The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Awards

  • CAMPUSLIFE man wins journalism awards

    CAMPUSLIFE man wins journalism awards

    The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, (UNN) CAMPUSLIFE reporter, James Ojo, has been named Editor and Reporter of the Year by colleagues. The 400-Level Mass Communication student was honoured during the Mass Communication Students’ Association (MACSA) award night held last week.

    James, who received the awards with some of his classmates, was described as a “brilliant student, who made the department proud”.

    Presenting the awards, MACSA’s president, Ikenna Amadi, said the CAMPUSLIFE reporter was unanimously voted to clinch the awards by students of the department, because of his stories, which they described as “life-changing”.

    Explaining the procedures undertaken to select winners for the awards, Ikenna pointed out that each nominee was assessed by students through voting. According to him, James and his classmate, Sylvester Orji, were nominated for the Reporter of the Year award, stressing that the CAMPUSLIFE reporter garnered more votes to win the award.

    Ikenna said: “Being the first school of journalism, our department is well known for producing excellent journalists. When it comes to writing, James Ojo is the best. Many students see him as a good writer who contributes life-changing stories in the print media. He writes for prominent national dailies and international media platforms, which is why he was selected for the awards.”

    The MACSA president described James as a “remarkably talented and intelligent person”.

    James said the awards would encourage him to explore his journalism talent, describing the feat as inspiring.

    He said: “I feel happy and honoured winning both awards. They are like a starting point in my career and a motivation to continue to explore. Having put in a lot into writing since my first year, I feel appreciated winning the awards in my final year.”

    He described journalism as a “tedious profession, requiring commitment, passion and dedication”, while urging his colleagues interested in practising journalism not to be driven by the monetary gains, rather to change lives through passion and discipline.

    The event was part of the association’s Week, which started on Monday. It featured cultural day and talent hunt show, during which students showcased various skills.

  • API Awards to recognise top real estate developments

    The African Property Investment Awards (API Awards), the continent’s premier real estate competition, is set to recognise innovation and outstanding achievement across the entire property industry. It will also provide distinguished developers, suppliers and owners working in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) with a platform to showcase their best projects and services.

    The award is scheduled to hold at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24, 2017.API Events have proven their commitment to the African property industry, hosting successful and insightful summits for the last eight years. As an independent organisation offering broad coverage of the African real estate sector, API Events have a reputation for fostering education, discussion and knowledge sharing throughout the industry, making them the ideal hosts for these prestigious awards.

    API Events Managing Director Mr. Kfir Rusin said that looking back on the last decade, there have been notable achievements in the development of real estate on the continent.According to him, growth in the sector has highlighted the important role both local and regional investors and developers play in the industry.

    “With this in mind, API Events has moved to introduce an awards platform that is both reputable and widely respected in order to recognize these achievements, as well as the distinction and quality of these contributions,” Rusin explained.He said that with these awards, API Events hopes to not only encourage industry players to continue to achieve these same levels in regard to both industry standards and expectations, but also to raise the development standards across the industry in future.

    “As the market evolves we want to ensure that all stakeholders strive to achieve excellence, and at the same time recognise those who are delivering on pioneering developments in Africa’s often tough development environments,” Rusin added.He stated that as the continent’s pre-eminent property investment summit, it was fitting that API Summit & Expo should recognise excellence by giving awards to the best of the best.

    According to the jury panellist and owner of W Hospitality Group, Trevor Ward, “The prestige of an API Award will undoubtedly bring an increase in quality in all fields in the property industry in Africa.”He said the panel of judges will bring together a number of distinguished industry leaders from across the continent, each member boasting a variety of expertise and experience.

    The judging panel will critically assess all entries in categories including Best Retail Development, Best Mixed-Use Development, Best Commercial High-rise Development, and Best Architectural Design.

  • Tomori, Babayemi bag NUJ awards

    Tomori, Babayemi bag NUJ awards

    As part of its activities to mark the 2017 Press Week, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Osun State Council, has honoured the Deputy Governor of Osun State, Otunba Titi Laoye-Tomori and Chief Executive Officer of Fort Knox Group Limited, Abuja, Prince Dotun Babayemi with the Golden Mother Award and Evergreen Award for Humanitarian Services respectively.

    They were honoured alongside Mr Adeyinka Afonja, the CEO of Ace Supermarkets with Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mallam Yusuf Ali, with Man of the Year Award.

    Babayemi, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), commended the organisers of the awards for the recognition, adding that the honour would spur his efforts in giving back to the society.

    “My life has been about service without expecting anything in return; but this recognition by the Fourth Estate of the Realm has not only humbled me but also has further made me realise that a lot still needs to be done and I am committed to doing that,” the Gbongan-born politician said in his acceptance speech.

