Oge NdubuisiA Law student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), Chibuzor Victor Obiorah, has won the sixth edition of the ‘Fisayo Soyombo Inter-University Essay Competition organised by the Union of Campus Journalists (UCJ), University of Ibadan.
Obiorah emerged the winner from a total of 336 entries received from university students across the country. After preliminary evaluation, by Damilola Ayeni, Editor of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), 23 essay entries were passed on to 2023-24 Knight Wallace fellows, US journalist Joshua Sharpe, and Ukrainian journalist Luliia Mendel for further review.
Olanshile Ogunrinu and Oyibokure Smith, both students of the University of Ibadan, emerged first and second runner-up respectively. Onwe Chukwuebuka, also from UNN, emerged joint second runner-up.
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The first winner received a cash prize of N250,000, the second prize was N150,000, and the third prize was N100,000. All three were given the privilege to intern at FIJ also.
Mr Obiorah, in a speech after receiving the prize, said: “The ‘Fisayo Soyombo essay competition has always been one of my targets. This is probably because I love participating in reputable essay competitions, and knowing that the Fisayo Soyombo essay competition normally receives numerous entries from students across the country annually further spurred my interest in participating.
“The topic itself has been an issue bedeviling the country for years, and it gave me the opportunity to lace down my thoughts. The day I was announced as the winner of the competition, I felt so good it was just like winning a Ballon d’Or, because everyone was waiting for the results to be announced, and I emerged as the winner; it’s something of joy and it shows that hard work pays off.
“I thank Fisayo Soyombo for organizing this essay and advise undergraduates to take up the opportunity whenever it presents itself.”
The competition is an endowment of Soyombo, a former UCJ UI president and now the founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ). An inter-university contest for UCJ was first launched in 2007 by the UCJ executive council presided over by Soyombo. However, in the seven years that followed, the contest held only once, prompting him to resuscitate it in 2015.
The 2023 edition was won by Timileyin Akinmoyeje, another UI student now undergoing his national youth service at FIJ after his essay victory-enabled internship.
