John Momoh, the Chairman of Channels Media Group, owners of Channels Television; Waziri Adio, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI); and 12 distinguished journalists will be honoured at the award presentation event of the 2018 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting.

The ceremony will hold at the main hall of NECA House, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, on Sunday, December 9, 2018, the World Anti-corruption Day, by 5pm.

At the event, John Momoh, who is also the Chairman of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), will receive the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence. He is being recognised for his noteworthy contribution to the development of the Nigerian media.

On his part, Waziri Adio will be given the Anti-Corruption Defender Award, for his public stance against corruption, evidenced by the work he is championing on transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s extractive sector.

Also, 12 finalists who were selected by the 2018 Judges’ Board, Chaired by Professor Umaru Pate of the Faculty of Mass Communication at Bayero University Kano, from the 136 entries received, will be unveiled for the six categories of the award— Print, Radio, Television, Photography, Online and Editorial Cartoon.

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) will give cash prizes of N200, 000, N100, 000 and N50, 000 each to winners, runners-up and commended works respectively. Additionally, winners will have a plaque and an opportunity to attend an all-expense-paid international study-tour. All finalists will also receive certificates of commendation.

The award presentation event is held annually on December 9, the World Anticorruption Day and eve of the Human Rights Day, to call attention to the significance of the media generally and investigative reporting in particular, to attaining good governance, accountability, and social justice, as aspired through the Sustainable Development Goals, while celebrating the reporters at the centre of the mix.

The event, which is open to members of the public, will have reporters, media leaders, journalism students, civil society representatives, private and public sector leaders, diplomatic corps members and such like in attendance.

Signed:

Motunrayo Alaka
Coordinator, WSCIJ
motunrayo@wscij.org