The selection board of the DAILY TRUST African of the Year Award has said that no work met the criteria for the award for the year 2022.
The selection board, after going through the works of eight finalists that were drawn from a list of nearly 200 nominations received at the end of the first phase of the selection process in October, disclosed that none of the works met the standard.
A statement on Friday said that “after careful consideration of the works of the eight finalists, the Selection Board has decided that there is no winner of the award for 2022 as none of the finalists met the rigorous criteria for selection for the Award.”
According to the statement, five of the six selection board members, on Tuesday, 20th December, 2022, agreed that there was no winner after virtual review of the credentials of the eight Africans who made it to the final round of the selection process.
“The eight finalists were drawn from a total of 168 African men and women who were nominated for the coveted Daily Trust African of the Year Award, at the close of submissions for the 2022 Award, at midnight of October 24, 2022,” the board said.
Daily Trust, a leading independent newspaper in Nigeria, instituted the African of the Year Award in 2008, to annually recognise ordinary Africans who have made extraordinary contributions to humanity in any field of endeavour.
The selection board is chaired by a former President of Botswana and winner of the Mo Ibrahim Award for Good Governance in Africa, Mr Festus Mogae.
Other members of the Committee who represent Africa’s regional blocs are: Ambassador Mona Omar (North Africa), Mr. Amadou Mahtar Ba (West Africa), Ms. Gwen Lister (Southern Africa), and Pastor Rigobert Minani Bihuzo (Central Africa). The Chairman of the Board of Media Trust Limited, Malam Kabiru A Yusuf represents the Award promoters.
The African of the Year Award was introduced by DAILY TRUST in fulfilment of the newspaper’s commitment to African unity and sustainable development across the continent. With this annual award, the newspaper hopes to entrench the culture of selflessness among Africans with the aim of creating a pool of role-models for others to emulate.
The maiden award was presented to a Congolese gynaecologist, Dr. Denis Mukwege, in recognition of his exemplary humanitarian offer of free reconstructive surgery to victims of rape in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dr Mukwege went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, ten years after DAILY TRUST had recognised his remarkable humanitarian efforts.
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