An online media platform, National Wire, has announced the winners of its maiden Campus Business Journalism Awards.
The awards, which featured two categories according to the organisers, were keenly contested among competitors from various campuses in Nigeria.
A Mass Communication student from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Olamide Ayoade emerged as the winner in the Best Business Feature category with his entry earlier published on Campus Mirror titled: “How OOU Student Entrepreneurs Leverage Tech for Career Advancement.”
Features Editor of Indy Press Organisation and student of Education and Political Science at the University of Ibadan, Sonaike Peter Omotola, won second place, while Tolulope Ayeye, Deputy -Editor-In-Chief of Indy Press Organisation and a Law student at the University of Ibadan, placed third.
Indy Press Organisation also clinched the Best Campus Journal of the Year 2024 award.
The winners were announced at a virtual awards ceremony held on February 14, during which various speakers commended the initiative and highlighted the importance of business reporting.
Representative of the panel of judges, Ishaya Ibrahim, Editor at The Niche newspaper, praised the contestants’ commitment and urged campus journalists to explore business reporting from a student’s perspective.
“Business reporting is a unique field with its specialities, and campus journalists should look in that direction to tell the outside world what happens in that field,” he advised.
In a LinkedIn post responding to the award on LinkedIn, Ayoade said winning the award means “so much to me”, adding that it is also a win for every campus journalist who dares to break boundaries.
“It’s proof that storytelling in niches like business journalism matters. It’s proof that we, as young storytellers, have what it takes to create change,” he said and thanked the organisers for believing in campus journalists and pushing innovation in financial journalism.
Sonaike, in his post on LinkedIn, also said he was grateful to National Wire for recognising his work and appreciated Indypress for providing him with a platform to hone his journalism skills.
Chairman of the awards and News Editor of National Wire, Dayo Emmanuel, explained that the award was informed by the desire to raise fresh reporters on the business beat on campuses.
“We decided to encourage campus journalists already trying their hands on business reporting, so we put up the call for entries to identify them. Initially, we were not expecting fantastic reports. People were worried for us that we may not get any entry because campus journalists don’t write business stories, but we were bent on starting from somewhere.”
Emmanuel acknowledged the support of Manifold Media and Mr Tayo Olanipekun, the main sponsors, and expressed optimism that the experience would inspire campus journalists to explore financial reporting further.
One of the organisers and General Editor of National Wire, Mr Friday Ekeoba, at the presentation, said the art of business reporting is as serious as the business itself.
The former Business Editor at Daily Newswatch urged campus journalists to hone their skills in this specialised field.
He highlighted the importance of specialisation in journalism, particularly in business reporting, to stand out in the competitive media landscape.
Drawing from his extensive experience reporting finance for national dailies like Tribune and Newswatch, Ekeoba explained the potential within business reporting more than even political stories.
He encouraged participants to develop a niche in business journalism to prepare for real-world media practice after their studies.
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Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of Media Career Development Network (MCDN), Mr Lekan Otufodunrin, commended the organisers for the unique initiative of encouraging better reporting of business issues on campuses.
Otufodunrin, media trainer and media career specialist said the award would help campus journalists appreciate the need to have various specialisations to cover on campuses.
Victor Emeruwa, Director of Strategy at Manifold Media, commended the initiative for strategically targeting the next generation of reporters, noting that “Many young people want to look into politics because that is what can easily trend.
He, however, said that fantastic opportunities exist at the business desk, which campus journalists should start pursuing from school and continue after graduation.
Similarly, Muyiwa Akíntúndé, Editor of Breezy News Nigeria, highlighted the initiative’s potential to nurture future journalists, while Ugonma Cokey, Director of Training at the Voice of Nigeria, noted its role in equipping campus journalists for the industry.
“This is unique because it shows campus journalists the need for business reporting, positioning them a step ahead when they join the industry,” she observed.
Sanmi Falobi, Programme Manager of the International Press Centre (IPC), urged the organisers to sustain the initiative, emphasising the importance of resilience. “You must not relent and must not despise the days of small beginnings. Many of us look back at projects that started as dreams and are now big,” he said.
The event marked a significant milestone in nurturing future business reporters from Nigerian campuses, laying the foundation for the next generation of financial journalists.
National Wire, run daily by three journalists from different cohorts of the Bloomberg Media Initiative for Africa (BMIA), began publishing via nationalwire.com.ng in 2016. The website has remained strong on financial articles and has generated responses from Nigeria and beyond.
