A member of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akangba-Akoko (AAUA) chapter of the Nigeria Union of Campus Journalists (NUCJ) Emmanuel Oluwadola has won the OUR PUNCH YEARS book essay competition for mass communication students and campus journalists nationwide.
Oluwadola was announced as the winner of the competition on Monday by organisers of the competition on OUR PUNCH YEARS which documented reminiscences and insider accounts by former editors and staff of Nigeria’s most widely read newspapers.
He won with his review of a chapter of the book titled Undying Flame of Passion, while Precious Umeh of Union of Campus Journalists, University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, was the first runner-up with her review titled Inspiration for the future generations of reporters, editors.
John Praise Oluwadarasimi of the Department of Mass Communication, Elizade University. Ilara-Mokin (Invaluable media career lessons), Abigail Chioma Mbah, Union of Campus Journalists, Nnamdi Azikwe University, UNIZIK, Akwa (Importance of Training, Internship for Journalists) and John Eriomala, Union of Campus Journalists University of Ibadan (Hypnos and The Soldiers of Good Fortune) were named as joint second runner ups.
The first prize winner will get N50,000, second, N30,000 and the joint third prize winners N20,000 each.
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All the participants will get an e-copy and hard copy of the book for their department or organisation and all the essays will be published as an e-book in acknowledgement of the quality of the insights they contained. Participants will also get data reimbursement for their participation.
The 22 essays submitted for the competition were judged based on the following criteria: Personal perspective, Career impact perspective, Overall impact on media, Principles of book review, Grammar and Story-telling
The judges of the competition made up of Executive Director of LightRay Media, Ejiro Umukoro, Programme Officer of Media Career Development Network, Noah Aderoju, and Communications Officer, Blessing Osemobor and I noted that the competition was keenly contested based on the commendable quality of review essays submitted by all the participants.
“I saw some excellent writing. Kudos to them. May their career live up to their passion and vision. Overall, I enjoyed how they told it from the point of view as it hit them at an emotional and career level,” Umukoro noted.
According to Aderoju “All selected essays were topnotch and interesting read. It was hard to pick the top four but I did based on the quality of lessons they noted and how they were able to personalise and present them.”
“We had to switch to essays when the first set of those who managed to take the quiz due to technical hitches scored maximum marks to move to the next stage. Even with the essays, virtually every copy met the requirements and we had a hard time settling for those named as winners.” Otufodunrin stated.
Communications Officer, Blessing Osemobor said, “Each of the students understood the assignment and offered unique perspectives that skillfully interweaved with the current media discourse. Selecting the winners was a challenging task given the quality of the essays. The essays have not only excelled in the competition but have also reignited the student’s hopes and aspirations as they journey in their careers.”
The participants reviewed various chapters of OUR PUNCH YEARS edited by the Executive Director of Media Career Development Network, Lekan Otufodunrin, former Group News, Political and City Editor of The Punch.
