World Anti-Corruption day: Soyinka set to honour distinguished persons of the year

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka is set to honour some distinguish personalities for their dogged fight against corruption in the country.

This was made known in a statement by the Wole Soyinka Institute for Investigative Journalism signed by the Coordinator, Motunrayo Alaka.

According to the statement, Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda, and Obiageli Ezekwesili former Minister of Education will receive Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence, and the Anti-Corruption Defender Award respectively. Also, the Nigerian Investigative Journalist of the year will also be crowned.

The statement reads, “Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka will be giving the keynote address at the 2017 award presentation event of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting scheduled to hold on the World Anti-Corruption day, Saturday, 9 December 2017, at the NECA House, Alausa, Lagos, by 4pm.

“At the event, Wole Soyinka will present the honorary awards to Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda and Obiageli Ezekwesili former Minister of Education for the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence and the Anti-Corruption Defender Award respectively. He will also do the honours of presenting the award to the WSCIJ-Nigerian Investigative Journalist of the year.

“A team of ten judges assessed the 166 entries submitted for the 2017 award programme and came up with a shortlist of ten works. The finalists are, Ebere Ndukwu of Ripples, Ayodele Adeniran of The Guardian, Kolawole Aliu of Leadership, Soyombo Olufisayo of The Cable, Ayodele Ojo of Daily Sun, Adekunle Yusuf of The Nation, Kemi Busari of Premium Times, Chinwe Agbeze of BusinessDay, Ujorha Tadaferua of Daily Trust and Mojeed Alabi of New Telegraph.

“The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism alongside other civil society partners will also be using the occasion of the award event to make a statement calling the attention of the government to the need to urgently reform the country’s armed forces in order to put an end to the brutality now regularly meted out to Nigerians, especially youths, by men in uniform.

“The Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting initiative began in Nigeria in 2005 . The award event is open to the general public.”