Taiwo Adebulu, features and investigations editor of TheCable, has been shortlisted for the 2023 Fetisov Journalism Awards (FJA), in the outstanding contribution to peace category.
The Fetisov Journalism Awards is the biggest prize in the history of international journalism.
Out of some 400 entries from 96 countries submitted for this year’s competition, Adebulu is the only Nigerian shortlisted from 20 countries.
In the nominated report – Forced to wed: Inside the horror-filled world of Nigerian schoolgirls abandoned in captivity – Adebulu detailed the tragic story of 11 Nigerian schoolgirls who were victims of the June 17, 2021 bandit attack on the Federal Government College (FGC) in Birnin-Yauri, Kebbi state.
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Some of the girls — between the ages of 13 to 16 — were killed while many others were sexually and psychologically tormented in their forced marriages to the bandits.
The former head of the fact-check desk at TheCable has over nine years of experience in investigative and development journalism.
His story on the plight of children who fish in the Atlantic Ocean to pay for school won the continental 2017 Zimeo Excellence in Media Awards in Ethiopia.
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Adebulu was shortlisted as a finalist for the Future Awards Africa Prize for Journalism 2018 and in 2020, he won the PwC Media Excellence Award.
Adebulu also won the overall prize at the African Fact-Checking Awards in 2020 for his investigative piece that exposed the falsehood of a claim by Nigeria’s minister of environment that seven federal universities were running strictly on renewable energy.
One of his recent investigations exposed the systematic corruption in Nigeria’s most prominent federal marriage registry, forcing the government to enforce a halt in the physical registration of marriage licenses and revert to online processes.
“I’m really happy to be shortlisted for this reputable and global journalism award. It means a lot to my career. The feeling is out of this world. I feel great and I’m happy that my work is getting the recognition it deserves,” Adebulu said.
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“Carving my name on a list of world-class journalists in the world’s most lucrative journalism award is everything a reporter looks forward to. TheCable gave me the platform to soar and I’m looking forward to doing greater stories.”
The first prize winner in each category will receive a money prize of CHF 100,000, the second prize and third prize winners will receive CHF 20,000 and CHF 10,000 respectively – this is currently the largest prize in global journalism.
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