The Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award seeks to reward best practices in the art of investigative human rights reporting in Nigerian journalism. It will honour, annually, the works of Nigerian reporters in print, broadcast, photography and online-journalism which help reflect the promotion and respect for human rights as a substantive value in the development of Nigerian democracy.

The award, first announced in March 2005, is a private initiative initially promoted by Freedom House (www.freedomhouse.org), an international non-profit, non-partisan organization, and a global voice for democracy and freedom and is named after Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa 's first literary Nobel Laureate. It is in recognition of his life-long work in support of the freedom of expression, freedom to hold opinion, and freedom to impart them without fear or favour; and without hindrance or interference.

The award will reward reporters whose works promote anti-corruption and human rights, while employing the rigorous Investigative tool, through the journalistic medium. Award winners will be Soyinka Laureates. The Award is open to any Nigerian professional journalist or team of journalists (full time professional or freelancers)

The maiden edition of the award witnessed a very successful call for entries that brought in about 72 applications in the first of such media award making in the 146 years history of Nigeria media. Nine Nigerian journalists; received the award

A jury made up of Nigerians of integrity and character from and outside the media adjudges the entries and a Board of Trustees with of the same pedigree oversees the affairs of the Award Management Team.

ABOUT WOLE SOYINKA

Born in 1934, Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. He has suffered incarceration, exile and numerous assassination attempts under different Nigerian military dictators. He has continued to be the conscience of the nation, and an avowed critic of successive corrupt, inept, and abusive governments.

Freedom House (Nigeria) in announcing the award in March, paid homage to Soyinka's untiring and relentless support for the cause of human freedom, noting that: “In the course of the past two generations of Nigeria's history, no individual has epitomized the spirit of freedom than Wole Soyinka who is unarguably the zeitgeist of Nigeria's post-Independence challenge with freedom, justice, humanity and democracy”. It described Soyinka as the symbol of freedom and human rights and an example of how a vivid outlines of the human imagination structures and constructs better society.

Giving his emulous and selfless contributions to the development of human freedom and to the democratic development of Nigeria; but also because of this incredible example in using the power of the pen to sketch out the vivid outlines of a better society, there is no living Nigerian today who better epitomizes the symbol of freedom, writing and human rights.