Award recipient Obinna Odogwu of the Sun Newspaper
From Magnus Aluma, Abakaliki
The Traditional Ruler of Ogidi Kingdom in Anambra State, Southeast of Nigeria, Igwe Alex Onyido has defeated two other contestants to win the coveted award of the 2023 NUJ man of the year.
Igwe Onyido bagged the award at the grand finale of the 2023 Press Week, organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Anambra State Council, held in Awka, the state’s capital. The Monarch took the position after the Deputy Manager of Zenith Bank Plc, Dr Adaora Umeoji who won the award, last year.
Similarly, the Anambra State correspondent of the Sun Newspaper, Comrade Obinna Odogwu was at the event announced winner of the 2023 Professor Chinyere Stella Okunna Prize for Ethical Journalism, organised by the NUJ in the state, as part of activities marking the Press Week.
He was announced after his entry, ‘Anambra Health Centres Where Humans Share Facilities With Snakes Rodents,’ was adjudged the best by the Award Committee headed by the former Managing Director and Editor-In-Chief of the defunct National Light newspapers, Chief Chuka Nnabuife.
Chief Nnabuife also announced David Eleke of ThisDay Newspapers and Izunna Okafor of 247ureports.com as first and second runners up respectively.
NewsBits gathered that Odogwu’s latest honour came a few years after he won the Feature Writer of the Year Award in a keenly contested nationwide competition organised by Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, manufacturers of Cowbell and Loyal milks at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos in 2014.
Comrade Odogwu a highly rated investigative journalist, thanked God for blessing his hard work with the special honour and also commended the NUJ for the initiative.
His words: “I want to thank God for blessing my hard work with this special honour. Equally, I commend the NUJ in Anambra State for the wonderful initiative.”
He further acknowledged the contribution of the first female professor of Mass Communication in the sub-Saharan Africa, Professor Okunna for instituting the award, adding that the award was aimed at promoting ethical journalism and encouraging hard work in the media industry.
The award winner also commended his editors at The Sun Publishing Ltd, for their encouragement and support over the years, saying that the award would spur him to greater efficiency and dedication, in the interest of the society.
In a keynote address, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Barrister Sly Ezeokenwa, urged journalists to always be objective in their reportage.
The APGA chieftain who spoke on the theme: “Pragmatic Media Practice as an Antidote to Sustainable Development in a Distressed Economy: A Focus on Anambra State,” described pragmatic media practice as one characterised by its “emphasis on practical solutions, stakeholder engagement and long-term impact.”
In their separate remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Professor Chinyere Okunna and the Anambra State chairman of the NUJ, Dr Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, commended journalists in the state, for their wonderful performances.
Prominent among the dignitaries who were at the event, include; the National President of the NUJ, Comrade Chris Isiguzo, who was represented by the Vice President Zone C, Sir Emmanuel Ifesinachi, Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Onochie Anyachebelu, and the state chairman of APGA, Chief Ifeatu Obi-Okoye.
Others were the Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly, Somtochukwu Udeze, who was represented by the member representing Dunukofia Constituency in the State Assembly, Chuks Azotani, and Dr Adaora Umeoji, who was represented by the DGM of Zenith Bank, Princess Nkiru Okolo.
