Of
the fifteen, eight have earned themselves the honour of being called Soyinka
Laureates, four made the runners-up list and three were commended for their
efforts.
The winners were unveiled at the ninth edition of the annual programme
hosted by the investigative journalism centre, in commemoration of the world
anti corruption and the international human rights days.
Fisayo
Soyombo won the online category with his work - Blood on the Plateau,
published on Flair Nigeria. Tobore Ovourie of Premium Times
clinched the report women category with her story, Inside Nigeria’s
ruthless human trafficking mafia. Juliana Francis of the New
Telegraph was rewarded with the top space in the print category as well as
the overall best prize with her report, Extra-judicial killings in SARS.
The
work, pupils in Oyo community school drink cattle urine, take turns to
learn in class, published by the Punch won Dumo Eric the local
government award. The duo of Olatunji Ololade and Olukunle Akinrinade of the
Nation, took the health category prize home with their report, Deadly
potions: Nigeria’s herbal gin nightmare. The winner of the photo prize
is Kunle Ajayi of the Daily Independent with his piece, Ordeal of rural
dwellers.
National
Mirror’s Femi Adedeji was the laureate for the cartoon category with his work
titled Haram. Finally, the four year jinx of lack of awards in the
broadcast television category was broken by Emekalam Ezianne, a reporter with
Television Continental with her story – War without end.
The
runners-up up were Seun Okinbaloye of the Channels Television, Nurudeen Oyewole
of Weekly Trust, Ibanga Isine of Premium Times and the duo of Olatunji Ololade
and Olukunle Akinade of the Nation. They were second in the local government,
health, online and print categories respectively. On the other hand, Falayi
Olakunle of the Punch, Alber Ohams of the Sun and Betty Abah of Premium Times
were commended in the print, cartoon and report women categories respectively.
The
climate change, broadcast radio and sports categories failed to produce
finalists. Mr. Ademola Osinubi of the Punch was named recipient of the honorary
Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence while the Socio-Economic Rights
Accountability Project (SERAP) received the Anti-corruption defender award.
A
number of innovations were introduced in this year’s award. First is the
commencement of an electronic entries collation and assessment method. This has
reduced work turnover time as the Centre now compiles and sends entries to
judges electronically. The innovation also helps the Centre expand the judges’
board to persons outside the country.
Secondly,
the report women category was introduced in collaboration with the Netherlands
Embassy in a bid join the global call for attention to the plight of girls and
women. The award is part of a larger project which the Centre commenced earlier
in the year. Another addition is the half a million naira VinMartin Ilo grant
given to the best work in the broadcast category for the purpose of conducting
an investigative work.
The
2014 judges’ board was chaired by a Professor of Mass Communication, Lai Oso.
Other members include Ms. Amma Ogan, former Editor of The Guardian Newspaper; Mr.
Boye Ola, head of the photo department at the Nigeria Institute of Journalism;
Mr Theophilus Abbah, Sunday Editor with Media Trust; Mr. Gbile Osadipe, director of Picture Perfect; and
veteran photographer, Mr. Tam Fiofori. According to the judges, “the award
submissions not only attest to the respect that journalists have for the award,
but also reveals a real interest in investigative journalism.”
With
the quality of stories that emerged from the winning entries, the WSCIJ has
once again proven that it is committed to its mission of building a society
where social justice is promoted. As the British Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Simon Shercliff, observed in his goodwill
message, “only brave and principled media reporting can transform a society.”
Similarly, Mr. Michel Deelan, Deputy Head of Mission, Kingdom of
Netherlands, encouraged the need to fan to flame the passion for investigative
reporting in Nigeria. He expressed his country’s readiness to continue to give
support to further this cause. Prof Ropo Sekoni in his opening speech
reiterated the need for the Nigerian government to get serious with the fight
against corruption.
The
2014 awards event was compered by Mr. Deji Haastrup, General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron while Ms
Motunrayo Alaka, WSCIJ Coordinator, gave the closing remark. A highlight
of the occasion was a stage performance of Wole Soyinka’s The Beatification
of Area Boy by the Kininso-Koncepts art group.
ABOUT THE CENTRE
The
WOLE SOYINKA CENTRE FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM (WSCIJ) is a non-governmental
organisation with a vision to stimulate the emergence of a socially just
community defined by the ethics of inclusion, transparency and accountability
through support to journalists. Initially known as the Wole Soyinka
Investigative Reporting Award (WSIRA), the change in name became necessary in
2008 to reflect the intentions of the coordinators to embrace a more robust line
of activities that have greater capacity for engendering the right values of
investigative journalism in the Nigerian media. The Centre is named after
Professor Wole Soyinka in recognition of his life-long work in support of the
freedom of expression, freedom to hold opinion, and freedom to impart them
without fear or favour and without hindrance or interference.
Motunrayo Alaka
Centre Coordinator
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