Outstanding Nigerian Journalists who have shown creativity and excellence in their works had been recognized and awarded at the just concluded Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) award held on Sunday night in Lagos. The award that has 20 categories has The Nation Newspaper winsfive awards in Informed Commentary, Development, Reporting, Health Reporting, Political Reporting, and Judicial Reporting.
Dayo Oketola of Punch Newspaper won the Mobil Producing Award for Energy Reporting, with his entry, ‘Funding, infrastructure, gas supply problems plague power sector’, Bennet Omeke won the Vanguard Media Award for Editorial Cartooning, with his entry, ‘State of Education’ published in the June 3, 2013 of The PUNCH. His other entry, ‘N100 bribe’ published in the August 23, 2013 edition of The PUNCH, was a runner up in the category, Associate Editor of The Nation Newspaper, Olatunji Ololade got the Peninsula Resort Prize for Health Reporting. His winning entry is “Blind Medicine”, published on April 6, 2013. Ololade was also runner-up in the Child-Friendly and Development Reporting categories.
PUNCH had an impressive performance in the Action Photography category which three finalists were the newspaper’s photojournalists. Olatunji Obasa won with its entry, ‘Rescue operation at the site of a collapsed building,’ with Segun Bakare and Stanley Ogidi as the runners-up.
The Nation’s Joseph Jibueze won the Justice Omotayo Onalaja Award for Judiciary Reporting at this year DAME while Ade Adesomoju of Punch was a runner-up.
The Guardian returned home with two gold medals from Simeon Idowu Memorial Prize for Sports Reporting and the Aliko Dangote Prize for Business Reporting which were won by Eno-Abasi Sunday and Gbenga Salau respectively.
The entry, “Doping: Changing face of a festering sore” by Eno-Abasi Sunday, was adjudged the best among the three nominees that made it in the sporting category, beating another entry from Sunday on “Promising stars that failed to shine”, and “Poor preparation: Unending scourge of Nigerians sports,” by Tana Aiyejina of The Punch.
The Nation newspaper came second in six categories, namely Informed Commentary, Development Reporting, Child Friendly Reporting, Business Reporting, Editorial Writing, and Press Investigative Reporter of the year.
The Daily Editor of the paper, Gbenga Omotoso emerged as the Editor of the Year while the Chairman Editorial Board Chairman Sam Omatseye won the Informed Commentary Prize.
The newspaper’s reporters also won four other awards in Development Reporting, Judicial Reporting, Political Reporting and Health Reporting categories.
Associate Editor Olatunji Ololade, who less than a month ago won the CNN African Journalist of the Year in the Medical and Health Reporting category, got the Peninsula Resort Prize for Health Reporting. His winning entry is “Blind Medicine”, published on April 6, 2013. Ololade was also runner-up in the Child-Friendly and Development Reporting categories.
Star reporter and multiple award-winners Seun Akioye won the Development Reporting Prize with his entry “Even the rich envy us the way we live”, published in The Nation on Saturday, April 20, 2013. Assistant Editor Joke Kujenya was runner-up in this category. This is the third prize the story has won this year.
Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu won the Anthony Enahoro Prize for Political Reporting with his entry “Census: Can Nigeria get it right?” published on September 24, 2013.
Senior Correspondent (Judiciary) Joseph Jibueze got the Judicial Reporting prize, with his entry “Rape: Why most suspects escape justice”, published on June 17, 2013.
The newspaper emerged as the best and the industry while its Daily Editor, Gbenga Omotoso emerged as the Editor of the year.
Two industry personalities, Chairman of Troyka Holdings, Mr. Biodun Shobanjo and Prof. Idowu Sobowale received the Alex Ibru Lifetime Achievement Award.
Though the DAME has 31 categories, only 19 categories were awarded. The convener of the award, Mr. Lanre Idowu, alluded to why only 19 categories were awarded in his opening remarks. He disclosed that the categories were stepped down because the entries received did not meet the minimum standard.
Idowu, who called for a minute silence for all media practitioners who had passed on in the last 356 days, said that a lot had happened in the life of DAME from the first edition held in 1992. He, however, stated that one thing had remained constant and that was the vision of the award. He noted that in pioneering the reward system, they were not in the illusion that they would monopolise the space, which was why the organisation’s commitment to better journalism was undaunted as it knew the role it would play in a nation’s development.
