Category: Art, Media & Entertainment

The PUNCH Newspaper has won the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) award for the Most Compliant Legal Depositor for 2017.

The award was conferred on PUNCH newspaper during the National Library of Nigeria’s Annual Readership Promotion Campaign, which held at the National Library, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos.

Receiving the award on behalf of the PUNCH, the Deputy Manager, Punch Information Centre, Mrs. Modupe Komolafe, said the recognition would spur the newspaper on to do more.

The programme, with the theme, “Sustaining life-long reading for positive change,” had the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, as the Special Guest of Honour, while the Deputy Director, Ministry of Education, Education District VI, Oshodi, Lagos, Alhaji Tijani Adebisi, was chairman on the occasion.

In his remarks, the governor, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Yetunde Odejayi, lauded the National Library of Nigeria for its commitment to the promotion of knowledge acquisition for national development.

He urged all Nigerians to embrace the culture of reading, saying it was the key to national development and growth.

The Governor stated:

“I urge all Nigerians, especially our youths, to apply yourselves to reading as a tool for empowerment because knowledge is power.

If we are desirous of a change in our circumstances, then we have to adopt a new attitude to reading books and other materials for self development and national growth.”

Bulus FearGod, a pupil of LEA Primary School, Waru, Abuja Municipal Area Council of the FCT, has emerged as the overall winner of the ninth edition of the Korea-Nigeria drawing competition.

Bulus FearGod defeated 149 other participants to win the gold medal and was presented with a laptop during the award ceremony held at the Korea Cultural Centre in Abuja.

His artwork was adjudged the best out of the 150 drawings submitted by pupils from 30 primary schools across the Federal Capital Territory.

Three silver and six bronze awards of laptops and digital tablet devices respectively were also presented to pupils from primary schools in Jikwoyi, Kuje and Bwari.  Ten other artworks were also selected for awards.

This year’s drawing contest was titled ‘Peace and Conflict Resolution’.

In his remarks, the director of the centre, Mr. Han Sungrae, explained the choice of the theme, saying:

“Peace is returning around the Korean peninsula… Both leaders of North and South agreed to pursue a lasting peace on the peninsula through denuclearization. 

We recognize how important peace is and that is why we have encouraged the young ones to bear out their minds on what they envision peace to be.” 

The director of FCT Universal Basic Education (UBE) Board, Dr. Adamu Jatau, thanked the South Korean Ambassador and the cultural centre for their continued support to basic education in Nigeria.

He reiterated the board’s commitment to supporting the laudable programme, which he said, would further improve the pupils’ performance in cultural and creative arts. 

Abubakar Ibrahim, a Nigerian reporter and editor whose work conveys the human toll of terrorism and displacement, has been named the winner of the 2018 Michael Elliott Award for Excellence in African Storytelling.

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) said Abubakar Ibrahim, a news editor at the Daily Trust in Nigeria, was selected by a distinguished jury from among 238 applicants for this prize.

Ibrahim’s story that won him the prize: ‘All That Was Familiar’, was published in Granta magazine in May 2017.

His story puts a human face on a story often expressed in numbers: More than two million people from northeastern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, and southern Niger have been internally displaced since Boko Haram began its insurgency.

Abubakar Ibrahim tells about the struggle of two women, one from Cameroon and one from Nigeria, to find their loved ones and return home.

The Michael Elliott Award, which was established in 2016 in honour of Michael Elliott, is given by ICFJ in partnership with ONE and the Elliott family.

Michael Elliott was an outstanding editor and philanthropist whose life was a testament to the power of storytelling to bear witness to and improve the human condition.

The prize aims to advance the work of an emerging journalist covering Africa who strives to strengthen people’s voices and improve their well-being.

According to Emma Oxford, Elliott’s widow on the 2018 award:

“Mike would be thrilled by the breadth and depth of talent displayed by the entrants for this year’s award.

The Elliott family, along with ONE, ICFJ and many generous supporters, is proud to help support the development of quality journalism in Africa.

I am hugely grateful to the staff of ICFJ and my fellow judges for their thoughtful review of the broad range of entries.

The winning story exemplifies outstanding storytelling on a difficult and important topic. Abubakar’s fearless reporting and powerful writing brought home to me the hardships faced by women, in particular, displaced by the scourge of Boko Haram.”

Two broadcast journalists were commended as finalists for the award, which includes Lindile Mpanza of South Africa’s SABC Digital news, for her report on sexual abuse of widows.

The other finalist is Ridwan Dini-Osman of Ghana’s GHOne, for his coverage of a community in crisis because its drinking water is contaminated.

Abubakar Ibrahim would receive the award and a cash prize at a reception in New York on May 24.

He would also spend time in U.S. newsrooms to learn new skills and share knowledge in an intensive, customised programme run by ICFJ, to help deepen future reporting that engages and empowers Africans.

The inaugural winner was BBC Kenya health reporter Mercy Juma.

 

Olanrewaju Tejuoso has won the 2nd prize of the  Prix du Ministère Sénégalais de la Culture at Dak’Art 2018.

Theresa Lola, has been named joint winner of the 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize and awarded one of the three top prizes of £1,000. She shared the joint prize with Hiwot Adilow from Ethiopia, and Momtaza Mehri from Somalia.

She emerged winner out of over 1,000 other international entrants.

According to Theresa Lola:

“Winning the Brunel International African Poetry Prize feels surreal, it is an unwavering highlight.

I started writing after being inspired by Nigerian poets I saw during a school trip to the Lagos Poetry Festival when I was 12 years old, so to win the Brunel International African Poetry Prize feels like I am doing my job and responsibility as a poet and human in putting Africa forward where it rightly belongs.

Going through the awkward teenage reclusive phase, I wanted to document everything I was observing and started writing what I now knew as poetry.

I was inspired by the way poets articulated and condensed heavy stories and knew poetry was the mode of writing I needed.

As a poet it has definitely bolstered my confidence, and of course sheds more light on the possibility of a poetry career.”

Launched in 2012 by Brunel University London and judged by a panel of writers and academics, the Brunel International African Poetry Prize aims at providing a platform for Africa’s finest unpublished poets.

The Prize is open to poets who were born in Africa, who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African.

To encourage only serious entrants, organisers ask that poets each submit a pamphlet of their best 10 pieces of work.

Unlike last year’s shortlist that had four Nigerians on it, the 2018 shortlist has more poets from different African countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Egypt, Zambia and two poets from Nigeria.

The Prize is funded by the Commonwealth Writers of the Commonwealth Foundation.

Last year’s winner was Nigerian poet, Romeo Oriogun.