A photojournalist with Daily Trust newspaper, Ikechukwu Ibe is among the eight journalists selected to be honoured at the 15th edition of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting which comes up on December 9 in Lagos.
Executive Director/CEO of Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Reporting, Motunrayo Alaka, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday named the other finalists for the award to include Habib Oladapo of Sahara Reporters; Ibrahim Adeyemi of BusinessDay; Bukola Samuel-Wemimo of TVC News; Samson Folarin of The Punch; Taiwo Hassan Adebayo of Premium Times; Damilola Banjo of Sahara Reporters and Victor Asowata of The Punch.
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Their stories were selected from one hundred and eighty-eight entries received by a seven-person judges board.
According to the statement, Abigail Ndisika-Ogwezzy, the chairperson of the 2020 judges’ committee, Abigail Ndisika-Ogwezzy presented the shortlist of journalists after the score’s collation meeting held on November 24.
She said the finalists were painstakingly selected from 188 entries received by a seven-person judges’ board.
Also to be honoured at the event include human rights lawyer, Femi Falana and Lade Bonuola, founding member and pioneer Associate Editor of The Guardian newspaper.
While Bonuola will be presented the lifetime award for journalistic excellence for his contribution to independent journalism in Nigeria through his years of service at the Guardian newspaper, Falana was chosen for the human rights defender award for his consistent defence for the freedom of people who became targets for speaking out.
The award presentation event will conclude the three-day ‘In-depth Media Conference and Awards’ programme that the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) announced earlier to mark its 15th anniversary themed – “Masked not silenced”.
The Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting was launched in October 2005 to acknowledge best practices in investigative journalism and call attention to its significance for attaining good governance, accountability, and social justice.
It has produced 98 finalists, 9 investigative journalists of the year and 22 honorary awards recipients so far.
