award before and the other person is a full time photographer. So while in that hall, I doubted winning the award for the first time. Surprisingly I won.”
How has winning this award impacted your perspective or career aspirations?
Winning the award made me realize it’s not bad to toil a part in photojournalism at all. At first, during my photography training, I didn’t completely understand why I was taking the training. Winning this award gave me a headway that yes! This is not just play. It is a career path.
Initially, I believed in having a formidable writing skill is all journalism is about, however, with the CJA in the bag, I realized there is more to explore in this field than writing and editing.
What story were you trying to tell through the photos that won you this award?
I will say I was trying to visualize the pains of the people whose seedlings got destroyed by flood and I realized I can’t or won’t be able to tell the story well without quality visual contents. And that’s when I decided to take those pictures and videos.
How do you decide which moments are worth capturing?
You will never be able to decide. For me, I believe you can just capture a series of shots and settle for the best ones while you sit down to write the story.
However, one will not be disappointed once we have put in our best while taking our shots. But to be very candid, there is no perfect moment. If you are waiting for the right time to take that picture or video, you might miss important times.
Can you share a memorable experience behind one of your photos?
I don’t think there is a memory other than when I wanted to learn photography, my boss said I have a lot of work to do because of how poor my first shot was.
