How Pulitzer Center Journalism Is Enhancing Climate Literacy in Nigerian Schools

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Building on the success of the Pulitzer Center's partnership with THE ACE Initiative for Sustainable Development, a Nigeria-based nonprofit led by Oluwaseun Hannah Anselm, we are expanding our Teachers’ Network to over 100 new educators from the Ijebu-Ode and Odogbolu Local Government areas in Nigeria.  

For the past several months, trained teachers have been adapting selected Pulitzer Center-supported stories into curriculum-relevant lesson plans. These lessons were inspired by Center-supported climate and environmental stories, including

• “How Big Businesses, Individuals Deplete Nigeria’s Protected Forests” by Uchenna Igwe; 
• “Amid Deforestation Scourge, Vanishing Herbal Plants Pose Health Crisis in Southwestern Nigeria” by Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi;
• “How Airports Fuel Climate Change in Nigeria” by Nkrumah Bankong-Obi;
• “Climate Shocks, Governance Gaps and the Refugee Crisis in the Sahel” by Ibrahim Adeyemi;
• and many more

The implementation of these journalism-inspired lessons reached over 700 primary school students during the second half of 2025. An explanatory video summary of the selected stories was produced in the Yoruba language and viewed by 1,000-plus students from Emmanuel Anglican Primary School I, Emmanuel Anglican Primary School II, St. Augustine Primary School, Olu-Ola Primary School, and Moslem Primary School. 

Teachers and students from the five schools have expressed satisfaction of the content shared in their classrooms. 

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The  ACE Initiative for Sustainable Development also facilitated an interdisciplinary panel in collaboration with the Chemical Science and Geography departments at Tai Solarin University of Education (TASFUED) in Ijagun, Nigeria. 

This was well attended by local academic authorities and researchers, including then-TASFUED Acting Vice Chancellor Adekunle Olanrewaju Adeogun and current Vice Chancellor Oladipo Samuel. The panel followed a climate change competition that drew participation from eight Nigerian universities.  

Since the beginning of 2026, "Roots and Rainforest" evolved from a school outreach initiative to a teachers empowerment platform. 

“This year we are focusing on Pulitzer Center’s Ocean stories. For teachers with limited resources, we have used AI to create posters from the stories we are reading. We are not generating new stories, but we are only helping our students to understand the stories through pictures. These posters are very powerful tools to help our students learn quickly," said Anselm.

At the end of the year, the teachers involved in the program will develop new lessons and implement these lessons in their classrooms, reaching nearly 2,000 students ages 8-12 with lessons inspired by Pulitzer Center-supported reporting, including “Lagos' Vanishing Mangroves” by Damilola Oduolowu; Climate Change and the Devastating Impact on Fishers and Women in West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) by Gideon Sarpong and Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi; and “Flooding Crisis in Lagos Threatens Public Health” by Precious Williams.