Law student beats 40 others to clinch Dapo Olorunyomi award

A 500-level student of the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Kunle Adebajo, emerged the overall winner of the maiden edition of the Dapo Olorunyomi National Essay Competition (DONEC) organised by the Association of Communication and Language Arts Students, University of Ibadan on Friday 1st of December.

During the award ceremony held in honour of the media industry leader, Dapo Olorunyomi, the organisers of DONEC noted that about forty students from different Nigerian universities participated in the competition submitting essays on the topic “Journalism and the fight against corruption and bad governance in Nigeria”.

The overall winner, Kunle Adebajo, is no stranger to awards. He was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2016 Fisayo Soyombo Essay Competition, the 2016 National Higher Education Foundation Essay Competition, and the 2017 Chartered Institute for Personnel Management Essay Competition.

He was the 2016 winner of the Nigerian Meritorious Award for Student Journalist of the Year, winner of the JCI Most Outstanding Person in Student Journalism Award and winner of the University of Ibadan Students’ Union Student Journalist of the Year Award. Other awards in the same year include the Kayode Folayemi Prize for the Best Investigative Story, UCJ Prize for Best Editorial, and co-winner, on two occasions, of the UCJ Prize for Best Column. He was also 2nd runner-up at the 2016 African Leadership Essay Contest.

While presenting the award on December 1, the Head, Department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Ayo Ojebode, commended the organisers for choosing a topic that aptly reflected the lifetime passion and commitment of Mr. Olorunyomi who “literally put his life on the line countless times in the struggle for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria”.

Mr. Olorunyomi was himself honoured by the students’ association for his contributions to the growth of the communication and media industry in Nigeria. Moses Richoffor, President of the Association of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, noted that Mr. Olorunyomi, Publisher of PREMIUM TIMES, remained an important inspiration to the young ones in the industry.

The award ceremony, which was held in the First Bank Lecture Theatre, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ibadan, featured entrepreneurial talks by emerging industry players in broadcasting, advertising, ICT and public relations, and attracted a large number of students and staff.