Odogwu Obinna Emerges First Winner Of Promasidor's Future Writers's Award

                                 

Odogwu, winner of Promasidor’s Future Writer's Award, says he almost died filing winning entry

Obinna Odogwu, a campus reporter with The Sun newspaper, is like the Biblical Da­vid that snatched victory from the jaws of a lion. He almost lost his life in an accident in the course of filing a story that later won this year’s Future Writer's Award, organized by Proma­sidor Nigeria Limited.

 

                          

                            

At the Promasidor Quill media awards held at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, last week, 25-year-old Odogwu, a graduating Po­litical Science student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, marched triumphantly to the stage, as he was announced the winner of the coveted prize.

His winning entry, titled, Un­sung Heroes: Pupils sweep vil­lage streets, yet attend dilapidated schools in Anambra, published in the Campus Sun of Tuesday, January 7, 2014, set him above his colleagues from other compet­ing newspapers. The report gave a graphic account of school chil­dren between the age of four and 15, who wake up every morning, as early as 4.00 am, to painfully sweep the entire village of Amanuke Community in Anambra. Unfortunately, after enduring the chilling cold of the harmattan sea­son to keep the village clean, the children still ended up in a dilapidated community school.

Odogwu joined the team of campus reporters in 2012, where he filed incisive stories. But his passion for journalism led him be­yond the gates of his university to go for other exclusive reports that featured as leading stories for The Sun Education Review. He crossed the lines further with yet another story, Horror in Anambra, which hit the front page of The Sun newspaper, South-east edition. His promising career in journal­ism received the deserved recog­nition, as his work beat his rival, Mr Deola Kayode, a columnist on the iPunch section of The Punch To win the prize.

Odogwu, aged 25, narrated to this reporter how he nearly lost his life in an accident in Awka, just on his way from the cybercafé where he had sent the report. A tricycle he boarded veered off the road while on speed and somersaulted near a river, leaving him with bruises on his body. Although he bore his pain in silence, his bruises were healed as the same story that almost cost him his life became a winning entry. His smiles said it all, as he rhythmically walked to the stage to receive his first jour­nalistic award.

“Thank God that I did not die, maybe the award would not have come. This award means a lot to me. I have always loved investi­gative journalism but since this particular report has fetched me an award, it has rekindled the zeal in me. I will double my effort to do more. Let me confess to you, I dedicate this award to Sam Otti and the Education Editor, Chika Abanobi, for nurturing me in the field of journalism. Despite the distance between them and I in Awka, they have been there for me and keep tutoring me on phone. I must also thank The Sun Publish­ing Limited for providing me with the opportunity to practice what I love,” he remarked.

The award of excellence, run­ning for the second year, is being organized by Promasidor Nigeria, to promote professionalism among practitioners in the media industry.

Enveloped with joy, as if walk­ing on the moon, Odogwu majesti­cally mounted the podium at Eko Holel and Suites to receive the award which he said meant all to him. According to the cub journal­ist, the medal reassures him that indeed hard work pays.

He defeated his counterparts from other media houses, with his story titled: ‘The unsung heroes’, on the plight of school children in a rural area of Anambra State. The entry was described as in-depth, unbiased and outstanding. Speaking at the event in Lagos, the Chairman of Promasidor Ni­geria, Keith Richards commended all journalists who submitted en­tries for different categories of the award. The prize was initiated last year to encourage journalists who go the extra miles in writing sto­ries that positively affect Nigerian citizens.

In recognition of its critical role in upholding democracy and developing the economy, he said Promasidor holds Nigerian media in high esteem, adding that the practitioners have remained vi­brant in setting national discourse.

“We recognize individual prac­titioner's professionalism and contribution towards building the economy. We are out to encourage and appreciate professionalism, and our company remains com­mitted to developing robust jour­nalism in Nigeria,” he said.

Winners from all categories, with the exception of the win­ner of the best photo story of the year, were given high-end laptops, while the best photo story was given a high-end camera for then-excellence performance.

Richards added that all other winners, except the overall win­ner, will enjoy media training at the Lagos Business School as a means of capacity building. He maintained that there has been a fantastic relationship between the media and the company since in­ception of Promasidor in Nigeria, acknowledging that reporters have made the Promasidor to penetrate every part of the country.

“While we toil to build an en­during brand through hard work and dedication to our customers, so also the media complement us with their reportage and promo­tional messages of our products. The positive engagement between the media and Promasidor has made our products very accept­able and, indeed, market leaders in their segments,” Richards said.

The panel of judges headed by a veteran journalist, Patrick Dele Cole said the panel painstakingly went through all the entries to se­lect the winners. He stated that the champions were judged based on merit through outstanding work.

The judges described Obinna’s story as an exceptional one that helped the society to discover school children who, despite all odds, were helping their commu­nity. Those children, according to his report, sweep their community in a very good manner.

Other winners were Kunle Fa­layi, Punch, Best Report on Edu­cation, Ayodele Ojo, The Sun, Pho­to, Gbenga Salao, The Guardian, Nutrition, Adekunle Yusuf, The Nation, Corporate Social Respon­sibility, Daniel Obi, Business Day, Brand Advocate, while the best re­port on Children was jointly won by Isioma Madike, National Mir­ror and Kunle Falayi, Punch, The overall best award went to Falayi who will be sent to London for all-expense paid four-week multime­dia journalism training course with Thomson Foundation.

Written by BY JOB OSAZUWA of the Sun Newspapers