Again, Punch wins Nigerian Academy of Science award

Folashade Adebayo

A Senior Correspondent of your darling newspaper, The PUNCH, Folashade Adebayo, has won the 2014 Science Media Award of the Nigerian Academy of Science.

Adebayo was declared the winner in the Print Category for her two-part story on the coverage of the Ebola Virus Disease last year,  in Lagos on Thursday. The first part of the story was titled A Walk Through The Valley of Ebola while the second part had Ebola: Nigerian Health workers Take Battle to the Lion’s Den as its headline.

Presenting the award, the Executive Secretary NAS, Dr. Oladoyin Odubanjo, said the two-part story won for its unique focus on health workers who risked everything to treat patients.

“The story went beyond Nigeria to the United States and Spain,” he said.

Adebayo’s win makes it PUNCH’s third consecutive time of clinching the prestigious award, which is now in its fifth year. The Editor, Sunday Punch, Miss Toyosi Ogunseye, blazed the trail at the 2012 edition, a feat which was repeated by Bukola Adebayo of The PUNCH at the 2013 edition. Kunle Falayi of the Saturday PUNCHwas also named the 2014 runner-up in the Print Category for his two-part story titled, Lagos residents at risk from conterminated water and cancer-causing metal detected in water supplied to Lagos residents respectively.

Vivienne Irikefe of the Television Continental emerged winner in the Broadcast Category while Jennifer Igwe of the Nigerian Television Authority was named the runner-up in the broadcast category.

The winners, who were rewarded with tablets, plaques and cash prizes, said the recognition would spur them to push the frontiers in science journalism reporting.

Asked to comment about her feelings after winning the award, Adebayo said, “I’m delighted to be the recipient of this prestigious award from a credible organisation such as the NAS. For me, it is an inspiration not to relent and to continue to push the frontiers in science reporting.

“The outbreak of the EVD was a major event in our country and the credit of the success story does not go to any one individual or organisations. It goes to every stakeholder, people who work in and out of the infectious disease centres unnoticed across the country.”

Speaking earlier at the award ceremony, the President of the NAS, Prof. Oyewale Tomori, had said the EVD outbreak signaled a new frontier in infection control.

“We do not know what worked because other things were added to the administration of vaccines but awareness is important. If people had been aware of simple infection control measures, we wouldn’t have had the horrendous epidemic,” he said.

Adebayo, a multiple award winner, had won the 2014 Child-Friendly Journalist of the Year on the platform of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence. In 2012, she emerged the Foreign Journalist of the Year with the Nigeria Media Merit Award. She is a 2012 Joe Belz Fellow of the World Journalism Institute and has been a runner up in different categories at the NMMA, DAME as well as the Red Ribbon Award on HIV/AIDS Reporting.

Adebayo started her career in journalism in 2003 with TELL Magazine, Lagos. She joined The PUNCH last year where she has since been covering education as well as health beats.