Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany announced the winners of “Stay at Home” Media Recognition Awards for Ghana in partnership with H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO, The First Lady of Ghana and for Nigeria in partnership with H.E. Dr. AISHA MUHAMMADU BUHARI, The first Lady of Nigeria. The theme of the awards was ‘Raising Awareness on how to Stay Safe and Keep Physically and Mentally Healthy during Coronavirus Lockdown’ with the aim to separate facts from myths and misconceptions.

Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation emphasizes, “I am very proud of our winners from Ghana and Nigeria who helped to educate the communities about COVID 19 through their exceptional work by frequently covering this topic in their respective countries. I have always believed that Media can play a very important role in sensitizing people about sensitive issues such as Coronavirus global pandemic. Big congratulations to all the winners”.

Here are the winners from Ghana and Nigeria in partnership with The First Lady of Ghana, H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO and The First Lady of Nigeria, H.E. Dr. AISHA MUHAMMADU BUHARI:

Online Category Winners:

Ghana

First Position

• Albert Futukpor – Ghana News Agency, GHANA (500 USD)

Second Position

• Lydia Kukua Asamoah – Ghana News Agency, GHANA (300 USD)

Nigeria

First Position

• Ishioma Emi Mary – Ventures Africa, NIGERIA (500 USD)
• Ebere Agozie – GFH News, NIGERIA (500 USD)

Second Position

• Odimegwu Onwumere – The Nigerian Voice, NIGERIA (300 USD)

Print Category Winners:

Ghana

First Position

• Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman – New Times Corporation (The Spectator), GHANA (500 USD)

Nigeria

First Position

• Ojoma Akor – Daily Trust, NIGERIA (500 USD)

Multimedia Category Winners:

Ghana

First Position

• Grace Hammoah Asare– Media General, TV 3, GHANA (500 USD)

Second Position

• Nana Yaw Gyimah Mensah– TV3 Network, GHANA (300 USD)
• Wendy Laryea– TV3 Network, GHANA (300 USD)

Nigeria

First Position

• Aneta Felix – TV360 Nigeria, NIGERIA (500 USD)

Radio Category Winners:

Nigeria

First Position

• Ekene Odigwe - Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Coalcity FM), NIGERIA (500 USD)

The quality of work received was impressive, therefore, the Merck Foundation Media Awards Committee has introduced a second and a third position and selected more than one winner, on some occasions, for each of the Four Categories from all the regions.

“The valuable contribution from the winners in sensitizing their respective communities about COVID 19 has encouraged us to additionally reward them all to become Merck Foundation Alumni and provide them with one-year access to online educational training program called “MasterClass”. The MasterClass is an immersive online experience and self-paced learning course in English that can be accessed anywhere with the Internet. This is to motivate passionate journalists to continue writing and advocating for social, economic and health issues across their countries”, added Dr. Rasha Kelej.