… Josy Ajiboye, CLEEN Foundation, 14 reporters to be honoured
Thursday 9 December 2021, will mark another International Anti-Corruption Day which was declared by the United Nations since 2003 to raise awareness on the capacity of corruption to damage the values of democracy and undermine the sustainable development, security, justice and stability of countries where they are rife.
According to Motunrayo Alaka, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), she said Of the 14 shortlisted stories this year, nine are about the unpleasant security situation in the country. Hence, we will be putting the need to make the safety apparatus for the country work for the people. We will also emphasise our call for representatives of the police force and the armed forces to stop the use of force to endanger the very citizens they were established to protect.
For the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence this year, we will decorate the great Josiah (Josy) Ajiboye – a cartoonist per excellence, who used his works to highlight the social-economic, cultural and political issues that plagued the country during the military era and are interestingly still with us today. In line with the spirit of protest against police brutality and all forms of oppression, the Human Rights specialty of the Anti-Corruption Defender Award will be presented to the CLEEN Foundation in recognition of their over two decade work on police reform and related interventions on the right of Nigerians to safety which was led by the late Innocent Chukwuma, CLEEN Founder.