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Almost last year, winning this time

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Cartoon Editor, Thewill Newspaper / Winner, Wole Soyinka Editorial Cartoon, Victor Asowata at the 16th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting in Ikeja on 12/9/2021. Photo ; Peace Oudugba

December 12 (THEWILL) – Nothing better describes an individual who, in the space of a year, goes from a near winning position to a winning position than hard work. Around the same time last year, Victor Osarumwense Asowata, editor-in-chief of THEWILL newspaper, was on the podium at the NECA Building on Agidingbi, Ikeja, with about two colleagues nominated for the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (WSAIR ).

At this point, any of the nominees could win the most prestigious award for excellence in journalism in Nigeria, especially investigative journalism.

Asowata hoped, like the rest of the contestants, to be the one to receive a plaque depicting the leonine features of the Nobel Prize winner. The prize went to someone else. If he was disappointed in any way, Asowata didn’t show it. Instead, he returned to the drawing board and, as they say, worked diligently like a beaver and quietly like a computer.

Last Thursday, December 9, 2021 at the NECA Building, in front of an assembly of academics and the diplomatic corps, media heavyweights, students and the public, Asowata had its heyday: its industry has borne fruit as ‘he became the winner of WSAIR in the Editorial Comic category.

Unlike the other categories, Asowata had no suitors. Translation? The judges were simply blown away by his entry that they didn’t even consider naming any other entries with his as a finalist. His entrance, it seemed to them, was in a place of its own, a cut above the rest.

Entitled “Seed Time and Harvest”, Asowata’s winning entry is a subtle dig into the consequences of a common practice in the northern part of Nigeria where young men and women are forced to beg in the streets. Decades later, the Alamjiris are turning into terrorists, a scourge that has become a real problem for the country.

In addition to the now famous plaque that was safely placed on shelves in the homes of dozens of journalists who have won in the past, Asowata received a cash prize of N200,000 and a laptop, the most important gadget for everything. journalist working all over the world.

“I dedicate this award to God,” Asowata said in her acceptance speech shortly after her victory. “I also dedicate it to the whole team at THEWILL newspaper.”

Barely a year on the newsstands, THEWILL has done well in its short period of existence, a point echoed by Asowata in his post-victory speech. “We’re not big, but we’ve done great things for ourselves and for the country as a new media organization. “

So true! In September, the newspaper’s aviation correspondent Anthony Awonor won the first prize of the Nigeria Media Nite-Out Award, also held in Lagos. Asowata’s is the second.

However, this is not the first time the cartoonist has appeared in front of distinguished audiences in Lagos and elsewhere to lift trophies recognizing his dedication to work, the artistry he brings to his craft. In 1999, for example, he won the National Painting from the Musical Society of Nigeria.

Asowata started collecting her bundle of rewards early on. He won the Yusuf Grillo Most Deserving Student Award while at Auchi Polytechnic as a graduate student. In the same year, he received the Best Rector’s Award for Best Painting Student as well as the Nigeria Card Award for Life’s Best Drawing Student. There was the Academy Press Award and the Diamond Award for Visual Excellence in 1995 and 2005 respectively. He also won the BBC – WST (World Service Trust) Thirteen Cartoon Award of Excellence on Budget Tracking and Tax Policy from FG between 2007 and 2008.

It was not for nothing that during the citation, WSAIR 2021 accomplice Ini John-Mekwa ostensibly referred to Asowata as a serial winner.

The cartoonist’s latest addition to his laurel shelf reconfirms what his colleagues already know about him. With her oblong face and angular features, Asowata is as serious as it gets, working in monastic isolation at home or in the office, not distant but sometimes taciturn, sitting for long stretches with the unwavering focus of an artist at work in a quiet studio chat.

Asowata has worked in more than a dozen media establishments since he began his first media work as a graphic designer with the Edo Broadcasting Service in 1992. Those who are old enough remember his signed illustrations for Sunday Concord, Comet and Anchor. They have also reportedly seen his cartoons in the Punch, Daily Independent and Leadership newspapers. He has also worked with private organizations like Tanus Communications, Vericore Technologies and Zenith Bank plc.

Throughout his odyssey as a designer, illustrator, and painter, Asowata garnered accolades here and there as a traveler picking up ankle boots along the way. WSAIR is the latest in a series of accolades.

Launched in 2005, WSAIR recognizes outstanding journalists in the print, radio, television, photo, cartoon and online categories that focus on topics such as regulatory failures, public and private corruption, and rights violations. humans in the country.

