The selection board of the Daily Trust African of the Year Award has announced that there is no winner this year.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja signed by the secretariat.
It said the announcement was followed by 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.
The statement said: “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, December 20 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 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.