Edet Udoh, Publisher of Revealer Online Wins Multiple Prizes At Nestle Nigeria Media Awards 2022

Mrs. Victoria Uwadoka, Corporate Communications, and Public Affairs Manager

The Publisher and Managing Editor of the Revealer Online, Mr Edet Udoh, on Saturday emerged winner of three out of the eight categories of Awards presented at the Nestlé Nigeria Media Awards 2022.

Edet’s entries were adjudged the best stories in three different categories including Environmental Sustainability, Youth Empowerment, and Agriculture.

Meanwhile, Mr Udoh was also a nominee in three different categories during the Maiden edition of the Awards held on December 11, 2021.

In her Opening Remarks at the awards ceremony held in Nestle Nigeria’s Corporate Office in Ilupeju Industrial Estate, Lagos, at the weekend, the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager of the firm, Mrs. Victoria Uwadoka, said the Nestle Nigeria Media Awards was instituted to reward and encourage journalistic excellence in Nigeria.

According to her, Nestlé Nigeria Media Awards aims to reward professionalism and excellence in reporting and storytelling around Nestlé’s focus areas comprising – Affordable Nutrition, Environmental Sustainability, Youth Empowerment, Women Empowerment, Engendering Thriving Communities, and Agriculture.

Other winners for Best story on Environmental Sustainability include Vivian Ihechu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) second position, and Chioma Obinna, Vanguard Media Limited, third position.

For the Best story on Youth Empowerment and Development, Jeremiah Agada of Impact Reports Africa/Brand Communicator and Vivian Ihechu of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) came second and third positions respectively.

Under the Best Story on Agriculture category, Usukuma Ntia of the Brand Communicator came second while Sola Olusegun took the third position.

Chioma Umeha of the Daily Independent Newspaper emerged first position in the Best story on Community Development category, while Rebecca Ejifoma of ThisDay Newspaper and  Odutayo Odusanya of Newslounge Media came second and third positions respectively.

Oki Samson of Trek Africa Newspaper’s entry was adjudged the best in the Best Story on Finance category while  Simon Ugwu of Energy Frontier took the second position, and Samuel Diala of The Will Newspaper came third.

The first position for the Best Photojournalist award went to Olasupo Olosunde of the News Agency of Nigeria, while the second and third positions respectively went to Sunday Eshiet of the Blueprint Newspapers and Aina Johnson of the Sun Publishing Limited.

Under the Best Story on Women Empowerment, Rebecca Ejifoma of ThisDay Newspaper’s entry was adjudged the best followed by that of Oladeotan John of the Societyradar.com and third position by that of Rakiya Muhammad of RMTimes.                                                                                                                                            Usukuma Ntia’s entry for the Best Story on Nutrition and Affordable Food Solutions was adjudged the best, followed by Chioma Umeha’s entry and that of Shaba Isaac of the Shaba1984 Media Communication.

In his closing remarks, Mr Peter Ejiofor, a member of the Panel of Judges, thanked Nestle Nigeria for instituting the awards.

Ejiofor who said the awards keep getting better also encouraged those who did not win this year to work hard and prepare well for next year even as he urged them to pray that Nestle sustains the awards.

“I must say the maiden edition of the awards was good but this year’s is better – from what we saw from their submissions, I feel happy to say that you adhered to advices given to you as the bases for the awards.

“For those who didn’t win this year, work hard you may win next year. Just pray that Nestle sustains this awards. Congratulations to all of you, and for us as well because we all worked together to make it a success,” Mr. Ejiofor said.

Also speaking in her capacity as a member of the panel of judges, a retired nutritionist, Africa Manager with the Nestle Nutrition Institute, Dr. Chioma Emma-Nwachukwu, congratulated all those who entered for the awards, adding that “for making it to this level, you are really good. We saw a lot of improvement from what we got last year, so it goes to show that the training has really helped and I will like to say congratulations!

“Some people who were not really taking it seriously last year….I know that some people who did not win anything today, when we will come back next time, you’re likely to be the people we are going to celebrate. So I want to congratulate you in advance.

While congratulating Nestle for the awards, she said “for keeping to this tradition, it is something that money cannot buy and I see that as they are doing this, they’re also grooming you for other stories, not just stories around Nestle. I can see that people are a bit more focused to understand what is required of them.

“My advice is that when you come for next Competition, please try as much as possible to study the criteria, it’s very important. Some people submitted very wonderful stories and I am sure you might say why am I not there but you went outside the scope. So next time, try and stay within the scope.

“Also in telling your stories about what Nestle has done, think of what the readers will take away from your stories. How can it affect the person’s action, and pay great attention to the summary. It will be nice to see all of that when you write your stories.

“I am really excited today that the excitement is getting to the next generation. You can see that people are not coming alone to receive their prizes, they are coming with their kids, so it goes to show that we are doing a great job and we are also impacting the next generation. So on that note, I will like to congratulate you, journalists, I will like to congratulate Nestle and I say keep doing that great work!”

The Nestle Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Mrs Victoria Uwadoka who was also a member of the panel of judges, in her remarks said “I want to say that the Nestle Nigeria Media Awards for next year starts from tomorrow. Look at the criteria for each award. We try to imagine what value, what changes each story will bring to the people who are within that target audience. Competition starts from being deliberate. What are we trying to do? What are we trying to achieve? We are trying to change behavior, we are trying to change perception, we are trying to make things better, we are trying to add value, we are trying to inspire and we are trying to encourage.

“Do take a step further from where you have been this year, do more than what you have done this year, and let that show when you have your submissions to make.

“Finally, I have seen more people entered for this year’s awards than last year. The sky is big enough for everybody. We can do better. A rising tide carries everybody along, so let’s do better; let’s really elevate our profession that’s all it is about.”