    Chairman of the NUJ council, Abiodun Olalere, said during the dinner and award night that the recipients of the awards were honoured for distinguishing themselves in various professions and contributing to the well-being of humanity.

    “Our union is committed to the cause of humanity while encouraging others who are doing the same. This has necessitated the need to honour the individuals,” Olalere remarked.

  • Students receive awards

    The Association of Lagos Titled Chiefs has given awards to three students in support of Lagos at 50 during an essay competition. The awards were presented by Mr Abiodun Oni from Ministry of Education, who represented Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.

    The essay competition had the theme “Building a Better Lagos for the Future.”

    It was held at V. Ade Allen Hall of Yoruba Tennis Club, Ikoyi. The competition was open to interested students between ages 15 and 18 from the Lagos State public senior secondary schools.

    There were 30 essay written by 30 shortlisted students, showing the quality of education in public schools. They sat for the essay on Saturday, May 20, and three candidates emerged best.

    The three best candidates were Olayinka Esther Mohammed of Ikorodu Senior Grammar School, Ikorodu; Gideon Testimoy Ogundeko of United Senior High School, Ikorodu and Boluwatife Rukayat Calfos of Eko Akete Senior Grammar School, Lagos.

    It was organised by the Association of Lagos Titled Chiefs to recognise the important role that young people can play towards building a better Lagos for the future.

    The competition tested the knowledge of the students on Lagos affairs, versatility of content, organisation, expression and accuracy.

    The President of the association and Iya Abiye of Lagos, Chief (Mrs) Iyabo Foresythe said: “The effort of the teachers and school administrators is, no doubt, producing good students that can compete and excel in any internal or external examination”.

    Her view reinforces the mission of the Lagos State government in building putting in place an atmosphere that is enabling, inspiring and conducive to teaching and learning for Lagos youths.

    The chairman of the planning committee, Bashorun J. K. Randle praised Lagos State government for its efforts to improve education in public schools, even as he called for more involvement of the private sector, individuals and organisations in the total reform of the education landscape of Lagos.

    He also praised the efforts of the past and current administrations of Lagos State. He urged Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to build a better Lagos for the future through incremental development in education.

    The secretary of the Yoruba Tennis Club, Chief Olawumi Gasper said: “The association can only support the Lagos State government to achieve its mission through such activities.

    “The students have been given hope that it is possible to excel with hard work and determination.

    Present at the event were: Chief Folarin Coker, Chief E. K. Aina, Chief (Mrs) Onikepo Oshodi, Chief Femi Adeniyi-Williams, Chief and Chief (Mrs) Joseph Oyebanji and Chief (Mrs) Kofo Bucknor-Akerele, among others.

     

  • Groups partner on excellence awards

    CharmAccess Foundation, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving access to better healthcare in Africa, is partnering with Nigeria Healthcare Excellence Award for this year’s awards. The event is tagged: NHEA 2017.

    NHEA Project Coordinator Dr. Shola Alabi expressed satisfaction with the support NHEA gave  PharmAccess last year and the current one. This, according to him, suggests a commitment to improving healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

    Alabi said nomination for the awards, the fourth edition, was still ongoing. He called on stakeholders to visit: www.nigeriahealthawards.c om.ng to either make their nominations online or download the nomination form. ‘’Nominations will close on May 26, 2017 before the commencement of online voting to enable the award jury select the winners of the various categories. It is made up of three main categories: Special awards, Healthcare Delivery Services and Biomedical Technology,’’he said.

    PharmAccess Nigeria Country Director Mrs. Njide Ndili said the award recognises excellence in healthcare quality.

    “At PharmAccess Foundation, our objective is to facilitate innovation to improve access, efficiency in service delivery with continuous and sustained improvement in healthcare especially for the low-income communities in Africa and Nigeria in particular. NHEA presents one of those credible platforms to recognise and reward excellence supporting these objectives.”

    Winners of the various categories will be honoured on Friday, June 23, at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. About 23 awards and recognitions will be presented at the ceremony.

    PharmAccess mobilises public and private sector resources for the benefit of healthcare providers and patients through clinical standards and quality improvements, loans for healthcare providers, health insurance, health innovations and operational research. NHEA is organised by Global Health Project and Resources (GHPR) in collaboration with Anadach Group, USA

  • Trevor Noah wins ‘Best Host’ at MTV Movie and TV Awards

    The 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards celebrated the best of Young Hollywood, awarding Golden Popcorn trophies to the actors and stories across film and television that influenced youth culture.

