Martins Ifijeh, Olasumbo Modupe and Anthonia Obokor have emerged winners of the 2019 Nordica Media Merit Awards for excellence in fertility reporting at a presentation ceremony in Lagos.
For the second year running, THISDAY journalist, Martins Ifijeh, emerged the winner in the print category of the 2019 Nordica Media Merit Award with his entry ‘Heavy Metals and the Pain of Infertility’.
Olasumbo Modupe of Lagos Television emerged the winner in the electronic category while Anthonia Obokor of Business Day Newspapers emerged the winner in the online category.
The winners of each of the categories were given plaques and ₦250,000 cash prize each.
Ifijeh’s winning piece highlighted how heavy metals and industrial chemicals from oil exploration in Nigeria has increased the risk of infertility and deprived couples exposed to them from having babies.
Martins Ifijeh, a fellow of the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) in Washington DC, United States, and an Alumnus of Columbia University, New York and Rhodes University, South Africa, has won a number of international and local awards, including the 2017 Early Childhood Development Reporting Awards in Washington DC; 2016 Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award ‘print category’, the 2018 Nordica Media Merit Award and a host of others.
The Managing Director, Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, described the award as part of the organisation’s efforts to reward excellence in fertility reportage in Nigeria, adding that such quality stories will help raise more awareness on reproductive health issues in the country.
