In January, Gatefield announced the launch and endowment of a public service journalism initiative branded the People Journalism Prize for Africa. On Thursday, 20th February 2020, we presented the joint winners of the PJPA 2019: Kiki Mordi and Fisayo Soyombo with their Journalists of the Year award. A special recognition award for social justice advocacy was presented to Segun Awosanya, the convener of the #ENDSARS movement for his work on police reforms.
We found the experience to be overwhelming. Our event venue, Community Park, was packed to capacity with key stakeholders in the civic and rights space, from journalists and activists to international development officials and diplomats, in a strong show of support for our work. Here are three key takeaways from the successful ceremony:
Journalism matters
The significance and importance of journalism was an echoing theme at the PJPA 2019 award ceremony. Keynote speaker of the event, Jude Ilo, the Country Officer of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa boldly stated that Nigeria owes it existence to journalists.
“The price of freedom and the work of journalists is very grave and we should never take it for granted. For you to keep doing this work, it requires the collective appreciation of Nigerians.”
Jude said that, “they (journalists) were part of the group who gave us independence at a time when people were not speaking up. It is a profession that told the story of the Civil War at a time when people did not know what was going and they risked their lives to tell this story. This same profession experiences hostility by the government, but today we celebrate the courage and great work they have done.”
Gatefield’s Lead Strategist, Adewunmi Emoruwa speaking on this theme, noted that journalism is a central pillar of democratic rights and freedoms. He outlined three key ideas that inspire Gatefield’s corporate support for journalism: “We believe three very important things: one, journalism matters; two, journalists should be proud of their work; and three, they must be supported and be praised for the job they do,” he said.
Kiki Mordi, PJPA 2019 joint winner, advocated more support for journalism. “Support is all we need,” Kiki maintained that journalism is primarily about people. She said that without support for the work that journalists do, there would be a lot of unreported stories, and nobody to question government or to represent the people.
Increased Impact
Fisayo Soyombo stunned the audience with an announcement that he would be donating his entire prize money to a non-profit (The Justice Project), for the purpose of securing the release of inmates awaiting trial in Nigeria’s prisons and correctional facilities. He said:
“While I am not in a position to help the prisons service clean up its corrupt house, by donating this money, I can at least help to kick-start a process I’m hoping can snowball into prison decongestion through the freedom of scores of awaiting-trial inmates. The funds, to be managed by TJP, will be used to pay stipends to lawyers who will visit prisons to track the cases, ensure more inmates have their days in court, represent the inmates, settle fines where necessary and provide support to the inmates.”
Following the award, we are delighted to learn that Fisayo’s prize money has doubled, meaning that there is more money to support victims of the systemic injustices in our country. Read Fisayo’s full speech here.
Sustainability Fund
Gatefield made known its intention to ensure that the PJPA is sustained and institutionalized beyond the award itself. Adewunmi announced the creation of a fund and a campaign to raise funds for social justice initiatives including a Journalism Fund and a Social Justice Fund. He unveiled the Freedom Worth’s Defending campaign merchandise and said it provided an opportunity for individuals to contribute to the fund. Profits from the merchandise will be disbursed to Gatefield Impact’s Journalism Fund and the Social Justice Fund which will be managed by the Segun Awosanya led Social Intervention Advocacy Foundation (SIAF).
Special appreciation to all our guests at the event including Jude Ilo (Country Director, OSIWA); Mercedes Alfa (Country Director’s Rep, UN Women), Johan Arvidsson (Embassy of Sweden), Patricia Emodi (Country Director’s Rep, GIZ Nigeria) Hamzat Lawal (Co-founder, Connected Development) Aisha Salaudeen (Producer, CNN Africa) and Farida Adamu (Founder, ResearcherNG), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu (Senior Manager, Open Society Justice Initiative), and Osai Ojigho (Country Director, Amnesty International Nigeria). We appreciate the significance of their presence and the value they have added to the event.
See some of the photos from the event on TheCableNG
