2023 Wole Soyinka Award: Dons, Others Hail Investigative Journalists For Exposing Corruption, Rights Violations

Judges who selected recipients of the 2023 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting have lauded the “uncommon courage” demonstrated by shortlisted investigative reporters.

The seven judges, including Prof. Umaru Pate, the Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Kashere; Prof. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, and cartoonist Mike Asukwo, highlighted the role investigative journalism plays in exposing public corruption and human rights violations.

“These stories dealt with human-interest issues that affect Nigerians the most; and if addressed, will curtail the aggravated exposure to poverty (in fact multidimensional poverty), hunger, lack of access to education, poor access to quality health care, human right abuses, inequalities between female and male persons and other issues that have kept out nation having motion without movement.

“Therefore, the journalists who made the list for the awards, have in the course of their duties shown passion, uncommon innovation and profundity, ethical journalistic courage, individual creativity and public benefit in their reports. As such, we salute their uncommon courage and irreproachability,” the chairperson for the 2023 Judges’ board, Prof Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika, said.

According to the judges, out of 244 entries received, 11 finalists were selected namely, ” Victor Asowata of The Will Newspaper; Folashade Ogunrinde, a freelance journalist with TV360; Omolabake Fasogbon of ThisDay Newspaper; Sharon Ijasan of TVC News; Marcus Fatunmole of the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR); Chukwuemeka Emenike of New Telegraph; Lami Sadiq of Daily Trust; Ayodele Adeniran of The Guardian; Mary Abayomi Fatile of Radio Nigeria; Kemi Busari of Premium Times; and Beloved John, a freelance journalist with ICIR.”

The awardees were said to have met the judge’s criteria regarding in-depth research, reliance on primary and secondary data, among others.

At the event, the winners got N300,000, a certificate, a plaque, laptop and an international trip.

The runners up went home with N200,000 and N100,000, including certificates.

Kemi Busari of Premium Times won the online category, Lami Sadiq, Group Head of Investigation at Daily Trust won the print category, while Sharon Ijasan of the TVC News won the Television Category for exposing human trafficking from Nigeria to Ghana.

The organizers added that none of the winners emerged as overall best.

The Posthumous Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence & Human Rights Defender Award was given to late Prof. Lai Oso.

Oso, whose wife and daughter recieved the award at the event in Abuja, was appreciated for using his life to raise and mentor quality journalists from the country.

In his goodwill message, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Nigeria, Wouter Plomp, represented by Miss Jessica Odudu, thanked the WSCIJ for the award, noting it has been a beacon of encouragement to investigative reporting over the years.

The ambassador said the country’s government was proud to partner with the WSCIJ in tackling misinformation and corruption.