    Actor and comedian Adam Devine gave a beauty and a beast of a performance, kicking off the legendary party with a fire-filled grand opening featuring an all-star cast of cameos including Lil Rel Howery, Millie Bobby Brown, Chrissy Metz, Blake Anderson, Josh Gad, Hugh Jackman, Hailee Steinfeld, Rebel Wilson and DJ Nasty.

    Billion’s star Asia Kate Dillon presented the first award of the night to Emma Watson for the non-gendered Best Actor in a Movie category with ‘Beauty and the Beast’, a movie which also won ‘Movie of the Year.’ Millie Bobby Brown later accepted the first-ever Best Actor in a Show award for ‘Stranger Things,’ which also won Show of the Year.

    Star and producer Vin Diesel accepted the Generation Award on behalf of the enduring motion-picture franchise Fast & Furious, marking the first time a film franchise was honoured instead of an individual actor. Diesel was joined on-stage by his franchise co-stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Jordana Brewster. J Balvin and Pitbull then took the stage with Camila Cabello to perform their steamy hit single, Hey Ma, which was featured in the most recent instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise, The Fate of the Furious.

    The first-ever Best Fight the System award was presented by Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Blackish’s Tracee Ellis Ross to Taraji P. Henson for Hidden Figures. Henson also won the Best Hero award. Additional new and timely categories were awarded to Blackish for Best American Story, This Is Us for Tearjerker, Trevor Noah for Best Host (The Daily Show), RuPaul’s Drag Race for Best Reality Competition and Daniel Kaluuya for Next Generation.

  • Stallion Group gets agric awards

    A company under the Stallion Group, Popular Farms and Mills Limited, has been awarded the IBCA-Outstanding Projects and Business Leader of the Year Award.

    A statement from the firm yesterday noted that the Stallion Group acknowledged “the quintessential and impeccable leadership qualities and magnanimous approach of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, in the agriculture sector and their pathfinder initiative of the change agenda”.

    It hailed the “IBCA for creating this platform to acknowledge the real positive change-makers in the agriculture sector and OPAL nomination committee for nominating and rewarding Stallion Group for the Business Leader of the Year and Outstanding Project awards”.

    According to the statement, “these awards are testimonials to our efforts at expanding operations in Nigeria’s fully integrated rice value chain, resulting in a boost of 430,000 metric tonnes of rice production per annum.

    “The group is targeting production of 1.5 million tonnes of rice in Nigeria through the setting up of more milling capacities and structured farming activities.

    “Stallion has established fully integrated agricultural operations, including world-class rice mills at strategic locations, with the aim of promoting milling and paddy cultivation in the captive areas, thus creating a catalyst for increased local production of paddy and, ultimately, Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in rice production.

    The firm’s Director, Mr. Harpreet Singh, while commenting on the awards, said: “Sensing the need for local self-sufficiency and government’s ambitions for food security, Stallion pioneered investments into backward integration, creating a fully integrated value chain.

    “We are working tirelessly to improve farm yields and bring in sustainable and scalable growth to farmers,” Singh said.

    To energise its backward integration value-chain, Stallion Group embarked on an initiative to include local manufacturing facilities for packaging and countrywide distribution infrastructure designed to meet the demands of the Nigerian people across the various states.

  • GTBank wins six laurels at EPIS efficiency awards

    GTBank wins six laurels at EPIS efficiency awards

    Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has won six awards at this year’s Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS) awards organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

    The lender also had the highest number of the total awards presented to the financial institutions, Fin-techs, merchants and other stakeholders in the electronic payment incentive scheme.

    The EPIS Efficiency awards was established to recognise and celebrate financial institutions, merchants and other stakeholders at the forefront of driving electronic payment in Nigeria. Among the awards won by GTBank are the Best Customer Experience Award (Electronic Payment Platform Experience). The lender won in this category for achieving the highest level of overall customer satisfaction in the delivery of electronic payment services to customers.

    It also won the Cashless Driver: Instant Payments for its outstanding performance in recording the highest transaction count on the NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) Platform and the Cashless Driver: Point of Sale (POS) Issued Cards’ Transactions for having the highest Point of Sale (PoS) transaction count on the National Central Switch with Issued Payment among others.

    GTBank also won the award for Instant Payments Transaction Efficiency; for achieving the highest transaction count in Point of Sale (PoS) terminals through the National Central Switch (NCS) Platform, the Point of Sale Card Transaction Efficiency; for the Bank’s outstanding performance in recording the highest level of efficiency in card payments on POS terminals connected to the National Central Switch  and the award for the Electronic Data Rendition Compliance and Integrity for the Bank’s outstanding performance in ensuring customer data integrity and compliance to CBN mandated submissions.

  • Provost bags multiple awards

    Provost, Federal College of Education in Umunze, Anambra State, Prof Josephat Ogbuagu, has received three leadership awards in recognition of his contribution towards the school’s growth and service to humanity.

