The first runner-up in the 2016 Promasidor Quill Awards,
Olatunji Ololade, has commended Promasidor Nigeria Limited for the Thomson
Foundation Summer Convergence Course, which is part of the overall prize for
the annual competition.
Ololade, who just returned from Britain after attending the
course, gave the commendation during his visit to Olivier Thiry, Managing
Director, Promasidor Nigeria in his Isolo, Lagos office.
He disclosed that before he attended the course, he was a
complete print journalist who had limited experience in contemporary
journalism.
However, Ololade described the course as unique because it
gives rare experience that does not come regularly. “I am seizing this
opportunity again to express my heart-felt appreciation to Promasidor Nigeria
Limited for giving me the privilege to attend the course. The training really
broadened my horizon, which has practically changed my orientation to
journalism”, he stated.
According to him, the course has widened his perspective
beyond traditional journalism as he was so equipped to face competition from
across the world. His words: “Before I travelled, I had limited experience
about online journalism. I was a complete print reporter, but I discovered
during the Summer Convergence Course run by Thomson Foundation and propelled by
Promasidor that there was a lot more in today’s journalism profession.”
He stated that with the help of the training he had on
podcast, he can now shoot video in series with his phone. The experience gained
during the course, he said makes journalism more captivating to him.
Ololade also added that the course gave him the opportunity
to network with journalists, who are also investigative reporters from
different parts of the world. He revealed that he currently networks with them
on global story ideas.
Welcoming him to his office, Thiry said he felt fulfilled as
Ololade was practically equipped by the Summer Convergence Course.
The Promasidor boss stated that part of the goal of
Promasidor Quill Awards is to impact positively on the quality of journalism
profession in Nigeria such that the quality of the reports circulated is high
and the content is accurate.
According to him, quality training of journalists is part of
the prerequisites needed to improve the essence of news reporting in any
society.
Ajibola Amzat, a journalist with The Guardian newspaper, won
the overall prize. For winning the medal early in the year, Amzat
was supposed to attend the Summer Convergence Course, but the timing coincided
with that of the master’s Degree programme he was going for in the US. As a
result of that, he ceded the UK training to Ololade.
While Amzat’s write-up, Home Away, was adjudged
the best entry; Ololade’s Sorrowful Song from the Valley of Iva was
picked as the first runner-up in the 2016 edition of the competition.
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