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The Selection Board of the DAILY TRUST African of the Year Award has
announced that there is no winner of the award for the year 2022.
The announcement followed a decision taken by the Board after its consideration of the
works of eight finalists that were drawn from a list of nearly 200 nominations
received at the end of the first phase of the selection process in October.
A press statement issued today (Friday, 30th December, 2022) said that “after
careful consideration of the works of the eight finalists, the Selection Board has decided that there is no winner of the award for 2022 as none of the finalists met
the rigorous criteria for selection for the Award”.
Five of the six Selection Board members, on Tuesday, 20th December, 2022 agreed that there was no winner after virtual review of the credentials of the eight Africans
who made it to the final round of the selection process.
The eight finalists were drawn from a total of 168 African men and women who
were nominated for the coveted Daily Trust African of the Year Award, at the
close of submissions for the 2022 Award, at midnight of October 24, 2022.
Daily Trust, a leading independent newspaper in Nigeria, instituted the African of
the Year Award in 2008, to annually recognise ordinary Africans who have made
extraordinary contributions to humanity in any field of endeavour.
The Selection Board is chaired by a former President of Botswana and winner of
the Mo Ibrahim Award for Good Governance in Africa, Mr. Festus Mogae.
Other members of the Committee who represent Africa’s regional blocs are:
Ambassador Mona Omar (North Africa), Mr. Amadou Mahtar Ba (West Africa),
Ms. Gwen Lister (Southern Africa), and Pastor Rigobert Minani Bihuzo (Central
Africa). The Chairman of the Board of Media Trust Limited, Mal. Kabiru A Yusuf
represents the Award promoters.
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The African of the Year Award was introduced by DAILY TRUST in fulfilment ofthe newspaper’s commitment to African unity and sustainable development acrossthe continent. With this annual award, the newspaper hopes to entrench the cultureof selflessness among Africans with the aim of creating a pool of role-models forothers to emulate.The maiden award was presented to a Congolese gynaecologist, Dr. DenisMukwege, in recognition of his exemplary humanitarian offer of freereconstructive surgery to victims of rape in the war-torn Democratic Republic ofCongo (DRC).Dr Mukwege went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, tenyears after DAILY TRUST had recognised his remarkable humanitarian efforts.
