The organisers of the annual Campus Journalism Awards (CJA), Youths Digest, have shortlisted the names of the successful finalists for this year’s edition.
According to the organisers, a total of 304 entries were submitted from over 50 universities nationwide, with the finalists selected from fifteen Nigerian educational institutions across 15 prize categories.
The “Edirin Jerry-Wesley Best Student in Broadcasting Award”, “Upcoming Writer”, “Entertainment Writer”, “Sports Writer”, “News Reporter”, “Gender Equality Reporter”, “Broadcaster” and “Photo-journalist” are among the 15 awards up for grabs at the event.
Others are “Penclub”, “Author (Book)”, “Social Media Influencer”, “Investigative Journalist”, “Features Writer”, “Editor”, “Print Magazine”, and “Campus Journalist of the Year”.
The entries were assessed on merit, according to Alfred Olufemi, who headed the committee, and he noted that several of the categories were highly competitive.
Olufemi said that the quality of the entries received shows that journalism in the students’ space has gone beyond what is obtainable in the past as students did excellent reporting, investigations, and insightful features.
The awardees for the Campus Journalism Awards will be announced at Hotel 2020, Wuye District, Abuja on Saturday 11th December 2021 by 3 pm prompt.
Dayo Aiyetan, Executive Director of the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), will be the keynote speaker; with Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, Former Minister of Education, as Chairman of the Occasion; Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, as the Special Guest of Honour; and Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre and Chairman Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) will be the Chief Host.
According to Youths Digest, the theme for the 2021 CJA is “The Role of Media in Troubling Times”.
CJA is hosted with support from the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and it is now in its fourth edition, beginning in 2018, as the first of its kind in Nigeria honouring student journalists from higher institutions.
