The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, WSCIJ, has postponed the presentation of an award to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
The Integrity Award had been slated to be part of events at the 2019 Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting taking place on Monday, December 9, in Lagos.
A post on the WSCIJ’s Twitter handle signed by its Executive Director/CEO, Motunrayo Alaka, noted that the postponement became necessary in view of “protests against the repression of #FreedomOfSpeech in recent times.”
The tweet read in full: “The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism has postponed the presentation of award to the Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
“The postponement was decided on, to align with protests against the repression of #FreedomOfSpeech in recent times, especially the incidence between the Department of State Security (DSS) and @YeleSowore, Publisher of @SaharaReporters, on Friday 6 December.
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“The Vice President @ProfOsinbajo himself shares this awareness and the inappropriateness of the award at this point.
“The award presentation programme will hold as scheduled on Monday, 9th December 2019, by 6pm.
13 journalists from print, online, television, radio, photo, and editorial cartoon categories will be celebrated.
“Veteran photojournalist, Sunmi Smart-Cole and @AmnestyNigeria will also be presented honorary awards of the Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence and the Anti-Corruption Defender Award (Human Rights Specialty) respectively.
“The WSCIJ holds the award presentation event on December 9, the #WorldAntiCorruptionDay and eve of the #WorldHumanRightsDay to highlight the importance of investigative reporting as a tool for accountability, good governance and #SocialJustice in a #democracy.
“The award event is free to attend for members of the general public.”
Meanwhile, the Vice President is the UAE where he is taking part at the 6th Assembly of the Forum for promoting Peace in Muslim Societies.