Category: Art, Media & Entertainment

Kukogho Iruesiri Samson has emerged the overall winner of the 2018 Dusty Manuscript Contest organised by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc with his winning manuscript titled Devil’s Pawn.

His work was selected ahead of The Orchid Protocol written by Onoche Emeka Onyekwena and The Other Side of Truth by Nneoma Anieto, which came first and second runner-up respectively.

Organized in partnership with Kachifo Ltd. and Okadabooks, the Dusty Manuscript Contest is the latest in a long line of GTBank’s YouREAD initiatives aimed at fostering the culture of reading and creating a platform for the appreciation of Africa’s literary excellence.

As part of the contest, Nigerians were invited to submit their unpublished stories and stand a chance to get publishing deals for their works.

The Dusty Manuscript Contest received over 1,000 entries and had a panel of four judges made up of authors; Eghosa Imasuen, Yejide Kilanko, Toni Kan and Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Ainehi Edoro-Glines.

As part of the prizes in the Dusty Manuscript Contest, the authors of the top 3 manuscripts received ₦1 million, ₦500,000 and ₦250,000 respectively, as well as publishing contracts with Kachifo Ltd.

The authors of the 10 manuscripts also received e-publishing contracts with OkadaBooks, while the authors of the top 20 manuscripts were hosted to a two-day intensive writers’ boot-camp to sharpen their literary and business skills.

Commenting on the Dusty Manuscript Contest, Mr. Segun Agbaje, Managing Director of GTBank Plc, said:

“At GTBank, we see Art as not just a medium for creative expression but also as a means of livelihood, and by organizing the Dusty Manuscript Contest we are helping budding writers share their stories with the world whilst providing them with a platform to build successful writing careers.”

The bank’s footprints in Corporate Social Responsibility are guided strategically by its decision to operate on four major pillars: Education, Community Development, Arts and the Environment, which it believes are essential building blocks for the society and prerequisites for economic growth and societal development.

Six secondary and primary schools have emerged winners in the World Environment Day (WED) 2018, inter-school arts exhibition organized by the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF).

The winners in the secondary school category are Mayors Height School, Epe Girls Senior Secondary School and Genesis High School as first, second and third positions respectively.

While Refiners School, Genesis Primary School and Learning Ladder Montessori School emerged winners in the primary category as first, second and third positions respectively.

About 11 secondary schools and seven primary schools (both public and private) across Lagos State participated in the WED inter-school arts exhibition competition.

The activities were organized to enable students to showcase their creative abilities in turning plastics waste into arts and crafts while learning about ways the government and other stakeholders are helping to reduce its production and adverse effect on the people.

NCF also hosted key stakeholders in the plastic industries for a session of deliberation.

The foundation has over the years used WED to grow environmental literacy among the youths and the students. Avenue is usually created for the participants to individually or collectively develop solutions to current environmental challenges.

The arts exhibition is an idea about up-cycling (converting waste plastics to arts and craft) rather than recycling.

NCF encouraged stakeholders involved in the production and consumption of plastics, as well as the policy makers to jointly explore sustainable alternatives.

Furthermore, to urgently reduce the production and excessive use of single-use plastics polluting our oceans, damaging marine life and threatening human health.

Plastic pollution involves the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and humans.

The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Ede Dafinone said:

“Most of the plastic waste generated comes from deliberate dumping of garbage into waterways and mismanaged waste disposal.

More than 50 percent of plastic waste generated comes from inadequate management due to lack or infrastructure associated with an ever-increasing population.”

Nine winners have emerged at the Hi-Life Fest 2018 talent hunt show with cash prizes totaling ₦6.6 million.

The Hi-Life Fest 2018 talent hunt show, which had two categories, namely Igbo highlife music and cultural dance, saw Dons Ifeanyi, a Musician from Anambra State emerged winner in the highlife music category while Umuchiziri dance group led by Chuzzy Anene emerged winner in the cultural dance category. Both winners went home with a cheque of ₦2 million prize money each.

Continue reading Winners Of Hi-Life Fest 2018 Talent Hunt Show

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.

Continue reading Bulus FearGod Wins 9th Korea-Nigeria Drawing Competition

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.

Continue reading Olanrewaju Tejuoso Wins 2nd Prize Prix du Ministère Sénégalais de la Culture at Dak’Art 2018