Guardian reporter, Ajibola Amzat, wins overall prize in 2016 Promasidor Quill Awards

The much celebrated Promasidor Quill Awards Season 4 came to an end on Friday when a correspondent with Guardian Newspapers Limited, Ajibola Amzat was declared the overall winner at the event held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos. The new title holder, Amzat, took over from Taiwo Alimi, the overall winner for the 2014-2015 edition.

Apart from the plaque, high-end iPad and the company’s products given to the overall winner, Amzat will also be sent to London, as part of the prize for the award, for an all-expense paid four-week multi-media journalism training course with Thomson Foundation.

(L-R) Olivier Thiry, Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria Limited; Ambassador Patrick Dele Cole, Chairman, Panel of Judges; Ajibola Amzat, overall winner; and Martins Oloja, former Editor/member Editorial Board, Guardian newspapers; at the 2016 Promasidor Quill Awards event held at Sheraton Lagos Hotel on Friday

Aside winning the overall trophy, Amzat also clinched the Category award for the Best Report on Children and Nutrition, thereby making a total of two awards he smiled home with. Amzat won the two awards with the entry he submitted for the Best Report on Children and Nutrition, Home Away. In that category, entries submitted by other nominees: Olatunji Ololade of The Nation, I Do Not Want This Child; and Isioma Madike of Sunday Telegraph, Hunger and The Nigerian Child; could not defeat that of Amzat.

Other awardees at the event include Olatunji Ololade of The Nation, who won the award for the Best CSR and Industry Report of the Year; Tobi Aworinde of The Punch, the Education Reporter of the Year; and Nurain Kolawole Aliu of Leadership, the Best Photo Story of the Year.

Similarly, Tunde Ajaja of The Punch coasted home the award for the Future Writer of the Year; Daphne Uduneje of Nigerian Pilot, Brand Advocate of the Year and Kemi Busari of Thevendornews.com, Best Online Reporter of the Year.

Ololade’s entry for the Best CSR and Industry Report Category: Sorrowful Song from the Valley of Iva, was also adjudged outstanding compared to Folashade Adebayo’s Abandoned Projects Force Nigerians to Drink Unsafe Water, published by The Punch and Seun Akioye’s A Nation’s Endangered Treasure: 800 Year-Old Nasarawa Salt Mine at Risk of Extinction (The Nation).

Tobi Aworinde, winner, Education Reporter of the Year (m); receiving his award from Judy Okolo, Senior Manager, Promasidor Nigeria Limited (l); and Martins Oloja, former Editor/member Editorial Board, Guardian newspapers; at the 2016 Promasidor Quill Awards event held at Sheraton Lagos Hotel on Friday

Commenting on the awards, Olivier Thiry, Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell, Onga, Toptea and Loya Milk and organisers of the prestigious Promasidor Quill awards, commended all journalists who submitted entries for different categories of the awards.

According to him, if the intellectual exertion and the skill required in producing a good report or story is put in perspective, there is no reward that can adequately compensate the effort of journalists in educating the public. His words: “Based on this realisation of the important role of the media in our economy, the management of Promasidor Nigeria in 2012 conceptualized Promasidor Quill Awards with the ultimate goal of assessing, recognizing and rewarding excellence for outstanding journalistic work.”

Apart from the plaques, high-end iPads and the company’s products given to the overall winner, Thiry disclosed that Amzat will be sent to London for an all-expense paid four-week multi-media journalism training course with Thomson Foundation. Thiry added that the overall winner will also be placed on a week’s job placement with a prominent British national news organization before returning to Nigeria. His words: “This person will be provided with a return flight ticket, accommodation in London, daily living allowance and tuition fees for the training.”

Winners from all the categories with the exception of the winner of the Best Photo Story of the Year, were given iPads, while the winner of the Best Photo Story of Year was given a high-end camera for his exceptional performance.