    The Transformation of Anambra Network (TAN) conferred on him the Award of Excellence as a pillar of community development and health empowerment; the Agulu Empowerment Committee and Youth Community Nigeria bestowed on him an award of honour in recognition of his contribution to youth development in Agulu community; and the Agulu People in Orumba Local Government Area (LGA) awarded him the Ugo Mba Agulu (The Eagle of Agulu Community) in recognition of his youth empowerment initiatives and exemplary leadership.

    Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joe Akabuike, who presented the TAN Award to him, extolled his leadership qualities and urged him not to rest on his oars. The event was attended by the Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano on Political Matters, Hon Nkechi Ogbuefi, and many of other dignitaries.

    While presenting the Ugo Mba Agulu Award, Chairman of Agulu People in Orumba Local Government Area, Dr Chike Obienyem, lauded Ogbuagu’s capacity building initiatives, which he said motivated several youths to invest themselves in productive ventures.

    He said his leadership as the FCE (T) Provost opened windows of opportunities for infrastructural and human resource development in the institution.

    Dr Obienyem said: “Ogbuagu has run the institution with utmost prudence and efficiency, and enhanced the integrity of the NCE and degree certificates awarded by the college. His visionary leadership brought rapid transformation in the college, raising it to an enviable standard through the provision of infrastructure, spacious lecture and administrative blocks, and introduction of more courses for the students.”

    Responding, Ogbuagu expressed joy that his modest achievements were recognised. He stressed the need for selfless leadership that would enhance both community and national development and promised to sustain his zeal in pursuing policies and programmes that would make the college a choice institution and the nation’s pride. “Before assuming this office, I wrote my mission statement and I thank God that we have been striving to build a modern College of Education within the limits of available resources,” he said.

  • What not to submit for media awards

    Entries for media awards are supposed to be the best publications and productions in the print, broadcast and online media by journalists.

    The awards are meant to reward excellence in various categories. It is not expected that journalists who qualify for the awards will submit substantial entries.

    However, if the observation of the Chair of the Judges’ Board of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting, Professor Lai Oso, is anything to go by, there is need for improvement in the quality of entries submitted for awards in the country.

    According to Oso, “Ninety per cent of all submitted entries for the award were routine one-time stories, opportunistic photographs, basic television features and radio magazine reports, of which most were badly edited, rarely investigative in nature and could only do well as feature stories.”

    He, however, commended the online entries assessed as being analytically better, more in-depth and clearly showing the future of reporting.

    Chairman of the Panel of Assessors for the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA), Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, also lamented the quality of the 894 entries submitted for the 2015 edition of the award.

    He said the quality of many of the print entries were very poor and far below what was expected of national newspapers.

    Here is my take on the categories of poor entries noted by Professors Oso and Akinfeleye which journalists should avoid submitting for awards.

    Routine one-time stories

    If a story is mainly based on a press statements and regular assignments without any additional background, in-depth investigation, research and interviews, it does not qualify for consideration for any award.  Such stories are routine “He said,” “He added” reports which any journalist can write.

    Except in some peculiar instance, no matter how well written a routine story is or its placement, it cannot be the basis for winning awards.

    Award-winning stories are supposed to be products of follow-ups on routine stories or deep thinking, research and investigation on various perspectives on an issue or trend.

    Opportunistic photographs

    There is this joke about photojournalists taking what is called “putting heads together” pictures. They sometimes tell special guests at events to pretend to be discussing while the photojournalists take what they consider action photographs.

    Award-winning photographs are not supposed to be arranged. The eagle lens of the photojournalist is supposed to be alert to capture the action moment.

    Such pictures must tell a story like any well written story. Photojournalists must know that they are not just photographers who have to tell those they want to take their pictures to “look into the camera”.

    They are supposed to be journalists who tell stories with their camera.

    Basic Television features

    Like routine stories, basic television features are ordinary reports from routine assignments. It doesn’t matter how long the story is, if it is not a well-researched documentary or investigation with well edited interviews on various perspectives in the reports and appropriate shots, there is no point entering such features for awards. An award-winning television features must be very revealing and gripping.

    Basic radio magazine reports

    These kinds of reports are also not extraordinary. They are unnecessarily long news reports and interviews. They are at best extended reports based on routine reports and interviews. Many relevant issues are not covered and well analysed in the reports.

    Badly edited reports

    No matter how good a report is, if it is badly edited with typographical and grammatical errors, it cannot be selected as a winning entry.

    An excellent report should be well-written and well-edited. It should go through necessary editorial quality control to avoid avoidable errors.

    Award-winning reports should be fact-checked.