Recently updated on February 12th, 2023 at 12:47 pm
Tessy Igomu has emerged West Africa Journalist of the Year in the 2022 West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA) held on October 22, 2022 in Ghana.
Organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa, WAMECA honours exemplary work, in-depth investigations and exceptional storytelling.
This year’s WAMECA was held under the theme, “The Media and Women Empowerment in Africa”.
Winners Of 2022 West Africa Media Excellence Conference And Awards (WAMECA)
Category: West Africa Journalist of the Year
Winner: Tessy Igomu
Media House: The Punch, Nigeria
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Category: Environmental Reporting
Winner: Tessy Igomu
Media House: The Punch, Nigeria
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Category: Anti-Corruption Reporting
Winner: Adeola Oladipupo
Media House: Freelance, Nigeria
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Category: Health Reporting
Winner: Basseratou Kindo
Media House: Mousso News, Burkina Faso
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Category: ICTs Reporting
Winner: Amos Abba
Media House: International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Nigeria
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Category: Business Reporting
Winner: Oladeinde Adewoyin
Media House: Premium Times, Nigeria
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Category: Women Empowerment Reporting
Winner: Nabole Ignance Ismael
Media House: Burkina24, Burkina Faso
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Category: Human Rights Reporting
Winner: Olatunji Ololade
Media House: The Nation, Nigeria
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Category: Migration Reporting
Winner: Darcicio Francisco Jose Monteiro Barbosa
Media House: Bagunda TV/ TV Comunitaria, Guinea Bissau
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Category: Investigative Reporting
Winners: Kwetey Nartey & Seth Kwame Boateng
Media House: Multimedia Group Limited, Ghana
Tessy Igomu
Being the first female to win the ultimate prize, Tessy Igomu fought off competition from 24 journalists shortlisted for this year’s awards at the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA).
Her story on the Yoyo Resources Recycling Limited Company, a Chinese-owned waste recycling company, exposed how pollution from the company took a toll on the health of some residents of Orimerunmu, a community in Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria.
According to Ms Igomu’s story, every night, as the company powered its furnace to produce pyrolysis oil, from tyre and plastic pyrolysis, bright flames illuminate the skyline, billowing dark smoke into the atmosphere.
Ms. Igomu’s story revealed:
“The soot generated by the Yoyo company’s activities is as light as air and very volatile, and is easily blown around by wind, seeping through tightly shut doors and windows in the beleaguered community. The soot also coats the entire community in black dust, while the palms and underfoot of residents wear a registered, permanent trade mark of black.”
The story pushed the state government to relocate the company, bringing relief to the people who had endured soot from polluted air for three years.
The story also won the best report on Environment.
Apart from being the first female journalist to win the respected award in the six-year history of the event Tessy Igomu also became the second Nigerian to become the WAMECA Journalist of the Year. The first was Samad Uthman of Dataphyte, who shared the 2021 prize with a Ghanaian, Kwetey Nartey, last year.
Tessy was part of the 25 finalists selected by a jury from 952 entries from a record 16 countries across the sub-region.
Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, in his welcome address, said WAMECA was the celebration of the best of the best of West African journalism.
The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Ambassador Virginia E. Palmer, observed that the celebration of journalists could not be taken for granted given the democratic recession in West Africa.
She took the opportunity to commit the United States government to a lifetime partnership with the Media Foundation for West Africa,
The US Embassy in Ghana, MTN Ghana, Stanbic Bank, UNESCO Ghana, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and CFI Media Development Sponsored the three-day conference and awards.
