Thursday was a glorious night for New Telegraph Newspaper.
At the award night of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Awards, held in Lagos, the less than five-year-old newspaper shone brightly, winning 12 out of the 22 awards on offer.
The closest newspapers to New Telegraph on the night were The Nation and The PUNCH newspapers, who went home with only five awards each.
Head of Investigation Desk of New Telegraph, Isioma Madike, was star of the night as he won in three different print categories.
He won the Ernest Sisei Ikoli Prize for Newspaper Reporter of the Year, Cecil King Memorial Prize for Print Journalist of the Year and Union Bank Prize for Banking and Finance Reporter of the Year.
The Group Political Editor, Felix Nwaneri, who had two nominations with his stories: “Vote-buying: Twist in Nigeria’s polity” and “LGs under threat of extinction,” won the Lateef Jakande Prize for Political Reporter of the Year, while the Arts Editor, Tony Okuyeme, who had two nominations: “Lip-synching: Foreign invasion through films” and “Lip-synching: New face of piracy,” won the Olu Aboderin Prize for Entertainment Reporter of the Year.
The Crime Editor, Juliana Francis, won the Buba Marwa Prize for Defence Reporter of the Year with a story titled: “Why I stood naked at naval gate.”
A Sport Correspondent, Ajibade Olusesan, won the Bashorun MKO Abiola Prize for Sports Reporter of the Year, with a story titled: “Dazed by fate, abandoned,” beating Adekunle Salami and Charles Ogundiya, both of New Telegraph.
It was also a New Telegraph’s affair in the Ibrahim Shekarau Prize for Education Reporter of the Year as Kayode Olanrewaju won the category with a story titled: “Policy inconsistency, bane of education development,” ahead of Francis and Madike.
The newspaper’s City Editor, Oluwatosin Omoniyi, won the Bukola Saraki Prize for Agriculture Reporter of the Year with a story titled: “Women of calloused hands, financial power,” while Lagos State Correspondent, Murtala Ayinla, won the Olagunsoye Oyinlola Prize for Culture and Tradition Reporter of the Year with his indepth report on: “Tribal Marks, our identity, our pride.”
A Senior Correspondent, Mojeed Alabi, emerged the winner of Gani Fawehinmi Prize for Human Rights Reporter of the Year with a report titled: “El-zakzaky: Hurting memories of a massacre,” while a Senior Correspondent (Politics), Temitope Ogunbanke, won the Olusegun Mimiko Prize for Foreign News Reporter of the Year with an indepth report titled: “Slaves in Dubai, kings in Nigeria.”
An elated Managing Director of the newspaper, Funke Egbemode, thanked the staff of New Telegraph for staying focused.
Egbemode said: “I am just proud and happy.
“This is the necessary and the much-needed crown for all our efforts in the year.
“I am just proud of the team that I lead because this is a focused team that is determined to make a difference in spite of the constraints that we face.”
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