The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) will tomorrow honour the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), headed by Mr. Tokunbo Mumuni and Mr Ademola Osinubi, Managing Director of The Punch Newspapers with its honorary Anti-corruption defender award and lifetime award for journalistic excellence respectively. These as well as merit awards will be presented at the award ceremony.
The event will commence at 5pm prompt with a drama presentation of excerpts of Wole Soyinka’s ‘The Beatification of Area Boy’, on Tuesday 9 December – the international day for anti-corruption and the eve of the world human rights day, at the NECA main hall, adjacent Afrika shrine, Agidingbi, Ikeja Lagos.
Apart from the regular award categories, this year will see the WSCIJ in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy give an award to the best work highlighting the plight of girls and women in the report women category as well as present the VinMartin Ilo grant for the best work in the broadcast category.
Some confirmed guests expected at the event include Mrs Ifeyinwa Omowale, President of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ); Mr Ademola Adesina, President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors; Mr Michel Deelen , Deputy Head of Mission, Kingdom of Netherlands in Nigeria; Mr Simon Shercliff – British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria; Mr Innocent Chukwuma, West African Representative of the Ford Foundation; and Ms Toyin Adewale-Gabriel, Media Expert, UNDP Democratic Governance for Development Project.
Mr Deji Haastrup, the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron, will be the Compere at the ceremony which will see winners, runners up and commended works unveiled for the 2014 edition of the award programme.
Attendance to the award presentation ceremony is open to members of the public.
ABOUT THE WOLE SOYINKA AWARD FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
The Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting was first held in October, 2005 to encourage the development of an investigative tradition in the Nigerian media through rigorous scrutiny of human rights violations, regulatory failures and corruption in the public and corporate sectors of the nation’s life. It has so far rewarded 65 finalists out of which there are 36 ‘Soyinka Laureates’ and 29 runners-up. It has also honoured 4 investigative journalists of the year and 12 honorary awards recipients.
ABOUT THE WOLE SOYINKA CENTRE FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) is a non-governmental organisation with a vision to stimulate the emergence of a socially just community defined by the ethics of inclusion, transparency and accountability through support to journalists. Initially known as the Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award (WSIRA), the change in name became necessary in 2008 to reflect the intentions of the coordinators to embrace a more robust line of activities that have greater capacity for engendering the right values of investigative journalism in the Nigerian media. The Centre is named after Professor Wole Soyinka in recognition of his life-long work in support of the freedom of expression, freedom to hold opinion, and freedom to impart them without fear or favour and without hindrance or interference.
Signed:
Motunrayo Alaka
Centre Coordinator
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