Tolu Ogunlesi and Toyosi Ogunseye win CNN/Multichoice Award

The finals of the 18th Annual CNN/Multichoice African Journalist of the Year Awards were held yesterday in International Convention Centre, CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa with two of Nigeria’s three nominees carting away the prizes for their categories.

Tolu Ogunlesi, a freelance journalist for Ventures Africa, Nigeria beat Vanguard’s Geoff Iyatse to win in the Coca-Cola Company, Economics and Biz Awards category.

Ogunlesi won the award for his investigative report on the Eko Atlantic City, and dedicated the awards “to the millions of down-troden people in Nigeria and around the world.”

Punch’s Oluwatoyosi Ogunseye won in the UNICEF-sponsored Environment Category for his story ‘The Rich Also Cry’, which focused on pollution in an estate where gaseous metal had created very serious medical challenges.

South Africa’s Msindisi Fengu and Yandisa Monakali emerged overall winners for their piece on students’ hostels which looked like prison cells in South Africa.

Other freelance journalists who won awards were Noicola de Chaud, with a documentary in the Culture Category and Florence Dallu in the Radio General News Category.