Chinyere Okunna, Professor of Mass Communications, and the late Beko Ransom-Kuti will be honoured at the 19th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (WSAIR) scheduled for Monday, December 9, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm at the AGIP Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Lagos.
Okunna will receive the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence and Ransom-Kuti will be honoured with the Human Rights Defender Award posthumously.
The award marks the grand finale of the two-day virtual Amplify In-depth Media (AIM) Conference and Awards, hosted by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ). Red carpet and refreshments will begin at 4:00pm.
Chinyere Okunna, the first female professor of Mass Communication in Nigeria is the current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Paul University, Awka, Anambra State, and will be celebrated for her years of consistent commitment towards the growth of the Nigerian media, her contributions to journalism for development and her stellar role in supporting women’s development in media and society. On the other hand, Beko Ransome-Kuti will be honoured posthumously for his civil rights and pro-democracy activism. Beyond his medical career where he defended the rights of the poor to good health, he founded and led groups like the Campaign for Democracy, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, and the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO).
As earlier announced, 15 finalists were shortlisted from the 219 entries received from journalists across Nigeria. Winners will receive cash prizes, plaques, and an all-expense-paid international study tour in 2025. The award ceremony recognises outstanding investigative journalists exposing regulatory failures, corruption in the public and corporate spheres, and human rights abuses in Nigeria.
The 2024 AIM Conference and Awards programme will commence on Sunday 8 and Monday 9, December, 2024 by 1pm daily on Zoom as a two-day virtual conversation with the theme ‘Media credibility, investigative reporting and artificial intelligence’. Tolu Ogunlesi MON, Managing Partner at WoweMedia and former Special Assistant to the erstwhile Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, on Digital/New Media, will be the keynote speaker. He will be joined by eight other speakers. The events are parts of the ‘Leveraging the power of the media to fortify the civic space and tackle mal information’ programme in collaboration with the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and funding support from the Netherlands Embassy. Attendance is open to members of the public.
Since 2009, the annual award, launched in 2005, has been held on International Anti-Corruption Day and the eve of Human Rights Day to highlight their significance to the themes of investigative reporting and democracy. Over the years, WSAIR has celebrated 119 finalists, honoured 13 Investigative Journalists of the Year, and gave 29 Nigerians Honorary Awards (Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence and Anti-corruption/Human Rights Defender Award) for their contributions to the media profession and stance against corruption. The conference was combined with the award from 2020 to highlight issues that affect journalism and its role in a democracy while celebrating investigative journalists.
