The Republic is now accepting our next set of pitches. This time, the theme is ‘Nigeria in the World’, with a focus on the intersections between Nigeria’s global standing and its domestic political realities. We invite researchers, journalists, writers, photographers, illustrators and storytellers to interrogate how Nigeria is seen, positioned and engaged globally and how those perceptions and engagements shape, constrain or collide with politics at home.

Nigeria occupies a paradoxical place in the world: a regional power with outsized cultural influence, a diplomatic heavyweight in Africa, and yet, Nigeria grapples with persistent political instability, governance challenges, and contested national identity. This issue seeks to move beyond headlines and reputations to explore how Nigeria’s international ambitions, alliances, and image intersect with everyday political life, public trust, state power, and citizen expectations.

We are interested in stories that examine how Nigeria performs on the global stage and how that performance reverberates internally, in policy choices, electoral politics, economic priorities, civil liberties, and popular imagination. How do global pressures, foreign interests, and international institutions influence domestic decision-making? How do Nigerians understand their country’s place in the world? What do visa applications and citizenship by investment mean to a Nigerian? What does being a Nigerian living, schooling, working or parenting abroad mean? What is your migration, deportation or self-return story in the age of strong anti-immigration policies in the West?

We welcome layered, historically grounded, and forward-looking work that treats Nigeria not as a singular actor, but as a site of competing visions between international obligations and local consequences. We are especially interested in work that interrogates power, accountability and representation across borders.

We are looking for stories (analysis, journalistic reportage, essays, deep dives, expert opinion, fiction and profiles), interviews, photo essays and illustrations that explore topics, including, but not limited to:

⎈ Nigeria’s foreign policy, diplomacy, and Nigeria’s historical and contemporary roles in Africa and the Global South

⎈ The relationship between global influence and domestic legitimacy, governance, and public trust

⎈ International financial institutions, debt, aid, and their political consequences at home

⎈ Nigerian soldiers of fortune in Ukraine, Russia and other regions

⎈ Migration, borders, visas, deportations, and how global mobility regimes affect Nigerian lives and politics

⎈ Nigeria’s global cultural power, music, film, fashion and sports (especially from the vantage point of non-Nigerians)

⎈ The Nigerian diaspora, remittance economies, and cultural ambassadors

⎈ Resource politics, energy transition, oil, gas, and Nigeria’s place in global climate/resource negotiations

⎈ How ordinary Nigerians experience, contest, or disengage from Nigeria’s global ambitions

⎈ Nigeria in Africa: our relations with West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa and Central Africa, and with regional bodies such as ECOWAS and the African Union)

⎈ Stories of lesser-known/underreported Nigerian diaspora communities (e.g. the Middle East, East Asia and Eastern Europe)

We encourage stories that are creatively bold and attentive to voices often excluded from conversations about Nigeria and the world. As always, The Republic values work that offers readers new ways of understanding Nigeria’s past, present, and possible futures at home and in the world.

Send your pitch to the submissions page here. Select ‘Pitch’ when asked to indicate what you are submitting. Upload a Word document that contains the title of your proposed story, why the story is important, how you plan to approach your exploration of the story, the people you will interview, places you will visit if necessary, and other information you consider relevant. All stories must be original reporting. Also include at least three links to previously-published works.

The deadline for pitch submissions is 22 February 2026, while the deadline for submission of approved stories is 14 March 2026.

We will pay between $150 to $350 for accepted Stories. Please share with experts, scholars, journalists and storytellers within your network who may be interested in contributing⎈