Three Nigerians are among the winners of the 2016 CNN/MultiChoice African Journalists of the Year award named at the ceremony held in Nairobi Kenya on October 15,
The Nigerian winners are Chika Oduah, Nigeria, Freelance for African Media Initiative, Kenya and Yemisi Akinbobola, Ogechi Ekeanyanwu IQ4News for Premium Times, Nigeria.
Four others got certificates of commendation for their entries.
Oduah won the DOW TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION REPORTING AWARD with the story titled ‘The App That Saved 1,000 Children’
Judges Citation: “The use of innovative, multimedia storytelling for a tale that is moving and inspiring is a winning combination. Journalists who tackle digital storytelling often dazzle with the technology and the story comes second – but in this case the story was powerful and enriching. This piece could easily be presented as best practice in ground breaking innovative storytelling.”
Yemisi Akinbobola, Ogechi Ekeanyanwu & Paul Bradshaw won the SPORT REPORTING AWARD with the story entitled ‘Follow the Money: Who extracts the value of Nigerian footballers?’
Judges Citation: “This is a very powerful and compelling story about the plight of aspiring footballers in Nigeria, who become victims of unscrupulous agents who exploit them with the promises of brilliant future careers in Europe, but then abandon them, left to fend for themselves in foreign lands. It is a story written in a very clear format, also demonstrating the reporter’s effort to cover all facets of the issue, including contacting the federations of the countries where the young footballers were supposed to be taken to. The illustrations are equally good and complement the written story in a very significant way.”
The other Nigerian journalists commended are :
Adedayo Eriye Oketola,
Saturday Punch, Nigeria – GE Energy & Infrastructure Award
Folashade Adebayo,
The Punch, Nigeria – Dow Technology & Innovation Reporting Award
Veronica Onuchi,
TVC News Africa, Nigeria – Health & Medical Award
Eromo Egbejule,
Freelance for Ventures Africa, Nigeria – The Maggie Eales Young Journalist Award.