Lai Oso, gets posthumous award at Amplify In- Depth conference and award
Lai Oso, distinguished professor of communications and scholar, who died on June 24 2023, will receive the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence and the Anti-Corruption/Human Rights Defender Award at the 18th edition of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (WSCIJ) which will hold on September 9, 2023.
According to a statement by the executive Director/CEO of the Motunrayo Alaka, Oso will make history as the first person to receive both awards.
Mrs Alaka said the decision although posthumous is meant to immortalise him and recognise his profound contributions to the growth of the Nigerian media landscape, his notable service as the chair of this award’s judges’ board on four occasions (2012, 2013, 2016, and 2017).
The late professor’s wife Abimbola Oso will receive the awards on behalf of the family.
The posthumous award is part of the larger Amplify In-depth Media (AIM) Conference & Awards, holding on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 December 2023 by 9am daily, at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher of Premium Times, and Founder/CEO of the Centre for Journalism Innovation & Development (CJID) is the keynote speaker at the event with the theme – ‘The independent media equation: Policies, ownership, technology, and sustainability’.
Other speakers include, Umaru Pate, Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Kashere (FUK), Gombe State and Amina Salihu, Deputy Director, MacArthur Foundation among others. WSCIJ is co-hosting the AIM Conference & Awards, this year, with MacArthur ‘On Nigeria Project’ Media and Journalism (MAJ) cohort, as a two-day physical and virtual conference to reflect on investigative journalism, democracy, and how to amplify, and sustain investigative reporting and ideate on strategies that foster change through conversations, debates, and practical explainers