Sundiata Post has introduced two dedicated scholarly repositories – the Sundiata Post Dataverse hosted on Harvard Dataverse and Sundiata Post Elements operating through the Zenodo community – to safeguard research data and circulate academic outputs that examine media, security and sovereignty across Africa and the Global South. The move aims to expand the newsroom’s role from reporting events to building a durable knowledge base for future scholars.
Key facts
- The Dataverse repository stores datasets, indicators, methodologies and technical documentation related to governance, insecurity, state capacity and territorial control.
- Elements focuses on publishing working papers, conceptual frameworks, research reports and policy‑oriented briefs.
- Both platforms are maintained by the Sundiata Post Knowledge Lab (SPKL), which also develops analytical frameworks such as the Insecurity Triad, the Trinity of Sovereignty Decay and the Decoupling Sovereignty Index.
- The CEO, Max Nwabueze Amuchie, states: “Our ambition is to move from news to enduring knowledge, preserving evidence and ideas for generations to come.”
Why does insecurity persist?
Insecurity continues despite repeated state interventions, prompting questions about how armed groups seize territory, why formal authority diverges from citizens’ lived realities, and why seemingly functional institutions often fail to deliver protection and services. These queries extend beyond daily news cycles and require systematic empirical investigation.
Can journalism feed research?
African newsrooms routinely document conflicts, scrutinise official claims and track social change, yet the accumulated observations are rarely organised into reusable datasets or scholarly analyses. By converting recurring patterns into research questions, journalists can help generate data‑driven studies and analytical models that academics can test, refine and expand.
What are the two repositories for?
- Sundiata Post Dataverse – a data‑centric archive that enables researchers to deposit, cite and share raw evidence. Proper documentation of methodology alongside data allows others to verify arguments, explore limitations and build new inquiries.
- Sundiata Post Elements – a publication‑focused hub where working papers, conceptual frameworks and policy briefs are made publicly accessible, encouraging dialogue among scholars, journalists and policymakers.
How does the Knowledge Lab support this effort?
The SPKL provides the institutional backbone for empirical research, security analysis and the creation of analytical tools. Its current projects include:
- Insecurity Triad – examines money, land and mind dimensions of violence.
- Trinity of Sovereignty Decay (TSD) – maps the gap between formal state structures and actual authority across five stages.
- Decoupling Sovereignty Index (DSI) – quantifies the divergence between juridical sovereignty and on‑the‑ground control using 19 indicators.
These frameworks are openly shared for critique and improvement, reinforcing the repositories’ role as living research infrastructure.
Why is this relevant for African media?
The digital age has accelerated news distribution while pressuring traditional business models. Media houses can either chase fleeting attention or invest in long‑term assets such as data archives and scholarly outputs. Well‑documented investigations can seed new research, datasets can fuel fresh analysis, and conceptual models can spark interdisciplinary debate, extending the newsroom’s impact beyond the immediate story.
How does the international platform choice matter?
Leveraging established repositories like Harvard Dataverse and Zenodo connects African research to global scholarly networks, enhancing discoverability and citation potential. While these platforms do not replace peer review, they provide persistent identifiers, robust metadata and long‑term preservation that improve research accessibility.
An invitation to collaborate
Sundiata Post welcomes partnerships with universities, think‑tanks, development agencies and other media organisations working on Nigeria, Africa and the Global South. Contributors may submit datasets, working papers, methodological guides or policy reports, provided they meet documentation standards and respect ethical and intellectual‑property considerations.
Rethinking media success
Since its launch in 2015, Sundiata Post has measured success by reporting quality, public trust and editorial independence. The new Knowledge Lab and its repositories add another dimension: the ability to preserve evidence, generate original concepts and make scholarly outputs openly available for future inquiry. This broader metric does not replace journalism’s core mission but complements it, offering African media a pathway to influence both public debate and academic discourse.
Max Nwabueze Amuchie is the Chief Executive Officer of Sundiata Post.