In the words of WSAIR executive director Motunrayo Alaka, the center uses the award as “the investigative reporting mechanism as a tool for social justice.”

Since its inception to date, more than 100 Nigerian journalists have become finalists, 11 of which have won the coveted award as top winners. The very first of the winners in 2005 was Emmanuel Mayah, another serial winner of indigenous and foreign journalism awards and called the Messi of Nigerian journalism, who wrote for The Sun newspaper at the time.

Putting her life in danger, Mayah worked as an undercover journalist in an Indian company in Ogba, Lagos. His report “Inside Nigeria’s Industrial Concentration Camp” on the inhumane treatment of Nigerian workers by their Asian employers was exactly the kind of story the judges were looking for. At that time, there were only three categories – print, broadcast, and photo.

Deji Badmus of Channels Television emerged victorious with his article on “Makoko Demolition” while Bayoor Ewuoso of Punch won in the photo category with his article “Suspects Arrested by the Police”.

Over time and with advancements in technology, the categories have been broadened to include cartoons, online and on the radio. But what’s blindingly obvious is that the very first winning entry set a benchmark for the following winners: rigorous research, attention to detail and craftsmanship. Since its inception, more than half of the winners have been in the paper category.

After winning the top prize in the paper category, for example, it was no surprise that The Nation’s Olukunle Akinrinade won the Nigerian Investigative Journalist of the Year award for his article on how soldiers helped the shepherds to relocate a certain community in Ogun State. The displaced villagers have found a new home in the Republic of Benin.

Premium Times Taiwo Adebayo was commended for his online investigative publication while Ibrahim Adeyemi of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism was a finalist in the online category. Kunle Adebajo won in this category.

TVC’s Sharon Ijasan and Punch’s Tessy Igomu were congratulated while THISDAY’s Labake Fasogbon was a finalist.

For the radio category, Zainab Sanni of Agidigbo FM, Ibadan, and Kelechi Ogu of Rhythm 93.7 were finalists. Mary Abayomi Fatile won in this category while Punch’s Olatunji Obasa received high praise. The finalist was Daily Trust’s Bennet Uwalaka with his entry photo of three police brutalizing a man they arrested in Ojota.

The winning entry was also shot in Ojota, but by Abiodun Omotosho of Nigerian Pilot about a trader, Jumoke, who was killed by stray bullets from a policeman’s pistol in Ojota.

WSAIR also presented the CLEEN Foundation for its commitment to human rights and its Anti-Corruption Defender and Lifetime Awards. Legendary designer Josy Ajiboye received the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence.

Speaking as WSAIR 2021 judge chair, Ayo Obe said more than 200 nominations have been received this year. She congratulated the screenwriters but especially the finalists. “This is an evening of appreciation, an evening that you will also be appreciated,” insisting that “many of the entries were of a very high standard. We urge Nigerian journalists to continue this trend.”

For his part, the Chairman of the Board, Prof. Ropo Sekoni, also praised the nominations. He personally presented some of the prizes to some of the winners. Like a senior colleague passing the torch to a younger one, Josy Ajiboye, famous cartoonist for more than five decades, handed Asowata his plaque, laptop and cardboard check.

Since then, the encomiums have followed Asowata’s victory.

THEWILL editor, Austyn Ogannah, has this to say: “Victor is an incredibly gifted artist that we are fortunate to have on our team. Congratulations to him for winning Editorial Cartoon of the Year for the respected Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting. It’s a well-deserved recognition for his resilience and dedication to duty. “

As for THEWILL’s editor-in-chief, Olaolu Olusina, he says he’s not surprised at Asowata’s victory. “I am in no way surprised by this. Asowata is a diligent and dedicated member of the THEWILL team. A talented artist and painter, he is passionate about his work and speaks to the powers that be through the editorial drawings he produces each week. The result of her dedication to duty and passion for her work is what manifested in her recognition as a recipient of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting.

Described as “a prolific visual and communicative artist, with more than two decades of excellent practice in the creative arts,” Asowata insists that “art is the most powerful instrument of change in all societies, across various creative platforms. Caricature, especially in editorials, provides space for visionary probity, accountability and scrutiny of governance. “

Regarding the award itself, Asowata told THEWILL he was “delighted with this award, which I think is an award for the passion for advocacy and consistency in excellence. Years ago when I was in school I craved world-class cartoon illustrations in our local tabloids because I wasn’t that happy with a lot of the ones I saw. . I wanted to bring to the print media excellent cartoons that compare and compete with what can be obtained in foreign publications. It was my car. I’ve been on this resolution for about two decades now, and the result is what culminates today with the rewards. “