Samuel Ogundipe, the managing editor of Peoples Gazette, has been nominated for the Gatefield-backed People Journalism Prize for Africa (PJPA).

The PJPA is a Sub-Saharan African public strategy and media group.

Gatefield project manager Safiya-Pereira Ibrahim, in a statement on Tuesday, said Mr Ogundipe was nominated alongside Laila Salami, Jamil Mabai, Sandra Ezekwesili, and Irene David-Arinze.

Mrs Ibrahim said Mr Ogundipe earned the nomination following an exclusive publication uncovering an illegal second job scheme within the Nigerian government perpetuated by presidential political appointees who are embedding themselves within the civil service at the taxpayer’s expense.

Bashir Ahmad, a presidential spokesman who benefitted from the fraudulent scheme, and the Department of Petroleum Resources, the agency that offered the jobs, all denied the story as untrue. 

However, days after the story ran, the DPR suspended three officials, accusing them of leaking details of the scheme to The Gazette. The story marked another indication of how far Nigerian officials would go to cover up wrongdoings in public service.

Others nominated are Daneel Knoetze/ViewFinder (South Africa), Naipanoi Lepapa (Kenya), Manasseh-Azure Awuni (Ghana), Lucy Kassa (Ethiopia), and Elizabeth Merab (Kenya).

She said the 2021 PJPA reached out to dozens of journalists, human rights defenders, and public opinion shapers across the continent and received nominations for several impressive journalists.

According to Mrs Ibrahim, The Gazette’s managing editor and other journalists nominated have so far advanced society through their journalism and acts of journalist courage.

The manager added that the winners in the two journalism and social justice newsmaker categories would be announced later.

According to her, each category winner will receive $1,500 and $3,000 in financial rewards to the winning journalists.

The PJPA is Gatefield’s leading corporate social responsibility commitment to advance democratic freedoms and societal change. 

(NAN)