TheCable

Chinedu Asadu has been named TheCable Journalist of the Year 2020 by the newspaper’s management.

The award, which comes with a N250,000 cash prize and a certificate, was instituted to honour journalists from TheCable’s ranks who have consistently distinguished themselves during the calendar year.

In 2020, Asadu investigated how COVID-negative certificates were being sold for N25,000 by government officials to intending travellers — prompting the presidential task force on the pandemic to announce a crackdown on the fraudsters.

He also did an investigation into how water pollution by Hongao Mining Company Limited, a Chinese firm, was endangering the lives of residents of a local community in the federal capital territory (FCT). The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) then sealed off the premises of the company.

Most recently, he unveiled the unethical and illegal practices in Akwa Ibom hospitals where quack nurses are certified for a fee and deployed to do the job of professionals — a report that earned him death threats.

His other major stories during the year include: Abuja communities who have no water supply but are expected to wash their hands regularly to prevent COVID; children who are staying out of school in Sokoto state because of N200; Zamfara girls who are inspiring their peers to choose education over marriage; and how Nigeria budgeted N73.3 billion for presidential air fleet in 10 years.

‘UNANIMOUS CHOICE’

In announcing the institution of the annual award, Simon Kolawole, founder and CEO of Cable Newspaper Ltd, restated the mandate of the online newspaper which was launched in April 2014 “to deliver knowledge-driven journalism in the pursuit of Nigeria’s progress”.

“At TheCable, we want to contribute to the development of Nigeria through knowledge-based journalism,” he said.

“We are journalists, not activists or propagandists, and that means we should be less emotional and less political and pay more attention to the real facts, the provable facts, in our journalism. What we want to do is contribute our quota to the progress of Nigeria.

“Being professional in Nigeria is a tough call. You generally are expected to take sides, fan the embers of disunity, and deliberately propagate falsehoods and half-truths. So we are happy at TheCable that our journalists are working hard everyday to prove their mettle despite the odds.

“We are glad to celebrate Chinedu because he is also a testimony to what we are trying to do at TheCable: help develop young talents and bring out the best in them.

“He is one of the most dedicated and daring journalists around. He is multi-talented and quick-footed. He takes initiative, an attribute that is not taught in school. He works round the clock as if his life depends on it. He has won the CEO Journalist of the Month award more than anyone else.

“His choice as the inaugural winner of our in-house award by the editors was unanimous. That says a lot about him. It is clear that Chinedu is destined for the top.”

THE MAN, CHINEDU ASADU

Asadu, a staff writer, covers politics and development and has reported from at least 17 states of the federation, producing impactful stories on conflict, migration and internal displacement, the legislature, environment, health and education.

He is a key member of TheCable fact check desk and is skilled in data and investigative journalism, mobile storytelling and video production/editing.

Asadu also serves as an investigative officer on the Campus Civic Media Campaign (CCMC) project of the Cable Newspaper Journalism Foundation (CNJF), supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

He joined TheCable in 2017 as a graduate intern under the Policy Radar Initiative (PRIN) of CNJF, supported by the MacArthur Foundation.

The Cable Foundation is a partner organisation to TheCable newspaper, offering support in training and investigative reporting.

Nedu, as he is called by his colleagues at TheCable, previously worked with the Sun Newspapers and DegaVoice Media Services, both in Enugu.

At the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he obtained his first degree in mass communication, Asadu was editor-in-chief of The Record newspaper, the university’s publication; managing editor of ROAR newsletter, published by the Students Union Government; and copy editor of Jacksonite magazine, published by the Department of Mass Communication.

He was also the Orientation Broadcasting Service (OBS) editor at the orientation camp of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Cross River in 2016/2017.