By Oyinlola Awonuga
The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) has invited entries from Nigerian professional journalists or team of journalists, full-time or part-time, for the 14th edition of its Investigative Reporting award.
The award according to the organisers is an annual programme of WSCIJ, that seeks to honour journalism works with a focus on public or corporate corruption, human rights abuses, failure of regulatory agencies, published or aired between 4th October 2018 and 3rd October 2019.
“Applicants for the Television, Radio and Online categories of the award are expected to put in their entries through an online application process. The other three categories requiring hard copy submission given the nature of entry processing, are the Print, Photography and Editorial cartoon.
Entries for the award closes on Thursday, 24 October 2019 by 4pm. All hardcopy entries must be submitted to the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism office, Second Floor, 18A Abiodun Sobajo Street, Off Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos. More details of the criteria for the call for entries can be found on the WSCIJ website – www.wscij.org
Online application option has been introduced for some categories of the award.
The WSCIJ has since October 2005, rewarded, promoted and encouraged the development of the culture of investigative reporting in the Nigerian media through the award, which has had thirteen editions and ninety-one finalists.
Winners of the 2017 award invarious categories which are : Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, with ‘The Kemi Adeosun expose’ published on Premium Times, won the online category. Premium Times’ Kemi Busari emerged the runner-up for the piece, ‘Investigation: The appalling, risky state of Nigeria’s multi-billion Naira nuclear technology centre’. Oladeinde Olawoyin, also of Premium Times, was commended for his two-part story, ‘Investigation: Inside Nigeria’s Drivers’ License Fraud and How Officials Dupe Applicants’.
Mojeed Alabi emerged the winner of the print category for his two-part story, ‘Exposed! Nigeria’s Deputy Speaker In 1.1bn Water Contract Scam’, published in the New Telegraph on 24th and 25th May, 2018. Mojeed is a second-time winner, having won the award in 2016. He was also the runner-up for the category in 2017. The piece, ‘FG’s school feeding programme: The truths, half-truths and outright lies, saw Chinwe Agbeze of BusinessDay emerge the runner-up in the category. Chinwe was commended in the same category in 2017.
For the photo category, Kolawole Aliu, a 2017 runner-up, won for his photo, ‘The Menace of Lagos State Task Force on People’, published in the Leadership Newspaper. As there was no runner-up for the category, Elliot Ovadje of The Nigerian Tribune was commended for his work, ‘Slums around us’, published in Saturday Tribune.
