Published 2nd Nov, 2021

By Tola Owoyele

Kolapo Olapoju, editor at TheCable, has been shortlisted for the 2021 Fetisov Journalism Awards (FJA), in the Outstanding Contribution to Peace category.

According to an announcement made by the organisers of the awards on November 1, Olapoju was nominated for his story on the conflict in Southern Kaduna, during a period the world was battling with finding a solution to the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.

Olapoju’s report is among 37 exceptional stories that were shortlisted from a total of 34 countries.

According to the organisers, Olapoju’s work, ‘Conflict in a Pandemic’, highlighted the predicaments of the inhabitants of Southern Kaduna, especially women and children, who were displaced as a result of the conflict, just as the world contended with the new and deadly pandemic.

Olatunji Ololade, a journalist with The Nation, was also a nominee in the same category for his story, ‘The Boys Who Swapped Football for Bullets’.

Two other Nigerian journalists were nominated by the organisers of the awards, but in other categories.

Kemi Busari of Premium Times was shortlisted under the Outstanding Investigative Reporting category for his story, ‘Blood on Uniform’; and for his work, titled ‘Senegal’s Fishermen Risk Seas for New Life in Europe’, Shola Lawal, a journalist with the The Christian Monitor, was shortlisted in the Contribution to Civil Rights category.

Close to 400 entries from 80 countries were received by the organisers before the 37 stories were eventually selected by an FJA panel of experts.

The awards ceremony will take place in Zurich, Switzerland on April 22, 2022.

First prize winners in each category are expected to get a money prize of 100,000 Swiss francs and a unique silver statuette designed and handcrafted in Switzerland.

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